by Brianna Crandall — November 12, 2010—Motivating customers and organizations to change their behavior can lead to significant energy savings, says the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). ACEEE’s new report, Visible and Concrete Savings: Case Studies of Effective Behavioral Approaches to Improving Customer Energy Efficiency, profiles a variety of programs that spur individuals and organizations to save energy by changing behavior in their homes, businesses and plants.
The selected case studies illustrate the results possible when applying social science to energy efficiency and conservation programs across the spectrum of customer types and the different ways they use energy, says ACEEE. “Helping consumers better understand their energy use, and providing them the knowledge and tools necessary to change the way they use energy are essential to achieving the full economic and environmental benefits from energy efficiency,” said Dan York, Utilities Program Deputy Director.
Social science-based programs that seek to reduce customer energy use are attracting increased interest as governments, industries, and the public expand their energy efficiency efforts to accomplish environmental, economic, organizational, and personal goals. Key factors for success from these leading case studies include making energy use “visible” to customers, setting measurable goals, providing incentives and instructions for action, and providing feedback on progress towards customer goals.
This report features profiles of 10 large, recent programs that have met a broad range of efficiency targets—from 2 to 20 percent of participants’ energy use—using a variety of approaches. Two of the case studies highlight the ambitious efforts by Alcoa and Dow to reduce their total energy footprint in their companies through management and employee-led initiatives.
