Occupant Behavior for Energy Conservation in Commercial Buildings: Lessons Learned from Competition at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Amanda Ahl, Gina Accawi, Bryce Hudey, Melissa Lapsa and Teresa Nichols
Additional contact information
Amanda Ahl: Department of Innovation Science, School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 3-3-6 Shibaura, Tokyo 105-0023, Japan
Gina Accawi: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sustainable ORNL Program, 1 Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
Bryce Hudey: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sustainable ORNL Program, 1 Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
Melissa Lapsa: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sustainable ORNL Program, 1 Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
Teresa Nichols: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sustainable ORNL Program, 1 Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: Accompanying efforts worldwide to deploy sustainable building technologies shows a pressing need for expanded research on occupant behavior. Discourse is lacking concerning drivers of occupant behavior for energy conservation, especially in the case of commercial buildings. This paper explores potential determinants of occupant behavior for energy conservation in commercial buildings. This is investigated in a case study of a two-month energy conservation competition involving eight office buildings at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Four buildings achieved energy savings based on the previous year’s baseline. Potential challenges and success factors of occupant behavior for energy conservation during the competition were explored based on an explanatory research design incorporating energy data, participant interviews, and surveys. The findings suggest that both social and technological aspects may be important drivers of energy conservation. The determinants of occupant behavior for energy conservation in commercial buildings suggested for further research include bottom-up involvement, stakeholder relationship management, targeted information, real-time energy visualization, and mobile social platforms. This paper presents initial implications, with a need for further research on these propositions and on their impacts on occupant behavior. This paper aims to contribute to both academia and practitioners in the arena of commercial building sustainability.

Keywords: occupant behavior; energy conservation; sustainable buildings; behavioral change; commercial building; competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3297/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3297/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3297-:d:240057

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().