Recent ciee_becc items

A technical framework to describe occupant behavior for building energy simulations

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A technical framework to describe occupant behavior for building energy simulations

Tailoring climate change communication to female target groups – an experimental analysis of voting and consumer behavior in Switzerland

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Climate change is a reality. Despite increasing materialization of this phenomenon and calls for immediate action to limit its underlying causes, only a limited uptake of pro-environmental behavior has been registered so far. One of its main reasons has been concluded to be the faulty pro-environmental communication, that is in most cases built ineffectively on erroneous assumptions about the nature of human behavior. The goal of the here presented research was thus to find out, what aspects communication strategy should be built on to motivate pro-environmental behavior, individual as well as collective. Considering the need to specialize communication strategies for higher impact and their potential swing voter role in Switzerland, a female target group was selected. To answer the research question, an experiment was conducted, exposing the participants to three variations of a communication strategy, preceded and followed by an online questionnaire. The results showed that...

Utility investment vs. consumer loans: Getting to yes on energy efficiency through inclusive financing for all

Thu, 7 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Since 2001, eighteen utilities in eight states have received approval from their utility regulators or oversight boards to offer tariffed on-bill programs for energy efficiency upgrades. Tariffed on-bill programs facilitate site-specific investment with site-specific cost recovery, and they are accessible to all residential customers, regardless of credit score, income, or renter status of the customer. Although most of these utilities serve relatively small service areas in rural regions, they have deployed more than $40 million for thousands of cost effective energy efficiency upgrades with a cost recovery rate averaging above 99.9%, even in persistent poverty areas. This utility business model has produced key performance indicators that diverge from loan-based on-bill financing programs. Factors such as doubling the eligible population, higher offer acceptance rates, and deeper savings have a compounding effect resulting in much higher growth in investment compared to programs...

The role of self-reporting in heating energy efficiency

Mon, 7 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Indoor comfort was earlier viewed as driven exclusively by the physics of the body’s heat exchange with its immediate thermal environment. There is now widespread recognition that a person’s thermal comfort and adaptation level, including behavioral aspects, physiological and psychological processes, including sense of control, influence comfort [1]. A stronger emphasis has been given not only to psychological parameters and their impact on satisfaction and productivity, but also to possibilities of energy saving in buildings while maintaining a high comfort standard [2]. A field study was conducted to consider the relationship between localized comfort control capabilities and self-reporting behavior. A significant effect was found for subjects’ frequency of self-reporting in relation to heating control behavior.

Who Should Participate in DR Program? Modeling with Machine Learning and Credit Scoring

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Who Should Participate in DR Program? Modeling with Machine Learning and Credit Scoring

Making efficiency visible – Insights on effective nudging across decision styles and choice models

Tue, 7 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Engaging consumers in energy efficient behavior is challenging. Despite most consumers consistently claiming to care about energy efficiency – and even in cases where reported consumer attitudes toward energy saving and its positive impact on the environment are high – these attitudes often do not materialise in terms of behaviour, giving rise to the “attitude behaviour gap”. This paper reports results from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focused on behavioral levers at the disposal of utilities or other program administrators in engaging consumers in more efficient 1-time consumer product purchases. They are quasi-field revealed preference studies, in which participants reveal product preferences in an ecologically valid setting, namely what respondents understood to be a test version of a new consumer comparison and shopping platform for appliances and products for the home, and which they were accessing from outside of a laboratory or obvious test setting.

The...

The U.S. on 10-15 kWh/day

Wed, 19 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

How much energy savings are possible from behavior change alone, absent significant retrofit investments? A testing of this question motivated this residential case study, with over a decade’s worth of data. The test residence was the lead author’s roughly 2,500 sf vintage 1980 house in southeastern Pennsylvania, which doubles as his office. During periods of single occupancy, energy usage averaged about 8 kWh and 2 ccf of gas per day, saving roughly $2,000 per year relative to typical residences of similar type and size. With fuller occupancy, the figures were 14 kWh and 2 ccf. This was achieved with old, low-efficiency HVAC equipment (12 SEER central air conditioner and 78% AFUE furnace) and minimal to non-existent comfort sacrifices.

