scholarly journals How to Encourage Energy Savings Behaviours? The Most Effective Incentives from the Perspective of European Consumers

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 8009
Author(s):  
Sylwia Słupik ◽  
Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz ◽  
Joanna Trzęsiok
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Energy Price ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Research Procedure ◽  
Save Energy ◽  
The Individual ◽  
External Stimuli

Ongoing climate change and increasing energy consumption are becoming a serious threat to international development efforts. To ensure a secure and sustainable future, local, national and regional authorities, as well as energy companies, need to be involved in improving energy efficiency and promoting rational energy use. The consumer is always at the centre of interest of policy and energy reduction strategies makers. It is their behaviour, motives and beliefs that can lead to optimised and economical energy management. This paper responds to the need to identify the individual preferences of energy consumers. The presented research fills an existing gap in the literature by analysing the strength of the influence of different types of instruments and external stimuli shaping pro-environmental attitudes of consumers of different behavioural types. The analysis presented in this paper is the result of the next stage of the authors’ research on energy consumers modelling, their segmentation and comprehensive characteristics. The analysis was conducted on a representative sample of N = 4332 respondents from 8 European countries (Czech Republic, France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom). The study used multivariate statistical methods, such as: Correspondence Analysis, Factor Analysis and Kruskal-Wallis test. These methods are adequate to the assumptions of the research procedure and allowed for the identification of 4 latent factors that link the incentives into groups, where the motivation to save energy is based on: information (“Information and Knowledge”), social norms (“Social Influence”), investment funding (“Investments”) and energy price changes (“Energy Price”). In addition, the level of effectiveness of the studied incentives and motivators depends on the behavioural type of energy consumers and increases with rising levels of their intrinsic pro-environmental motivation.

Understanding intentions to reduce energy consumption at the workplace by the employees: case of a developing country

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amna Akhound ◽  
Aseem Majeed Rizvi ◽  
Waqar Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Nadeem Khan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Saving ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Saving Behavior ◽  
Save Energy

PurposeEnergy-saving behavior of individuals is essential to minimize energy use and reduce the emission of toxic gases. This study's actual focus is to find out the determinants of the energy-saving behavior of individuals in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachAs a theoretical research model, the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) has been used to analyze the determinants of energy-saving intentions. A survey method is used to collect 289 valid data, and structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the data.FindingsThe final result shows that the variables attitude at home, subjective norm (SN) and descriptive norms positively impact intention to save energy at the workplace. In contrast, the construct attitude and perceived behavior control is insignificant in this research. On the other hand, the personal moral norm (PMN) is a powerful predictor of individual energy-saving intentions at the workplace.Originality/valueThis research provides insights that will help the organizations understand the behavior of individuals at the workplace for energy-saving intentions to formulate such policies that will enhance individuals' practice for energy savings.

scholarly journals A Basic Study on the Performance Evaluation of a Movable Light Shelf with a Rolling Reflector That Can Change Reflectivity to Improve the Visual Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (22) ◽  
pp. 8338
Author(s):  
Heangwoo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Luminance Contrast ◽  
Visual Environment ◽  
Basic Study ◽  
Lighting Energy ◽  
Save Energy ◽  
Indoor Spaces ◽  
A Performance

In recent years, the need for comfortable visual environments in indoor spaces has increased energy use in buildings. There have been diverse studies on using a light shelf to solve this problem. It is an effective system that allows external natural light deep into indoor spaces through reflection. However, prior studies have used light shelves with a fixed reflectivity, and there are few studies on improving the visual environment through light shelf control. Therefore, this study proposes a movable light shelf with a rolling reflector that can change the reflectivity. To achieve these objectives, we conducted a performance evaluation of the system’s ability to save energy and improve the visual environment. This study built a real scale testbed and conducted a performance evaluation by deriving values for lighting energy consumption, uniformity, and luminance contrast depending on the light shelf variables. We conclude that (1) the light shelf system achieved an energy savings of 13.6% and 5.7%, respectively, compared to a fixed type light shelf, whose reflectivity cannot be changed, and a traditional movable light shelf; (2) in terms of improving the visual environment, results suggest that the visual environment could be improved using a light shelf by deriving light shelf variables that disturb indoor uniformity; and (3) the results verified glare generation conditions by deriving luminance contrast caused by the variables of light shelf angle and its reflectivity.

scholarly journals Optimized Physical Properties of Electrochromic Smart Windows to Reduce Cooling and Heating Loads of Office Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1815
Author(s):  
Jae-Hyang Kim ◽  
Jongin Hong ◽  
Seung-Hoon Han
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Smart Windows ◽  
Saving Rates ◽  
Operation Schedule ◽  
Heating Loads ◽  
And Control ◽  
External Stimuli ◽  
Over Time

