When homeowners who have the money to pay for energy efficiency upgrades are given clear information about the benefits of those upgrades, they will have the work done… right?

Well, contrary to popular belief, no.

In the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) report, Driving Demand for Home Energy Improvements, the authors share insights they gleaned from behavioral research which challenge that impression. Among the report’s conclusions:

• People are more sensitive to losses than gains, so a project’s initial costs might discourage them from initiating upgrades.
• People tend to want to maintain the status quo and discount the benefits from taking action.
• People can become overwhelmed when presented with too many decisions, and as a result might not make any.
• Most people don’t fully realize how much energy they use; therefore, they are unaware of particular habits that may waste a lot of energy.
• Many people assume they are doing more to save energy than other people are, and that they are already doing everything they can.

So what does influence homeowners’ energy decisions?

As with many aspects of life, people are influenced by what others are doing. The study found that “…actual energy saving efforts were most strongly correlated with the belief that other people were conserving energy than with any of the other motivators that people said were "important.”  While a personal conversation with a known and trusted peer can be a strong motivator, other effective motivation strategies include:

• telling success stories
• engaging community leaders
• taking advantage of existing social relationships and networks
• discussing how other people are doing it.

Competition can also create a common energy efficiency goal and motivate individuals toward action. Events such as the Energy Smackdown, which pits neighborhood teams against one another, can make the activity fun and more engaging. However, it is critical to convince individuals to continue to make even more comprehensive energy changes after the event is over.

Public pledges and commitments help people follow through on energy upgrade activities because people want to live up to others’ expectations. In one study, people who made a public commitment to save energy saved more than those who did not.

Feedback—regarding how a homeowner’s energy use compares to others as well as how energy use changes from implementing upgrades—also influences behavior; although it is uncertain how long the energy savings continue after this feedback is removed. It is also important to realize that feedback may actually increase consumption among low energy users, depending on how it is structured.

Finally, the LBNL study found that when asking people to make small concessions (such as changing a light bulb) it is important to emphasize that it is the beginning of a longer process. Without this sort of guidance, that single step can be enough to reduce people’s concern and prevent them from following through with more meaningful measures. 

For a more detailed discussion on the behavioral research from this study, please see Chapter 6 of Driving Demand for Home Energy Improvements.

Content for this Blog post courtesy of Merrian Fuller, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory