Energy-related Behavior Research Articles

Determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in university students: a qualitative study using focus group discussions.

BackgroundCollege or university is a critical period regarding unhealthy changes in energy related behaviours in students. The first objective of this explorative study was to identify determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Belgian university students. Secondly, we aimed to collect ideas and recommendations to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary behaviours in university students.MethodsUsing a semi-structured question guide, seven focus group discussions were conducted consisting of 17 male and 29 female university students from a variety of study disciplines, with a mean age of 20.7 ± 1.6 yrs. Using Nvivo9, an inductive thematic approach was used for data analysis.ResultsStudents reported that both physical and sedentary activities were influenced by individual factors (e.g. perceived enjoyment, self-discipline, time and convenience), their social networks (e.g. (lack of) parental control, modelling, social support), physical environment (e.g. availability and accessibility, travel time/distance, prices), and macro environment (e.g. media and advertising). Furthermore, the relationships between determinants and university students’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour seemed to be moderated by university characteristics, such as residency, university lifestyle, exams and academic pressure. Recommendations for future physical activity interventions include improving information strategies regarding on-campus sports activities, cheaper and/or more flexible sports subscriptions and formulas, including ‘sports time’ into the curricula, and providing university bicycles around campus. Students also believed that increasing students’ physical activity might decrease their sedentary behaviour at the same time.ConclusionsThe recommendations and ideas discussed in this study may facilitate the development of effective and tailored (multilevel) intervention programs aiming to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary behaviours in university students.

The climate change problem: promoting motivation for change when the map is not the territory.

The climate-change risks that have emerged in the wake of mass industrialization indicate the need for a transition to sustainable energy, but attempts to encourage people to adopt pro-environmental behavior often achieve only limited success (Whitmarsh and O'Neill, 2010; Chu and Majumdar, 2012). Indeed, despite the wealth of evidence that an energy transition is critical to our very survival, people in general are reluctant to change their energy related decisions and behaviors. I suggest that the key to understanding our stunted ability to address the problem of climate change is rooted in human motivation, which is defined as the process that moves individuals to action. Motivational barriers, which imply difficulties in energy, direction and action initiation, can be illustrated by the analogy of a car, which requires fuel as its energy source and a steering system to provide direction; without both, it cannot move (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Similarly, motivational processes are impelled by two modes of action: one, automatic, effortless and involving no conscious awareness, is responsible for people's immediate responses to the environment. The second is voluntary and conscious, and it mainly helps people navigate and plan for the future direction (Bargh, 1997; Baumeister and Bargh, 2014). From this perspective, the phenomenon of motivation for change is influenced by both implicit and explicit processes and determined by the energy required to navigate in a new direction and the extent to which resistance to change can be overcome (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1986). In what follows, I will describe the unique challenges associated with motivation for change in terms of the two modes of goal pursuit, first by examining the conscious, explicit difficulties associated with making climate change goal and implementing the corresponding means and then by describing the effects of automatic, implicit processes on immediate goal pursuit. Finally, based on social psychology perspective of motivation and strategic principles of psychological intervention, I will provide several recommendations for promoting the energy transition.

Investigating and structural modeling energy literacy of high school students in Taiwan

The study investigated a sample population of 675 students drawn from high schools nationwide, to grasp how literate they were about energy issues and to construct accordingly, a model that depicted the interplay among their knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors. Students were found to possess better knowledge about scientific basics than related issues of energy, attitudes favoring renewable energy underlaid by relatively anthropocentric environmental value, and energy-saving habits. In explaining personal energy-related behaviors, the most influential component was attitude, and knowledge had little effect. Males were more knowledgeable about energy but held a less positive attitude than females, whose energy literacy components were also more strongly interconnected in the structural relationship model. Implications and other findings including the role of family behavior are discussed.