The concept of smart windows that can change the properties of windows and doors in response to external stimuli has recently been introduced. Smart windows provide superior energy savings and control of indoor environments. This concept can advance sustainable architecture, and it will make it possible to connect with the fourth industry, which has developed recently. However, unlike the relevant hardware, is advancing rapidly, research on methods of adjusting smart windows is slow. Therefore, in this study, an analysis of energy use over time was conducted on electrochromic windows, one of the main types of smart windows. Through this analysis, the optimal properties of electrochromic smart windows were identified, and an operation schedule was created. In addition, energy saving rates were derived through a comparison with existing architectural windows.

scholarly journals Integration of Natural and Artificial Light on Energy Efficiency of the Mega Bank Makassar Tower Building

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80
Author(s):  
Isty Cahyani Ismail ◽  
Ramli Rahim ◽  
Baharuddin Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Light Intensity ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Artificial Light ◽  
Lighting System ◽  
Lighting Systems ◽  
Save Energy

One of the largest energy consumers in the world is buildings. The energy consumption comes from the lighting system. Energy use in buildings is generally 25% for lighting systems. The strategy used in building design is to reduce energy consumption while maintaining the best comfort in a building. The application of energy-saving concepts from the building sector is optimizing the lighting system by integrating natural and artificial lighting systems. This study aims to determine the light intensity in the integrated lighting system of natural and artificial manually and also to find out how much energy can be saved with the integrated lighting system manually. The research location is at the Mega Bank Makassar Tower Building. The research sample was selected by purposive sampling and the sixth floor was chosen as the research location. In this study, simulations were carried out using the DIAlux 4.13 program to integrate natural and artificial light and to calculate the amount of energy efficiency in the workspace. To obtain optimal light intensity and energy savings, a simulation was carried out by turning off half the light points in the workspace, especially the light points around the building openings. The simulation results show that the average integrated lighting quality meets the minimum lighting requirements and can save energy usage by up to 50%. Keywords: energy efficiency; integration lighting; workspace

scholarly journals Investigation and Evaluation of Energy Consumption Performance for Hospital Buildings in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ru Ji ◽  
Shilin Qu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Electricity Use ◽  
Hospital Building ◽  
Save Energy ◽  
Air Conditioning Systems

Energy use in hospitals is higher than other public buildings, so it is essential to investigate and evaluate its energy consumption performance to save energy. In this paper, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to study energy consumption of hospitals in China. The investigation results show that electricity use accounts for the maximum share in total energy consumption of hospitals, especially in south China. Improving air conditioning systems is the most direct and effective way for realizing hospital building energy savings. What’s more, a new evaluation system of energy-saving performance for hospital buildings was developed. This evaluation system could evaluate performance of energy use in hospital, find out the weakness of energy use, and provide improving suggestions. Furthermore, a kind of visual software was given by our paper, which can be used intuitively by practitioners to evaluate building energy consumption performance of a hospital.

scholarly journals Energy and Greenhouse Gas Savings for LEED-Certified U.S. Office Buildings

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 749
Author(s):  
John H. Scofield ◽  
Susannah Brodnitz ◽  
Jakob Cornell ◽  
Tian Liang ◽  
Thomas Scofield
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Ghg Emission ◽  
Site Energy ◽  
New Construction

In this work, we present results from the largest study of measured, whole-building energy performance for commercial LEED-certified buildings, using 2016 energy use data that were obtained for 4417 commercial office buildings (114 million m2) from municipal energy benchmarking disclosures for 10 major U.S. cities. The properties included 551 buildings (31 million m2) that we identified as LEED-certified. Annual energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission were compared between LEED and non-LEED offices on a city-by-city basis and in aggregate. In aggregate, LEED offices demonstrated 11% site energy savings but only 7% savings in source energy and GHG emission. LEED offices saved 26% in non-electric energy but demonstrated no significant savings in electric energy. LEED savings in GHG and source energy increased to 10% when compared with newer, non-LEED offices. We also compared the measured energy savings for individual buildings with their projected savings, as determined by LEED points awarded for energy optimization. This analysis uncovered minimal correlation, i.e., an R2 < 1% for New Construction (NC) and Core and Shell (CS), and 8% for Existing Euildings (EB). The total measured site energy savings for LEED-NC and LEED-CS was 11% lower than projected while the total measured source energy savings for LEED-EB was 81% lower than projected. Only LEED offices certified at the gold level demonstrated statistically significant savings in source energy and greenhouse gas emissions as compared with non-LEED offices.

scholarly journals Impacts on Indoor Thermal Comfort and Heating Energy Use in Hellenic Dwellings from Occupant Behavioral Reactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6254
Author(s):  
Elena G. Dascalaki ◽  
Constantinos A. Balaras
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Local Heating ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Heating Systems ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Audits

