California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE)

We conducted an experiment to explore how teenagers can become energy conservation stewards at home. In this experiment, called the Dial Down Challenge, we equipped adolescents with knowledge about electricity and water conservation behavior during a six-week online program with guided activities to be completed at home. We tested whether teenagers could transfer this knowledge to other members of their household and induce attitudinal and behavioral change. We found that knowledge, awareness, and motivation for saving energy increased among both teenagers and their parents. We also found that participants’ perceptions of their agency increased across teenagers and parents. In terms of intergenerational exchange, we found that parents increased their reliance on the information provided by their children but reduced their perception of their children’s agency in changing energy conservation practices at home. In other words, participants realized that energy conservation was more challenging than anticipated. Overall, the results from this small experiment demonstrate the potential of a program like the Dial Down Challenge for increasing energy conservation awareness and knowledge within the household. However, we also find that this type of experiment requires active social interactions and is difficult to implement during a pandemic when these interactions are limited.