Energy Cultures
The concept and its applications (so far)
Talk to UCL Energy Institute
Tuesday 2 Oct 2012
Janet Stephenson
Centre for Sustainability
University of Otago
Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduce Energy Cultures Framework
3 examples of research & findings
Other applications of the Framework
Scope of the Framework
The Energy Cultures Project
Task: Better understanding of energy behaviour
and behaviour change, particularly relating to
household heating and hot water heating.
Interdisciplinary Research Team
Dr Paul
Thorsnes
economics
Dr Janet Stephenson
human geography
Prof. Gerry
Carrington
physics
Dr John Williams
marketing
Prof. Rob Lawson
consumer psychology
Prof. Barry
Barton
law
Dr Rebecca Ford
engineering
The Energy Cultures Framework
Insulation
Heating devices
House characteristics
Material
culture
Appliances
Heat settings
Expected
comfort levels
Environmental
concern
Norms
Energy
practices
Number of
rooms heated
Hours of heating
Respect for
tradition
Maintenance of
technologies
The Energy Cultures Framework
Insulation
Heating devices
House characteristics
Material
culture
Appliances
Heat settings
Expected
comfort levels
Environmental
concern
Norms
Energy
practices
Number of
rooms heated
Hours of heating
Respect for
tradition
Maintenance of
technologies
Internal influences on habit or change
I bought this
brand because
thats what my
parents had
Material
culture
I have to empty
the ashes
otherwise it gets
blocked
I really like the
radiant heat
from fires
I cut and carry
wood every day
Norms
I like lighting
fires, it feels
good
Energy
practices
If its cold I put
on a jersey
before I light the
fire
External influences on habit or change
AVAILABLE
TECHNOLOGIES
EFFICIENCY RATING ON
APPLIANCES
SKILLS OF
TRADESPEOPLE
BUILDING
REGULATIONS
UPBRINGING
SOCIAL
MARKETING
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
HOME ENERGY
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
ENERGY
PRICES
The Energy Cultures Framework
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
The Energy Cultures Framework
Material
Have
culture
Norms
Think
Energy
Do
practices
Janet’s use of gas for home heating
“Its an old house and
the gas fires were
there already”
“Its a nice
snug warmth,
better than
heat pumps”
Norms
“Actually we feel bad about
using gas but we haven’t got
around to changing it.”
Material
culture
“It might be a bit
complicated to change
the house to fit another
heating system in”.
Energy
practices
“We only use gas
to heat the study
and the kitchen.”
“We just turn them on
when we need to heat
the room quickly.”
How to achieve a shift in energy
culture?
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Janet’s new ‘energy culture’ – a shift to
central heating using pellet boiler
“The boiler is in the laundry
and it pretty much runs
itself. And it heats the hot
water too”
“It feels really
good heating
the house and
water with
renewable
energy.”
Norms
“We really like showing
other people what we’ve
done.”
Material
culture
“It took quite a bit of
work to put the radiators
into the old house”.
Energy
practices
“The whole
house is warm
now, we keep it
at about 17-18
degrees”
“I don’t have such hot
showers now because the
bathroom is warmer”
A cultural approach to behaviour
ALIGNMENTS
• Actor-Network theory – Latour
• Habitus - Bourdieu
• Socio-Technical Systems – Geels, Schot, Smith
• Systems thinking – Checkland, Midgley
• Practice context of E behaviour – Shove
• Social context of E behaviour - Wilk, Barr & Gilg
• Embeddedness in cultural processes - Lutzenhiser
EXAMPLE 1:
CONSUMER PREFERENCES
Dr. Paul Thorsnes,
Economics
Preferred attributes when upgrading
heating & hot water systems
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Choice modelling
• 1000Minds software
• Respondent-specific estimates of relative
utility of various attributes of space heating
and water heating systems
• Then used cluster analysis to determine
plausible groups (‘cultures’)
Price is paramount
Most concerned about
upfront costs
16% water heating
respondents
14% space heating
respondents
Running costs and recovery are key
Willing to invest in more
expensive heating but
concerned about
recovering costs on sale
of house
17% space heating
respondents
Reliability counts
Most concerned
about functional
reliability of
technologies
23% water heating,
21% space heating
All about aesthetics
Main concern is
aesthetics (fit with
house, impact on
neighbours)
35% water heating,
22% space heating
Off-grid
Preference for some grid independence for
space and water heating (e.g. solar hw,
wetbacks, solid fuel fires etc)
Is there a wider appetite for off-grid; does
this extend to feed-in to grid?