In an effort to reduce the operational cost of their dwellings, occupants may even have to sacrifice their indoor thermal comfort conditions. Following the economic recession in Greece over recent years, homeowners have been forced to adapt their practices by shortening heating hours, lowering the indoor thermostat settings, isolating spaces that are not heated or even turning off their central heating system and using alternative local heating systems. This paper presents the results from over 100 occupant surveys using questionnaires and walk-through energy audits in Hellenic households that documented how occupants operated the heating systems in their dwellings and the resulting indoor thermal comfort conditions and actual energy use. The results indicate that the perceived winter thermal comfort conditions were satisfactory in only half of the dwellings, since the actual operating space heating periods averaged only 5 h (compared with the assumed 18 h in standard conditions), while less than half heated their entire dwellings and only a fifth maintained an indoor setpoint temperature of 20 °C, corresponding to standard comfort conditions. Mainstream energy conservation measures include system maintenance, switching to more efficient systems, reducing heat losses and installing controls. This information is then used to derive empirical adaptation factors for bridging the gap between the calculated and actual energy use, making more realistic estimates of the expected energy savings following building renovations, setting prudent targets for energy efficiency and developing effective plans toward a decarbonized building stock.

scholarly journals Towards Sustainable Energy Retrofitting, a Simulation for Potential Energy Use Reduction in Residential Buildings in Palestine

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3876
Author(s):  
Sameh Monna ◽  
Adel Juaidi ◽  
Ramez Abdallah ◽  
Aiman Albatayneh ◽  
Patrick Dutournie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Water Heating ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Space Cooling ◽  
Cooling Loads

Since buildings are one of the major contributors to global warming, efforts should be intensified to make them more energy-efficient, particularly existing buildings. This research intends to analyze the energy savings from a suggested retrofitting program using energy simulation for typical existing residential buildings. For the assessment of the energy retrofitting program using computer simulation, the most commonly utilized residential building types were selected. The energy consumption of those selected residential buildings was assessed, and a baseline for evaluating energy retrofitting was established. Three levels of retrofitting programs were implemented. These levels were ordered by cost, with the first level being the least costly and the third level is the most expensive. The simulation models were created for two different types of buildings in three different climatic zones in Palestine. The findings suggest that water heating, space heating, space cooling, and electric lighting are the highest energy consumers in ordinary houses. Level one measures resulted in a 19–24 percent decrease in energy consumption due to reduced heating and cooling loads. The use of a combination of levels one and two resulted in a decrease of energy consumption for heating, cooling, and lighting by 50–57%. The use of the three levels resulted in a decrease of 71–80% in total energy usage for heating, cooling, lighting, water heating, and air conditioning.

Investigation of Thermal Effects in Direct Driven Hydraulic System for Off-Road Machinery

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niko Karlén ◽  
Tatiana Minav ◽  
Matti Pietola
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Hydraulic System ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Hydraulic Model ◽  
Energy Losses ◽  
Total Efficiency ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Wheel Loaders ◽  
Save Energy

Several types of off-road machinery, such as industrial trucks, forklifts, excavators, mobile cranes, and wheel loaders, are set to be operated in environments which can differ considerably from each other. This sets certain limits for both the drive transmissions and working hydraulics of these machines. The ambient temperature must be taken into account when selecting the hydraulic fluid since the viscosity and density of the fluid are changing at different operating temperatures. In addition to the temperature, energy efficiency can also be a problem in off-road machinery. In most off-road machines, diesel engines are employed to produce mechanical energy. However, there are energy losses during the working process, which causes inefficiency in produced energy. For better energy efficiency, hybridization in off-road machinery is an effective method to decrease fuel consumption and increase energy savings. One of the possible methods to save energy with hybrids is energy regeneration. However, it means that the basic hydraulic system inside off-road machinery needs to be modified. One solution for this is to utilize zonal or decentralized approach by means of direct driven hydraulic (DDH) system. This paper aims to investigate a DDH system for off-road machinery by means of modelling and analyzing the effect of the temperature. In the direct-driven hydraulic system, the actuator is controlled directly by the hydraulic pump which is operated by the electric motor. Specifically, it is a valveless closed-loop hydraulic system. Thus, there will be no energy losses caused by the valves, and the total efficiency is assumed to be significantly higher. In order to examine the DDH system, a thermo-hydraulic model was created. Additionally, a thermal camera was utilized in order to illustrate the temperature changes in the components of the DDH system. To reproduce the action of the system in different circumstances DDH system was run at different ambient temperatures, and the component temperatures in the system were measured and saved for the analysis. The thermo hydraulic model was proven capable to follow the general trend of heating up.

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