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ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS: BEHAVIORAL ISSUES
Paul C. Stern, Editor
Committee on Behavioral and Social Aspects
of Energy Consumption and Production
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C., 1985
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by
the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are
drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The
members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for
their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors
according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee
consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National
Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
. . . · . . .
The National Research Council was established by the National
Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science
and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and
of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance
with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of
its congressional charter of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a
private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council
has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy
of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of
their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and
engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies
and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and
the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970,
respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences.
Available from:
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418
Printed in the United States of America
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COMMITTEE ON BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
ELLIOT ARONSON (Chair), Stevenson College, University of California,
Santa Cruz
JOHN M. DARLEY, Department of Psychology, Princeton University
DANIEL H. HILL, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
ERIC HIRST, Energy Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
WILLETT KEMPTON, Institute of Family and Child Study, Michigan State
University
THOMAS J. WILBANKS, Energy Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
PAUL C. STERN, Study Director
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CONTENTS
PREFACE
1 ENERGY CONSERVATION POLICY AND BEHAVIOR
The Human Dimension of Energy Use, 2
About Th is Repor t, 3
Behavioral Questions Related to Conservation Programs for
Buildings, 4
METHODS FOR ANSWERING BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS
Six Analytic Methods, 9
A Strategy for Assessing Behavioral Issues, 16
Using Behavioral Methods to Analyze Policy Issues, 17
3 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RESIDENTIAL CONSERVATION INCENTIVES
Criteria of Effectiveness, 30
Effects of the Size and Type of Incentive, 33
Nonfinancial Features of Incentive Programs, 41
Effectiveness of Incentives in the Low-Income Housing
Sector, 46
Conclusions, 49
4 INFORMATION-BASED HOME RETROFIT PROGRAMS
How Can a Program be Designed so that the Information it
Offers is Used? 53
How Can a Program be Designed to Spread Information
Widely? 56
How Can the Effects of a Program be Forecast? 56
How Can the Effects of a Program be Assessed Accurately? 57
To What Can Program Effects be Attributed? 59
Recommendations, 62
v
vii
1
9
29
53
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5 HOME ENERGY RATINGS 64
Characteristics of an Ideal Home Energy Rating System, 65
Questions About Designing Ratings, 66
Questions About Implementing Rating Programs, 69
Developing Effective Home Energy Rating Systems, 73
Conclusions and Recommendations, 77
6 PREDICTED AND ACTUAL ENERGY SAVINGS FROM HOME RETROFITS
Research Strategy, 81
The First Stage of Research, 83
Guidelines for Research Design, 90
REFERENCES
V1
79
92
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PREFACE
In 1980, with funds from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), the
National Research Council established a Committee on Behavioral and
Social Aspects of Energy Consumption and Production to draw on knowledge
from the social and behavioral sciences in order to improve understand-
ing of energy consumption and production in the United States. In its
first report (Stern and Aronson, 1984), the committee developed a new
perspective on energy issues and applied it to three areas of energy
policy: energy use and conservation, energy emergencies, and energy
activity at the local level. In a second report (Stern, 1984), a panel
of the committee applied this perspective to some problems of fore-
casting and policy analysis most often addressed with formal
mathematical models based on engineering data and economic concepts.
The committee developed its perspective on energy use in response
to a request from DOE for advice on how knowledge from the behavioral
and social sciences other than economics could illuminate energy policy
issues. Thus, the committee did not begin from economic assumptions;
we did not, for instance, assume that it is adequate to characterize
energy users as rational economic actors making choices in a market.
We took a broader view. For example, we identified five different
views of energy users that that may have great value for policy
analysis: (1) energy users as investors who seek to maximize net
financial value over the long term; (2) energy users as consumers whose
choices reflect desires for personal benefits that are not financial;
(3) energy users as people who express personal attitudes and social
values; (4) energy users as members of social groups who reflect the
influence of friends and associates; and {5) finally, energy users as
people who want to minimize effort and avoid future problems and
inconveniences. The recognition of this broad range of motives
affecting energy users' behavior has numerous implications for energy
conservation policy, which the committee explored in its previous
reports. Moreover, we tried to establish the conditions under which
each of these motives would be more or less powerful.
In 1984 DOE expressed the need for a more detailed understanding of
some of these implications. Accordingly, the committee was asked to
apply its perspective to selected policy questions and to develop ways
to help the staff of DOE's Office of Buildings Energy Research and
Development to improve its analysis of behavioral issues in the area of
· e
VII
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consumer choice. This report directly addresses three issues: (1)
consumer adoption of energy-efficient retrofits of existing buildings;
(2) the role of energy efficiency in purchase decisions regarding new
and used homes; and (3) consumer response to financial incentives for
energy conservation. In addition, our analysis offers a framework for
identifying behavioral issues regarding energy efficiency in buildings
and for choosing methods for analyzing those issues.
The report reflects the deliberations and contributions of the full
committee as well as our discussions with DOE staff. The actual
writing and editing of the report was the primary responsibility of
Paul Stern, the committee's study director. Helpful comments on
sections of the report were received from Gautam Dutt, Michael
Rothkopf, and reviewers for the Commission on Behavioral and Social
Sciences and Education. In addition, it is a pleasure to express
appreciation to other people who made important contributions to the
committee's work on this report: John Millhone, Diane Pirkey, Lynda
Connor, Fred Abel, and Barry McNutt of DOE; David Goslin and Brett
Hammond, executive director and associate executive director of the
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; and Eugenia
Grohman, the Commission's associate director for reports.
ELLIOT ARONSON, Chair -
Committee on Behavioral and Social Aspects
of Energy Consumption and Production
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