Behavioral intervention to conserve energy in the workplace

Valeria Fanghella (), Giovanna d'Adda and Massimo Tavoni ()
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Valeria Fanghella: Grenoble Ecole de Management
Massimo Tavoni: Politecnico di Milano

No 2020.21, Working Papers from FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

Abstract: This study investigates the effect of a large-scale behavioral intervention to conserve energy in the workplace, consisting of an energy-saving competition among a bank's branches. More than 500 branches were involved for a period of one year. Using a difference-in-difference estimation, we find that the competition significantly reduces monthly electricity consumption outside the work schedule (by 7 percent), but that overall energy use does not change significantly (reduction of 2.5 percent). Branch characteristics do not lead to differentiated program response, in stark contrast with the residential sector. In the same setting, we also evaluate a technological intervention automating building energy management. The retrofit leads to significant energy savings (of 18 percent), also concentrated outside the main work schedule. Our results stress the importance of considering contextual characteristics when implementing behavioral programs and show potential overlaps with smart technology investments.

Keywords: Behavioral intervention; Energy conservation; Energy efficiency; Workplace; Difference-in-difference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D91 H32 Q41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2020-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-exp and nep-reg
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http://faere.fr/pub/WorkingPapers/Fanghella_Dadda_Tavoni_FAERE_WP2020.21.pdf First version, 2020 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fae:wpaper:2020.21

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