Download Snap it off! Researching energy saving schemes in halls of

Snap it off! Researching energy
saving schemes in halls of residences.
Lizzie Bone
Environmental Researcher
NUS Services
Halls – Energy behaviours
• Carbon implications of halls
• Student behaviours
• Encouraging pro-environmental behaviours
• Preliminary findings
• Your university
Carbon implications in halls
Halls - in terms of carbon
• 2.3 million students (UK HE)
• 22% in halls (506,000 bed spaces)
• 348,000 HEI / 158,000 private
• Halls on English HEIs £73.5m, 401,315 tCO2
(£250m total, 29.5%)
• 1.8 million students (England HE)
• Per bed space £185; 1.01 tCO2
• Total UK spend for halls £94m; 513,000 tCO2
Halls - in terms of behaviour
• Of 506,000 bed spaces, 44.5% (225,170) are first year
students
• Often living away from home for the first time
• Virtually all halls charge a fixed rent inclusive of utilities
• A lack of incentives; clear disincentive.
• Habit discontinuity hypothesis (Verplanken et al., 2008)
• Superb opportunity to green UK population!
Student behaviours
% of
respondents in
halls
(base 1,388)
% of respondents
in private
accommodation
(base 2,206)
Leaving lights on unnecessarily
11.3
4.8
Leaving a mobile phone charger on
when not in use
30.7
27.0
Overfilling the kettle
25.3
16.3
27.3
22.5
Leaving the heating when not in use
28.8
16.9
Putting more clothes on rather than
turning up the heating
54.0
68.6
Action
Leaving the
brushing teeth
tap
running
when
Percentage of student respondents living in halls and privately-rented
accommodation doing the specified actions always or quite often
Appliance
% of respondents with
appliance in their study room
(base 4,267)
Computer / laptop
97.7
Mobile phone charger
92.0
Other charger (IPod, camera, etc.)
75.0
Desk lamp (own, not supplied with room)
61.3
Printer – inkjet
57.6
Hairdryer
51.5
Computer speakers
47.2
Hair straightener
45.6
Stereo
40.2
Desk lamp (supplied with room)
20.3
Electric heater (own, not supplied with room)
18.5
Fridge
13.2
Kettle
12.9
Printer – laser
8.7
Microwave
8.0
Toaster
8.0
Percentage of student respondents with given electrical appliances in their study room
Encouraging proenvironmental behaviours
Five mechanisms of encouraging proenvironmental behaviour
1. General awareness campaigns - Durham University
2. Peer-to-peer encouragement - Leeds University
3. Low-carbon University / energy efficient halls –
University of Central Lancashire
4. Comparative and competitive - University of Bradford
5. Financial incentives - University of the West of England
Durham University
• Van Mildert College
Communal
Living
Existing
materials
Study Rooms
University of West of England
• Carroll Court
Project analysis / dissemination
• Meter data allowing monitoring relative effectiveness of
each intervention
• In person focus groups allow qualitative collection of
attitudes and behaviours
• Online focus groups allow understanding of uptake of
pro-environmental behaviours
• Campus questionnaire to provide baseline attitude and
behaviours
• Wider online questionnaire to provide national student
opinion
Preliminary findings
Preliminary findings (1)
A consumer mentality drives high energy use
“I do see myself
adopting these [energy
saving] behaviours in
the future as we are
running out of energy
(1st year, female, UWE)
Focus group Dec 2009
•
•
Respondents feel that fixed residence fees are high
Consumer mentality drives high use of energy
–
–
–
•
The habit discontinuity hypothesis dictates that the first year of
university is a key habit forming stage however poor behaviours are
adopted, irrespective of habits learned prior to university
–
–
–
•
Some respondents claimed that they didn’t think of their energy use
Many reported that they felt entitled to use as much energy as they
wanted
Over 50% of survey respondents agreed with the statement “leaving the
heating on when I go out is something I do frequently”
Lack of financial incentive and lack of enforcement means respondents of
all types adopt poor energy efficiency behaviours
Respondents state that key drivers of energy efficiency at home are
parental insistence and school enforcement
Importantly most respondents feel that they will adopt energy saving
behaviours in the future – to save money and the environment.
Education in effective use of university provided equipment is
needed
Preliminary findings (2)
Respondents are strongly influenced by their peers
Peer pressure can act as a barrier to saving energy
“telling people to save
energy doesn’t work
because there’s too
many people not doing
it. I still do it, but I
don’t think it works (1st
year, male), UCLan
Focus group Dec 2009
– A large proportion of respondents reported examples of
energy wastage in their accommodation
– Only a small minority claimed that they would try to
influence those wasting energy
– Interestingly, respondents who noticed energy wastage
would be more likely to stop the energy waste e.g. by
switching a light off, than raise the issue in conversation
• Environmental concerns are not felt to be ‘cool’
• Respondents can feel unsupported in energy saving
– A ‘go to’ role is required – continuity is key
Your university
Discussion - What steps are already being taken
in your university?
What works?
What doesn’t?
What is the student culture in your university?
Discussion – What are the unmet needs?
How could we challenge these?
Questions?
Snap it off! Researching energy
saving schemes in halls of residences.
Lizzie Bone
Environmental Researcher
NUS Services