How could consumption be this low? Behavior change was the key driver – specifically, aggressive use of the set-back thermostat, very conscientious deployment of windows, shades, a whole-house...

Commercial Strategic Energy Management: Approaches and Best Practices

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

It is a well-known adage that focused intent gets results! Nowhere is this more relevant -- or more important to the efficiency industry -- than in well-organized and implemented Strategic Energy Management (SEM) programs. SEM programs build lasting partnerships among program administrators and their customers and empower the customers to make smart energy decisions for their facilities. Focused on operational and process improvements, on identifying untapped capital projects and on people engagement, SEM efforts lead to deeper and long-term savings. As SEM begins to take hold in the market, similarities and differences are beginning to show up between program administrator efforts. Navigant conducted a Commercial SEM Best Practices study for a leading mid-west utility to identify the key drivers to success and approaches to effectively engage varying customer types or needs. This presentation will focus on study findings from the in-depth research and interviews with leading...

A Demonstration of an Energy Feedback Research Platform in a Field Study of Real-Time Social Comparisons

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A Demonstration of an Energy Feedback Research Platform in a Field Study of Real-Time Social Comparisons

Renewable Energy, Infrastructure and GHG Implication of Electrified Transportation: Metro Vancouver Case Study

Fri, 16 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This study is aimed to assess the fleet composition for the new portion of light and medium duty vehicles (LMDV) in Metro Vancouver forecasted for the year 2020. Accordingly, the analysis evaluates the sensitivity of the regional electricity demand on transportation electrification policies. Considering electricity and hydrogen as transportation infrastructures, sixteen scenarios of zero tailpipe emission Electric Vehicle (EV) penetration in the new fleet are investigated. The study assesses the efficiency of EV technologies, quantifies energy demand for the electric transportation, and summarizes the implications of using renewable electricity to power the transportation sector.

The analysis shows that wind energy is the superior resource in terms of life cycle Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). The life cycle GHGs of electricity production via wind turbines ranges from 390-3000 tonnes yr- 1 and for photovoltaic cells from 1300-9900 tonnes yr-1 of CO2eq across the scenarios. Furthermore,...

Strategic Energy Management. Keys to Behavioral and Operational Change.

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This paper presents the results of an evaluation of Energy Trust of Oregon’s Strategic Energy Management (SEM) initiative. Commercial SEM is designed to deliver comprehensive energy services to large, typically multi-site, customers through behavioral and operational changes, while also identifying potential capital projects. This paper addresses both process findings and an analysis of savings estimation techniques.

The evaluation sought to ensure that the initiative was achieving claimed savings at a reasonable cost and to provide feedback on program design and implementation. This meant both investigating the methods used to calculate savings and understanding how participants had incorporated energy saving policies and practices into their standard operating procedures.

Key operational findings included:

SEM takes time if organizational changes are to be implemented. A cohort approach, using multiple workshops with representatives from...

Practicing Energy, or Energy Consumption as Social Practice

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Practicing Energy, or Energy Consumption as Social Practice

Co-designing with office workers to reduce energy consumption and improve comfort

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

According to the EC Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, a reduction of up to 30% in energy use within the office and commercial building sector can be achieved through occupant behavior change. Multiple studies support similar estimations for countries outside of the EU (e.g. Lopes et al. 2011). Depending on the building type, office occupants can perform various low energy actions to increase office comfort (e.g. Barlow & Fiala, 2007). However, sustained behavior change ensuring energy-efficiency may be difficult when not embedded and enforced in everyday office practices.

This paper describes an approach based on co-creation methods as a means to engage office occupants to make them conscious of the impact that their actions have on comfort and energy use by reflecting on results from measurements and observations. Methods to create awareness include co-designing of a monitoring platform, self-reporting mechanisms and feedback systems, enabled by modular hardware...

