Deep down we all probably recognize that despite good intentions and occasional spurts of progress, the lifestyle changes needed to successfully lower carbon footprints and increase energy efficiency will not be easy. We’ve seen and heard it many times: Old habits die hard. How can we make and sustain the change needed to help Vermont become net zero energy? Four key steps are needed, based on recent studies in behavior change, social psychology, decision making and communications.
Share Norms for Individuals and Groups
A widely-cited study in Sacramento, California demonstrated that the single most effective measure to reduce household energy use is simply to share the average energy use, or norm, for similar homes. When the local utility added average monthly use information to their bills, people began changing their behavior. The simple, reader-friendly Home Electricity Report also showed how much money people were paying, extra, per year as a result of their own inefficiency. Those using far more electricity than their neighbors began cutting back. Those who saw a “smiley face” because their monthly use was already below average, did even better. Overall, the community achieved a 30% reduction in electricity use. Why couldn’t every Vermont utility start doing this?
Google PowerMeter logo
Provide Real-Time Feedback Information
Individuals who see in real-time how much energy they are using, save up to 15 percent on their electricity use with behavioral changes. (Darby S (2006) The effectiveness of feedback on energy consumption. A review for DEFRA of the literature on metering, billing and direct displays. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.) Within a few months of its announcement of the PowerMeter last year, Google had signed up nine utilities, including one in Europe. How can we get smart meters in homes coupled with a smart-grid utility infrastructure in Vermont?
Make it Easy to Do the Right Thing
Our lives are complicated, over-scheduled and tiring. Temptations to slip into old behaviors are abundant. If a new behavior requires extended effort or inconvenience, only the purists will make the behavior shift — and even they may not maintain it. Efficiency Vermont has made great strides in getting energy efficient light bulbs and the EPA’s Energy Star-labeled appliances into stores more widely, but getting an energy audit or evaluating alternative fuel sources still requires an investment of time and coordinating effort that is off-putting or unaffordable to many. The recent rise of local energy committees acting as town or neighborhood “captains” is a promising start for Vermont, but there’s much more we need to do to make it easy to change behaviors on the home energy use front. How about changing our electrical codes to require an on-off switch at the wall outlet, as they do in New Zealand, to make it easier to avoid the wasted phantom electricity used by our inactive toasters and coffee pots during the day?
Transportation, a major carbon emission source for a rural state, is another arena where it’s not easy to change our ways. When public transportation is a hassle, those who have other options will resort to driving their single-occupancy vehicle instead. I was reminded of this recently when overseas house guests pointed out that the Chittenden County Transportation Authority’s (CCTA) online schedules and route maps include no information on the location of the attractive bus shelter structures, a not inconsequential factor in bitter cold or rainy weather, nor do they mention how to flag down the bus at locations other than the scheduled stops. One-stop regional transportation information — with sidewalks, shelters, bus, car pool and car-share information gathered together — would be a helpful first step to making changes to our transportation behaviors.
Add Some Competition
While over time social norms can move large groups of people away from or toward a certain behavior — think of the seismic shift over the past 25 years in the acceptability of smoking in public — adding some competition can galvanize effort quickly. It’s often easier for people to take the first small steps to change when their attention is focused on an immediate goal. How about town-to-town competitions to reduce our energy consumption? And of course, I look forward to the Vermont legislature or governor challenging another northern state to become the first net zero energy state in the U.S.
