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Incorporating behaviour change concepts into facility energy management training in professional and post-secondary programs

International Conference on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (7th : 2015 : Vancouver, B.C.)

Improvement in energy efficiency is widely recognized as a critical element in sustainable development to meet economic and energy security goals, to reduce local air pollution, and to stabilize atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Energy management involves the application of methods, tools, and techniques to improve energy efficiency. Energy management training (EMT) emerged following the energy crises of the 1970’s. This training has traditionally focused on engineering methods and technology. However, it has been argued for decades that traditional engineering-economic theories do not fully explain why cost-effective energy-saving measures are often not implemented – known as the “energy efficiency gap”. To explain this gap, experts commonly cite a variety of barriers and criticisms of energy management practices, usually with explicit criticisms of engineers and their methodologies. To reduce the energy efficiency gap, experts and policymakers are increasingly arguing for the adoption of behaviour change techniques. We argue that if behavioural interventions are to be effective in narrowing the gap, then professionals at the front lines of energy management, engineers in particular, must be trained to understand behaviour change concepts and apply proven techniques. Our survey of training professionals reveals broad agreement (92%) that behaviour should be included in EMT. However, our survey also reveals that many trainers have only a vague idea as to what concepts and techniques should be taught. Many participants equate behaviour with motivational arguments for saving energy (like environment), and also rely heavily on awareness techniques. While motivation and awareness are critical, there is ample research to demonstrate there are additional concepts, tools, and techniques that must be applied to achieve the potential for behavior change. This study helps advance the practice of EMT in engineering curricula by identifying five specific elements to include in future training: (1) limits of engineering-economic approaches, (2) fundamental cognitive biases, (3) energy-saving potential of behavioural actions, (4) proven behaviour change techniques, and (5) measurement and evaluation methods. This study draws heavily upon the interrelated disciplines of psychology, cognitive sciences, and behavioural economics.

Text

2015-06-02

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/53666

Nesbit, S. & Froese, T. M. (Eds.) (2015). Proceedings of EESD15: The 7th Conference on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. June 9-12.

Faculty; Other

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