Thermal Comfort and Strategies for Energy Conservation

Articles
Rohles, F. H. (1981). Thermal comfort and strategies for energy conservation. Journal of Social Issues, 37, 2, 132-149.
Posits that human response to the thermal environment depends on 7 variables: air temperature, relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, air velocity, clothing, physical activi…

Using Group Contingencies to Reduce Natural Gas Consumption in Master Metered Apartments

Articles
Slavin, R. E. & Wodarski, J. S. (1977). Center for Social Organization of Schools Report, Johns Hopkins U. Using group contingencies to reduce natural gas consumption in master metered apartments. (pp. 16).
Examined the effectiveness of large vs small group contingencies in reducing the natural gas consumption of apartment residents who did not pay for their utilities. Results show t…

The Effect of Tailored Information, Goal Setting, and Tailored Feedback on Household Energy Use, Energy-Related Behaviors, and Behavioral Antecedents

Articles
Abrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C., & Rothengatter, T. (2007). The effect of tailored information, goal setting, and tailored feedback on household energy use, energy-related behaviors, and behavioral antecedents. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(4), 265-276.
In this multidisciplinary study, an Internet-based tool was used to encourage households (N = 189) to reduce their direct (gas, electricity and fuel) and indirect energy use (embe…

The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms

Articles
Schultz P. W., Nolan J. M., Cialdini R. B., Goldstein N. J., Griskevicius Vladas (2007). The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms. Psychological Science, 18(5), 429-434.
Despite a long tradition of effectiveness in laboratory tests, normative messages have had mixed success in changing behavior in field contexts, with some studies showing boomeran…

Influencing User Behaviour With Energy Information Display Systems for Intelligent Homes

Articles
Wood G., & Newborough M. (2007). Influencing User Behaviour with Energy Information Display Systems for Intelligent Homes. Int. J. Energy Res., 31, 56-78.
This paper considers the design of energy consumption displays from a theoretical standpoint in relation to user-appliance interactions in the home. It presents the main options f…

Effective Dissemination of Energy-Related Information: Applying Social Psychology and Evaluation Research

Articles
Dennis, M., Soderstrom, E.J., Koncinski, W.S., Cavanaugh, B. (1990). Effective Dissemination of Energy-Related Information: Applying Social Psychology and Evaluation Research. American Psychologist, 45(10), 1109.
Discusses the limitations of previous energy conservation programs in affecting the behavior of individual consumers. Suggests that the rational-economic model upon which they wer…

Normative Social Influence is Underdetected

Articles
Nolan, J. M., Schultz, P. W., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., Griskevicius V. (2008). Normative Social Influence is Underdetected. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (7), 913-923.
The present research investigated the persuasive impact and detectability of normative social influence. The first study surveyed 810 Californians about energy conservation and fo…

Tapping Satisfactions to Promote Energy Conservation Behavior

Articles
Simmons, D., & Widmar, R. (1986). Tapping Satisfactions to Promote Energy Conservation Behavior. Environmental Education and Information, 5(2), 70.
Discusses a study which explored the role of non-monetary incentives in encouraging conservation related behaviors with sixth grade students. It was found that satisfactions deali…

Energy Behavior

Articles
Stern, P., & Kirkpatrick, E. (1977, January 1). Energy Behavior. Environment.
This article discusses the current two major schools of thought about energy conservation. One is based on a system of incentives or penalties to change behavior and the other on …

How to incentivize comprehensive home energy retrofits

Forums
Julie Cook Kitchener Apr 8, 2024 13:00 pm
Hi all,   Even with the growing climate crisis and the rising cost of living, it is still a challenge to convince homeowners to retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. T…

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