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Colorful energy conservation efforts appeal to human behavior [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette](Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 11--When Courtney Yanov checked the new screen in her office, the director of corporate workplace at PNC Financial Services Group saw the colors shift and change with the fluctuations of energy drawn from the four or five electrical appliances -- among them a computer, telephone and desk light. "I made some changes right off the bat," Ms. Yanov said, and the screen went from red to "mostly green, maybe some yellows." Knowledge is power, based on her experience and that of other PNC employees involved in a six-month study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University with U.S. Department of Energy funding. In findings released last month, CMU researchers said PNC employees able to access information on their energy usage and given the power to control it decreased consumption more than five times as much as those who knew they were being monitored but had no information and no control. CMU researchers monitored 80 PNC employees by installing 400 meters that measured the "plug load" of an electrical outlet. They divided employees into four groups, with the first receiving little information and control and each of the others getting a bit more than the last. Group One reduced its overall consumption by 7 percent; Group Four, which included Ms. Yanov, cut 38 percent. "The most important thing was the human element, which we didn't know too much about," said Nana Wilberforce, PNC's energy manager. "When you give people information and give them the ability to make their own choices, people tend to make the right choices every time." Next year, PNC will roll out plug-load meters in all of its U.S. branches and office buildings, and provide employees nationwide with access to the dashboards, Mr. Wilberforce said. The bank expects to make a return on its investment within two years of deploying the plug-load meters, though it still has not settled on what brand of meters. Plugging in One meter from Plugwise, the Dutch manufacturer of the meters involved in the study, is sold online for about $55. Plugwise is among a growing body of developers that are engineering ways to "nudge" people into conserving more energy in commercial and residential buildings on a office-, home- and even outlet-level. Many focus on changing "occupant behavior" by so-called "behavioral interventions," which the U.S. Department of Energy thinks could factor into cutting emissions in half from existing commercial buildings by 2030. Progress in energy efficiency has traditionally been concentrated on structural technology, such as retrofits in lighting and heating and cooling systems, said Akua Sampson, director of strategic initiatives at Emissions Consult LLC, a Maryland firm that works with PNC and other business clients to reduce energy use. "Human behavior is actually as important as the physical characteristics of a building," Ms. Sampson said, adding that Emission Consult also includes age, socioeconomic status and other demographics when considering efficiency solutions. About 40 percent of the company's clients have installed plug-load meters, she said. Controlling plug-load energy is important in the grand scheme of long-term energy reduction, said Brian Orland, professor in Penn State University's College of Arts & Architecture. The proliferation of office equipment that requires plugging in, he said, is projected to cause a spike in plug-load's share of total building electricity use from 33 percent today to 49 percent by 2030. "We need to put informed control in the hands of office users," Mr. Orland argued. "The building themselves don't care if they save energy or not." A game of it Enter: "Energy Chickens." Developed by researchers in Penn State's StudioLab and using Plugwise meters, the interactive game stars chickens that each embody an electrical appliance controlled by a player. The more that a player lowers the energy usage of an appliance, a game interface instructs, the "happier your chicken will grow!" A healthy chicken lays eggs that the player can collect to purchase accessories for the imaginary farm; likewise, wasted electricity will turn a player's chicken sickly green and writhing on the ground. It's all an exploration into the pathos required for people to cut back a little, said Mr. Orland, who led the game's development. Cartoon chickens, conceptually simpler than melting ice caps to represent climate change, evoke certain feelings of responsibility -- not unlike those users felt while playing the Tamagotchi pet game in the 1990s. In deviation from most other energy efficiency "games," the chicken game is not hypothetical: It, too, uses Plugwise meters to provide the consumer with feedback. "It's using the pet metaphor to engage people's sympathies," Mr. Orland said. "In this case, the chicken is the feedback mechanism." Neighborly incentives Then there are companies like Opower. Since 2008, Arlington, Va.-based company has partnered with local utilities in California, Illinois, Colorado and other states to send colorful energy use reports to customers showing them how they compare monthly to similarly sized homes in their neighborhood. If customers use more energy than their neighbors, the report tells them how much more they are spending per year. A 2010 joint economic study by two researchers from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology noted Opower's strategy, if used nationwide, could save utilities 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour and a reduce U.S. total carbon emissions by nearly 1 percent -- all by paying "only for a letter and a postage stamp." While research relating human behavior to energy use decisions is not exactly new, the drive to scale up innovations has been fragmented. "What has been missing is a concerted effort by researchers, policymakers and businesses to do the 'engineering' work of translating behavioral science insights into scaled interventions, moving continuously from the laboratory to the field to practice," according to the study. For its part, "Energy Chickens" has found success. In a 24-week study conducted last year, 42 office workers in New Jersey reduced their overall plug-load energy use by 13 percent by playing the game. Mr. Orland said he is working with a firm in San Francisco, VirtuallyGreen, to find some more takers. "It's brought about real energy savings in a real life settings," he said. Daniel Moore: [email protected] or 412-263-2743 or on Twitter @danielmoore1213. ___ (c)2014 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |