A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FEEDBACK BASED INTERVENTIONS ON HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN HANGZHOU, CHINA

Abstract

Energy consumption has become a critical issue due to climate change. Household Energy Consumption (HEC) is an essential topic to be studied as it is affected by a combination of residents’ behavior and types of household appliances. Despite the extensive research conducted on HEC, little has been done to understand the relations of HEC and Pro-Environmental Behaviors (PEB) and the effectiveness of commitment, information, and feedback in the reduction of HEC in China. Therefore, a household intervention program was implemented in Hangzhou to bridge this gap.

A sample of 160 households participated in the study with 40 for each group (sticker, WeChat, consultation, and control) for a 5 months period. Demographics, energy consumption behavior (EB), value (Quality of Life) and RICCOW profile were collected through questionnaires. HEC records were taken from the utilities company. Presence of Hawthorne effect was also tested. It was found that sticker was the most effective intervention. This may be due to a combination of interventions, weather, and law of diminishing return.

RICCOW and QOL were also found to have an influence in the change in HEC and EB in all intervention groups. Demographics was tested for its influence in the change in HEC and the result shows that age, usable floor area, level of residence, number of study rooms, and occupation have statistical significant correlation with change in HEC. However, only WeChat group showed statistical significance in the correlation between change in EB and HEC. Reasons were found and discussed. Lessons from this study can be applied to design future energy-saving strategies.