Characterizing Customer Preferences: How the Doritos® Nachos Method Works for Electricity Service Plans

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Residential electricity customers typically pay the same rate all day every day for electricity. These customers get the caviar of on-peak electricity for the same price as the canned tuna off-peak electricity. Utilities are considering offering customers variations in rate structures, such as time-of-use pricing, to reduce on-peak electricity use. But how will utilities know how to design electricity service plans that customers will choose? EPRI researched approaches for determining stated preferences for hypothetical offerings and determined that discrete choice experimentation (DCE) would be more effective than market segmentation. Many commercial product manufacturers use DCE for product development. A classic case is the development of the addictive snack, Doritos® Nachos. To test the DCE approach, EPRI embarked on research with several utilities to develop discrete choice experiments for selected electricity service plans (time-of-use and fixed bill, compared to the status...

Changing Industrial Energy Behavior Via Education: Case Study of an Energy Efficiency Refrigeration Certification

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Changing Industrial Energy Behavior Via Education: Case Study of an Energy Efficiency Refrigeration Certification

Why Doesn't 25 Years of an Evolving Energy Code Make More of a Difference?

Thu, 8 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

New and more stringent building energy codes are implemented with the assumption and expectation that significant energy conservation will occur. While simulation and various analysis methodologies may be reasonably sound at estimating the energy impact, the actual impact is largely dependent upon new code enforcement and occupant behavior. This work is based upon the research question: Do homes built to a newer energy code deliver measurable energy savings compared to homes built to a much earlier energy code? This residential research study was focused on comparing measured energy use of new code to old code homes. The new code group represented homes built to the 2007 Florida energy code, with 2009 supplement. The old code group were built to the code in effect from June 1, 1984 to Dec. 31, 1985. Energy monitoring equipment was installed to measure whole house, space heating/cooling, and domestic hot water energy use. Interior temperature and relative humidity were also monitored....

Revealing Occupancy Diversity Factors in Buildings Using Sensor Data

Sat, 13 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Revealing Occupancy Diversity Factors in Buildings Using Sensor Data

Persistence of Behavioral Energy Management Activities and Savings in Commercial Office Buildings

Sat, 13 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Since 2007, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) has offered the Market Partners Program (MPP), which engages the Northwest’s commercial real estate firms to adopt strategic energy management (SEM) practices through the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Initiative. SEM is a holistic organizational consulting process aimed at reducing energy use and encompasses efficient equipment and efficient behavioral activities. Requiring engagement from building staff at all levels, this approach is an ongoing process through which NEEA helps firms develop an action plan that they can implement and revise over several years.

This paper presents the results from a quantitative and qualitative study of the persistence of SEM behaviors and savings at the MPP firms. We quantified annual energy savings by year of participation using a billing analysis. Note that one limitation of this analysis is that it cannot assign savings to individual projects or distinguish between savings...

One of These Homes is Not Like the Other: Residential Energy Consumption Variability

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

One of These Homes is Not Like the Other: Residential Energy Consumption Variability

SusLabNWE: Integrating qualitative and quantitative data to understand people’s everyday energy behavior

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

SusLabNWE: Integrating qualitative and quantitative data to understand people’s everyday energy behavior

Household activities through various lenses: crossing surveys, diaries and electric consumption

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The analysis of household energy consumption usually involves the description of technical systems and of people behaviors. This work focuses on the relationship between people activities, appliances use, and electric consumption. It relies on the application of a wide range of measurement tools on a unique sample of 60 households in France. Overall, questionnaires, diaries, and measured consumption provided a consistent description of the intensity and time of use of the three appliances studied. However, variations were found, depending on the indicator and appliance studied. The levels of activity derived from the diaries and consumption show large differences. However, they can be explained based on reasonable assumptions on the differences in the nature of the activities. Most importantly the variations in the intensity of use across households are consistent among the three measurement tools. This result allowed a partial description of the role of the frequency and duration...