Factors influencing residents’ energy use—A study of energy-related behaviour in 57 Swedish homes

The aim of this work has been to study everyday energy-related behaviour in homes. All residents in 57 Swedish homes, living in three housing areas, have recorded time diaries over a period of four days, during the same time period in each area. The technical differences between the houses are limited, as the building designs within each housing area are the same. On an aggregated level, the diary data has been analysed with and without typical power data of appliances as well as in relation to measured total energy use, indoor temperature and water usage. Cluster analyses have been performed in order to find characteristics of groups of residents with regard to their energy-related behaviour. Some of the findings were that residents report long time use/operating time for activities related to electronic equipment (45% of total reported time). Residents which used energy to a greater extent than others were characterised by performing activities with long operating times, in combination with high, and fairly high, typical power ratings. The majority of residents showed many different energy-related behaviours, which indicates that a number of strategies to influence the behaviours – not just one – will be required.

The reliance on symbolically significant behavioral attributes when judging energy consumption behaviors

This research provides evidence for people's susceptibility to the symbolic significance fallacy when judging energy-related behaviors. The fallacy describes people's tendency to rely on symbolically significant behavioral attributes while neglecting other information. Participants were presented with two energy consumer descriptions. One entailed a positive symbolically significant attribute (e.g., driving a Prius) and a negative symbolically neutral attribute (e.g., covering 28,700 km); for the other one, the reverse was true (e.g., driving an SUV and covering 11,400 km). Thereby, the former actually consumed more energy. As expected, the energy consumer with the positive symbolically significant attribute was considered more energy conscious than the one with the negative symbolically significant attribute. The effect even persisted when providing detailed information on energy consumption, enabling an exact calculation, and asking to directly rate energy consumption. This research points to misperceptions in the estimation of energy consumption that could impede adoption of adequate energy-friendly behavior.

Nonintrusive disaggregation of residential air-conditioning loads from sub-hourly smart meter data

The installation of smart meters has provided an opportunity to better analyze residential energy consumption and energy-related behaviors. Air-conditioning (A/C) use can be determined through non-intrusive load monitoring, which separates A/C cooling energy consumption from whole-house energy data. In this paper, a disaggregation technique is described and executed on 1-min smart meter data from 88 houses in Austin, TX, USA, from July 2012 through June 2013. Nineteen houses were sub-metered to validate the accuracy of the disaggregation technique. The R2 value between the predicted and actual A/C energy use for the 19 houses was 0.90. The algorithm was then applied to all houses. On average, daily energy use from A/C increased by 25±11kWh between a mild temperature day of 15.5°C (60°F) and a hotter day of 31.5°C (89°F), with an 11kWh increase just during peak hours (14:00–20:00). Average time operated, number of cycles, and A/C fraction of energy were found to increase linearly with outdoor temperature up to 25°C (77°F); a plateau was detected at higher temperatures. The accuracy of A/C disaggregation on 5-min data was found to be comparable to 1-min data. However, 15-min data did not yield accurate results due to insufficient granularity.

Low-carbon retrofits in social housing: Interaction with occupant behaviour

The turnover of the UK housing stock is such that CO2 emissions reduction targets will require extensive refurbishment of existing homes. Both within the literature and in practice, there is limited understanding of the interaction between housing energy efficiency refurbishment and occupant behaviour. The authors implemented interview-based qualitative research into energy-related behaviours before and after an energy efficiency refurbishment project on social housing in the north east of England. Half of the sample also received an information intervention. Template analysis identified seven key patterns affecting energy behaviour: access to knowledge and skills; nature of technical intervention; habit; external circumstances; quality of technical intervention; convenience of technology; and thermal comfort. These findings were discussed in relation to Social Practice Theory and competence, material and image as components of practice. The research provides an insight into the interaction between occupants and retrofit technologies in the context of a social housing retrofit. It is recommended that policy makers and implementers of retrofit programmes ensure that competence, material and image considerations are integral to retrofit programmes for energy use practice to change and more optimal CO2 emissions reduction achieved.

