Stimulating energy efficiency in households : Comparison of the Livinggreen.eu methods to theory

In the Livinggreen.eu project a range of different methods were used by the involved organisations to inform and engage residents in taking sustainable renovation measures for their home as well as changing their behaviour. This article presents an inventory of the methods that address residential energy use and evaluates how the methods compare to theory about behavioural change, which for this article is described as a decision making process. Two complementary theoretical perspectives are taken, (1) the Innovation Decision Process, used in diffusion of innovations studies, and (2) models of behaviour based on motivation, ability and opportunity (MOA), rooted in social psychology. The inventory included 38 methods, which were categorized in 10 method formats, based on how the interaction with residents takes shape. Concerning the Innovation-Decision Process, most of the methods address the first stages of the innovation adoption process, from becoming aware of the innovation to deciding to adopt an innovation, i.e. an energy technology or different energy behaviour. The actual implementation and confirmation of the change – the last two stages of the process – are currently not addressed by the Livinggreen methods. From the MOA perspective, the majority of methods tend to focus on increasing ability in terms of knowledge. Motivation is less explicitly addressed. Few methods focus on providing opportunities. Those who did are in the form of financial support. Interaction between peers and the use of social norms, which in both theoretical perspectives plays an important role in motivating behaviour change, is only present in few of the methods. These methods stimulate interaction between among residents and experts, and let people to work together on for example a renovation plan or new product concepts. The comparison showed that the methods cover a limited part of the theory. Therefore recommendations are to review how the range of methods can be broadened based on lessons from previous research, to address all stages in the decision making process and make use of the mechanisms that can increase motivation, ability and opportunity. The activities of the Sustainability Centres may be restricted to their mandate and resources. It could then be useful to find out whether such a broader approach is desirable and possible within the city or region in which they operate by cooperation with other organisations.