Impact of Energy Disaggregation on Consumer Behavior

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Impact of Energy Disaggregation on Consumer Behavior

Peak-Coincident Demand Savings from Behavior-Based Programs: Evidence from PPL Electric's Behavior and Education Program

Sun, 17 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Peak-Coincident Demand Savings from Behavior-Based Programs: Evidence from PPL Electric's Behavior and Education Program

Residential Behavioral Savings: An Analysis of Principal Electricity End Uses in British Columbia

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Residential Behavioral Savings: An Analysis of Principal Electricity End Uses in British Columbia

Behavior Wedge Profiles for Cities: A New Tool for Identifying Opportunities and Targeting Behavioral Programs

Fri, 15 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Behavior Wedge Profiles for Cities: A New Tool for Identifying Opportunities and Targeting Behavioral Programs

Persistence of Energy Efficiency Behaviors over Time: Evidence from a Community-Based Program

Fri, 15 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Rather than providing incentives for the one-time purchase of technologies, behavior change programs rely on low- or no- cost actions to save energy and reduce demand. These actions must be sustained over time in order to be effective. Therefore, understanding the persistence of energy-saving actions is critical to incorporating behavior change programs into utility energy efficiency program portfolios. Unfortunately, there are few studies that have examined persistence of energy-saving actions over time.

This paper provides new results from an evaluation of a community-based energy efficiency program showing sustained energy efficiency behaviors over an 18-month time frame. Actions were sustained despite limited program follow-up and no financial incentives. The program, which is designed to encourage community members to commit to saving energy by signing a pledge form, uses a multi-pronged approach to reach out to as many community members as possible, and reinforces...

Behaviour Change at Work: empowering energy efficiency in the workplace through user-centred design

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

CO₂ emissions from non-domestic buildings - primarily workplaces - make up 18 percent of the UK's carbon footprint. A combination of technology advances and behavioural changes have the potential to make significant impact, but interventions have often been planned in ways which do not take into account the needs, levels of understanding and everyday behavioural contexts of building users - and hence do not achieve the hoped-for success.This paper provides a brief introduction to the Empower project, a current industrial-academic collaboration in the UK which is applying methods from user-centred design practice to understand diverse users' needs, priorities, mental models of energy and decision-making heuristics - as well as the affordances available to them - in a number of office buildings. We are developing and trialling a set of low-cost, simple software interventions tailored to multiple user groups with different degrees of agency over their energy use, which...

Rapid energy savings in London's households to mitigate an energy crisis

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Rapid energy savings in London's households to mitigate an energy crisis

What Are People's Responses to Thermal Discomfort? Sensing Clothing and Activity Levels Using SenseCam

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Recent international agreements on reducing energy consumption have led to a series of interventions in residential buildings, from modifying the building fabric to upgrading operating systems. To date, these attempts have met with limited success. One reason for this has been identified as the ‘rebound effect’, where the occupants’ respond to their home thermal environment change in unexpected ways after interventions. Often people decide to turn up the heating, to leave it on for longer, or to increase the average spatial temperature by heating more rooms. Although much of the research on heating patterns in dwellings has focused on identifying methods to predict and to assess thermal sensation, less is understood about the way occupants form their responses. Research presented in this paper focuses on mapping householders thermal discomfort responses. Empirical methods, drawn from the social and cognitive sciences, were used in a several studies, which monitored a small sample...

Modelling the impact of user behaviour on heat energy consumption

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Our behaviour in our homes can seriously affect the associated carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. In the UK, space-heating accounts for nearly 60% of domestic energy consumption and 27% of total CO₂ emissions come from our homes. Regrettably, low-energy building design does not guarantee low-energy performance. Controls systems, in particular heating controls, are often too complex for users to programme. This study uses real-world data from buildings, observational data from users and energy modelling to establish why people have difficulty using their control systems, and the potential resultant energy impacts.

Users were asked to programme an example heating profile for a week using three different control interfaces. Prior to attempting this task there was a preconception amongst users that they would be unable to complete it. Controls were found to exclude users due to the cognitive demands placed on them. A key observation was that five of the...