A methodology for identifying the influence of design variations on building energy performance

In building performance simulation, understanding the potential for parameter variations to cause a disproportionately large change in a performance metric is an important aspect of the modelling and design process. This is especially true if the proposed building is expected to meet a performance target such as net-zero energy consumption. In the context of this paper, variations refer to design modifications which lead to large changes in a performance metric. This paper proposes a methodology to identify influential variations around a performance criterion. This methodology aids in the understanding of possible discrepancies between predicted and realized building performance. A net-zero energy house case-study demonstrates the methodology. A variability analysis of the case-study indicated that combinations of variations caused energy consumption to be larger than on-site generation in 20% of variational scenarios. A back-tracking search identified that 8 of 26 variables were responsible for significant changes in net-energy consumption. In particular, energy-related occupant behaviour, solar orientation, and variables related to the sizing of a roof-based photovoltaic system can significantly influence net-energy consumption. The case-study helped quantify two optimal approaches for passive solar design – one relying on high insulation levels and lower window areas, and the other relying on good insulation levels and large window areas.

Low Carbon Technologies, Strategies and Lifestyles for Green Buildings

Low carbon community is an essential cell and it can be considered as the basic to achieve low carbon development strategy. Due to high energy consumption of commercial and residential buildings in the community, it is of great importance to reconsider the building structure and exploit renewable energy systems to minimize conventional energy consumption and improve living quality. In this paper, various low carbon technologies, strategies and lifestyles which are relevant with green buildings in the community have been discussed, including reasonable design, green roof system, utilization of renewable energy sources, change of low carbon living mode and energy-related behavior.

Spatiotemporal lighting load disaggregation using light intensity signal

Lighting systems in commercial buildings are major contributors to the electricity consumption while occupants of these buildings are usually not aware of the effect of their energy-related behavior on the electricity consumption. A non-intrusive load disaggregation approach for lighting systems in office buildings was proposed and evaluated to provide high granularity spatiotemporal load monitoring. In our approach, we proposed a process for artificial light event detection and power consumption estimation using light intensity signals and rooms’ contextual information (i.e. room area and number of possible states for lighting fixtures). Three event detection algorithms: generalized likelihood ratio test, signal-shape driven event detection, and enhanced naïve event detection were proposed and evaluated. The signal-shape driven event detection algorithm outperformed on data collected in rooms where the natural light was used in conjunction with artificial light source. The correlation between the illuminance in a room and power consumption associated with that level of illuminance was used for power consumption estimation. The evaluations in rooms (with and without natural light) showed the feasibility of accurate power estimation when the sensor is installed closer to the floor and the estimation is informed by the possible operating states of lighting fixtures.

Qualitative Order of Magnitude Energy-Flow-Based Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

This paper presents a structured power and energy-flow-based qualitative modelling approach that is applicable to a variety of system types including electrical and fluid flow. The modelling is split into two parts. Power flow is a global phenomenon and is therefore naturally represented and analysed by a network comprised of the relevant structural elements from the components of a system. The power flow analysis is a platform for higher-level behaviour prediction of energy related aspects using local component behaviour models to capture a state-based representation with a global time. The primary application is Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and a form of exaggeration reasoning is used, combined with an order of magnitude representation to derive the worst case failure modes. The novel aspects of the work are an order of magnitude(OM) qualitative network analyser to represent any power domain and topology, including multiple power sources, a feature that was not required for earlier specialised electrical versions of the approach. Secondly, the representation of generalised energy related behaviour as state-based local models is presented as a modelling strategy that can be more vivid and intuitive for a range of topologically complex applications than qualitative equation-based representations.The two-level modelling strategy allows the broad system behaviour coverage of qualitative simulation to be exploited for the FMEA task, while limiting the difficulties of qualitative ambiguity explanation that can arise from abstracted numerical models. We have used the method to support an automated FMEA system with examples of an aircraft fuel system and domestic a heating system discussed in this paper.

Trends in Research on Energy Balance Supported by the National Cancer Institute

Over the past decade, the body of research linking energy balance to the incidence, development, progression, and treatment of cancer has grown substantially. No prior NIH portfolio analyses have focused on energy balance within one institute. This portfolio analysis describes the growth of National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant research on energy balance-related conditions and behaviors from 2004 to 2010 following the release of an NCI research priority statement in 2003 on energy balance and cancer-related research. Energy balance grants from fiscal years (FY) 2004 to 2010 were identified using multiple search terms and analyzed between calendar years 2008 and 2010. Study characteristics related to cancer site, design, population, and energy balance area (physical activity, diet, and weight) were abstracted. From FY2004 to FY2010, the NCI awarded 269 energy balance-relevant grants totaling $518 million. In FY2010, 4.2% of NCI's total research project grants budget was allocated to energy balance research, compared to 2.1% in FY2004. The NCI more than doubled support for investigator-initiated research project grants (R01) and increased support for cooperative agreement (U01, U54) and exploratory research (R21) grants. In the portfolio, research examining energy balance areas in combination accounted for 41.6%, and observational and interventional studies were equally represented (38.3% and 37.2%, respectively). Breast cancer was the most commonly studied cancer. Inclusion of minorities rose, and funding specific to cancer survivors more than doubled. From FY2004 to FY2010, NCI's investment in energy balance and related health behavior research showed growth in funding and diversity of mechanisms, topics, and disciplines-growth that reflects new directions in this field.

Energy consumption and savings: A survey-based study of Finnish households

Energy has moved to the forefront in societal and economic development. Our homes and real estate are more and more dependent on electricity. In order to reach the full potential for new consumer-oriented market mechanisms and in order to fulfil climate policy targets we need more information on consumers’ behaviour and attitudes towards energy. This paper uses a survey to examine the attitudes and behaviour of households' energy-related issues. The analytical framework used is based on ordered choice and probability models. The objective is to identify households' characteristics that affect energy consumption and savings, attitudes towards climate change and conservation of natural resources, and the importance of municipal energy-related issues. According to the results, the importance of reduction in electricity consumption is positively correlated with attitudes towards mitigation of climate change and importance of renewable energy. Heating system of residence, income, and gender affect attitude and behaviour. Interestingly, the higher the income the less important is electricity reduction. Women have changed their behaviour in order to reduce electricity consumption more than men. Utilising this information it is possible for society to build efficient mechanisms, such as real-time pricing, through which we can affect consumers' energy-related behaviour and give incentives for energy savings and efficiency. One interesting result is also that over 80% of the respondents view municipalities' energy efficiency as very important.

Influence of residents on energy use in 57 Swedish houses measured during four winter days

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge about energy use in residential buildings. Field measurements were carried out in 57 electrically heated Swedish single-family houses, where the total energy use (i.e. electricity use for space heating, household electricity and electricity use for hot water production), indoor temperatures and water use were recorded during four winter days. Some of the findings were that differences for households’ total energy use of similar houses were large. The characteristics of load curves clearly differ between weekdays and weekend days. The water use differs greatly for the households. This paper is part of a larger project where time use diaries were used in order to further link the energy use to residents’ every day energy related behaviours. To get a better understanding of the energy use in our homes is a prerequisite to be able to both recognise the problems as well as the potentials of reaching energy goals of our society, leading to a decreased impact on the environment from the building sector.

Food choice, energy balance and its determinants: Views of human behaviour in economics and psychology

This paper shows how economic and psychological approaches to explaining why people overeat are based on different basic assumptions about human behaviour. Three such views of human behaviour are distinguished: rational behaviour, reasoned behaviour, and automatic behaviour. Economic approaches, trying to explain behaviour leading to weight gain and obesity based on the assumption of rational utility-maximising behaviour, are contrasted with psychological approaches built on the softer assumption of reasoned behaviour and the more drastic assumption that major parts of especially eating behaviour are subject to automatic reactions to environmental stimuli. It is concluded that only the three approaches taken together can give sufficient insight into the various mechanisms determining food intake and physical activity, and that such a broad view is necessary for understanding the ways in which commonly advocated policy instruments can affect energy-related behaviour.

Understanding energy consumption behavior for future demand response strategy development

Encouraging consumers to use less electricity through information is essential for sustainable use of energy and demand response is indeed a key component of the smart grids concept. The aim with this study is to understand differences between consumer categories and what this could mean e.g. to develop effective demand response measures. In-depth analyses of answers from a questionnaire sent out to 2000 households, contribute to a better understanding of Swedish households' energy related behavior. The households have been provided with a web-site enabling them to check their daily electricity consumption compared to previous months/years and even get advice and tips on how to reduce electricity consumption. The results show clear differences in the response rates from different type of residence, different income areas of the city and in the most preferred ways of receiving information-feedback. The web based feedback, provided by the local energy company, received more visits (and more frequently) from respondents living in houses than from apartments.The analysis of the answers raises questions about the effectiveness of using only one tool of providing energy consumption information to the customers (web-site, in this case) and stresses the importance of applying an individual approach to different energy users.

Power quality and energy efficiency assessment and the need for labelling and minimum performance standard of uninterruptible power systems (UPS) in Brazil

The poor quality of electrical power in Brazil has led to an increase in the sales of power conditioning equipment such as uninterruptible power systems (UPS) to supply a voltage wave shape without distortion or interruption. However, there are indications that the average performance of the UPS equipment available in the Brazilian market requires some improvement. Information about the energy-related behaviour of UPS units is scarce. In this paper, we estimate and analyse the installed capacity of UPS units and assess their power consumption, losses and impact on the power quality in the electrical system. The analysis is performed through energy efficiency and power quality measurements performed on UPS units that are commonly available in Brazil. We estimate the energy conservation potential of the UPS. The results of assessments strongly support the need for public policies for energy efficiency and power quality improvements, particularly the labelling of UPS units and the introduction of minimum performance standards for UPS devices.

Explaining and Improving the Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Social Cognition-Based View on Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation

Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) targeted at businesses are increasingly used as environmental and energy policy instruments. Numerous studies have focused on technological, economic, political, social and cultural factors that influence the success of a program. However, academic research and policy analysis have mostly focused on the impact and efficiency of programs while processes of VEP adoption and implementation that explain outcomes have been neglected to some extent. Recently, a growing body of research on environment and energy related behaviors has manifested. The study of factors influencing adoption behavior can contribute significantly to the understanding of VEP acceptance at the individual, organizational and societal level. In addition, limitations to voluntary program design and evaluation can be reduced by the application of behavioral and theory-based program planning. Social cognition models from social psychology and the technology acceptance literature show great potential to improve systematic understanding of VEP adoption behavior and enhance existing program design and evaluation methods. The present article adds to the existing academic literature and evaluation practice by reviewing social cognition-based models to further knowledge regarding VEP design, implementation and evaluation processes.

Practical versus theoretical domestic energy consumption for space heating

Methods to calculate the theoretical energy consumption consider several things: the number of degree days per year that need to be compensated by heating, the characteristics of the dwelling, the number of occupants and the characteristics of the installation for space heating and sanitary hot water. However, these methods do not take into account consumer behaviour, which may affect the actual consumption.The theoretical calculation methods are based on assumptions and use a number of standardized parameters.The difference between the actual and the theoretical energy consumption, and the impact of the residents' behaviour on energy consumption, is analysed by means of a literature study and a practical research. An energy advice procedure (EAP) audit is executed in five dwellings, as well as a survey regarding the energy related behaviour of the households. The theoretically calculated consumption is compared with the billed actual energy consumption of the families. The results show some problems with the current procedure and give some options to improve it. Some research needs are identified to gain more insights in the influence of different behavioural factors on the actual energy use for heating.

Changing energy-related behavior: An Intervention Mapping approach

This paper's objective is to apply Intervention Mapping, a planning process for the systematic development of theory- and evidence-based health promotion interventions, to the development of interventions to promote energy conservation behavior. Intervention Mapping (IM) consists of six steps: needs assessment, program objectives, methods and applications, program development, planning for program implementation, and planning for program evaluation. Examples from the energy conservation field are provided to illustrate the activities associated with these steps. It is concluded that applying IM in the energy conservation field may help the development of effective behavior change interventions, and thus develop a domain specific knowledge-base for effective intervention design.