26% both groups
Policy Implications
Preference group
Implications
Price is paramount
Subsidies necessary, but not sufficient for
some. Low or no-interest loans.
Running costs are key
Home energy audits and home certification
programme
Reliability counts
Independent testing and certification needed.
All about aesthetics
Opportunities for designers &
installers/customized installation?
Subsidies may need to be more flexible
Off-grid
May respond well to subsidies or loans for
solar systems.
EXAMPLE 2:
ENERGY CULTURES CLUSTERS
Professor Rob Lawson,
Consumer psychology
Using 2-step cluster analysis to
determine distinctive ‘energy cultures’
Material
culture
Material
culture
Norms
Norms
Energy
practices
Material
culture
Material
culture
Norms
Norms
Energy
practices
Energy
practices
Energy
practices
Energy Economical (24.1%)
Energy Economical
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Energy Extravagant (19.3%)
Energy Extravagant
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Energy Efficient (24.1%)
Energy Efficient
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Energy Easy (30.6%)
Energy Easy
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Unexpected findings
• The alignment of the clusters with the Energy
Cultures framework (efficient/non-efficient
material culture & practices).
• Little difference in values, attitudes
• Strongly linked to stage of life cycle
Policy Implications
Cluster
Implications
Energy Economical
Improve material culture – need for landlord
incentives.
Establish a home energy certification program
for tenants.
Energy Extravagant
Need ‘motivating’ to improve their productivity
– time variable prices, change norms, energy
management systems, etc.
Energy Efficient
Provide better information. Extend MEPS and
labelling schemes. Establish a home energy
audit program.
Energy Easy
Develop improved home energy management
systems.
EXAMPLE 3:
INFLUENCES ON ENERGY BEHAVIOUR
CHANGE
Dr. Janet Stephenson
Human geography
Focus: key influences on household
changes in material culture
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
What factors are involved when
people make a change?
Home heating changes, insights from ...
• Household survey
• Focus groups
• Social network analysis
Lots of changes going on ...
In previous year ...
• 12% changed main heating
method
• 16% changed some aspect of
insulation
• 9% unhappy with main
heating method and want to
change
Change is complicated!
Our oldest child has got asthma, that’s triggered in the winter and I think the first year we were
there we had an open fire in the lounge and a heat pump that’s useless… and it sky rocketed our
power bills to about $450 a month without hot water because we had to get rid of the hot water
cylinder because that was broken, we put in gas because the solar we wanted couldn’t quite work
and where we wanted the cylinder is where we are going to extend the house later on so we
weren’t going to pay $5,000 or $6,000 to put a hot water solar cylinder and then rip the whole
back of the house off and have to shift it so gas was the only option we had for us so the $450
power bills were without gas, we are paying for the gas on top of it so we had the two kids
shoved in one room with the heater going all the time to stop the asthma and stuff like that and
when we decided to do, we did the kid’s rooms up first and we pulled off all this horrible wood
panelling and we found the scrim, then we found the match boarding and then we had to wait,
go in the dark with a torch and we had to put no more gaps through all the wooden cracks in the
walls with all the draft because in a really windy night you could see when the wood panelling
was off, you could see the wall paper move in and out so we no-more gapped the whole thing
then we had to put up building paper and we just decided we were just going to spend money
and we insulated all the walls and we’ve got 3 metre high studs and great big sash windows like
you would have so the windows were quite brittle so we looked into double glazing which was
very dear so we opted for magnetic Perspex panels that went over them so we thought if it
doesn’t insulate the room as much as we’d like at least the windows are safe….
Drivers
•
•
•
•
•
Technology breakdowns
Bad for health
High running costs
Inefficient
Does not fit with aspirations / needs
(aesthetics, comfort, convenience, ease of
use)
Quotes
Drivers
• I looked at the bottom of my gas heater and
thought it’s going to rust through any time now I
think I’d better do something useful
• I’m just going to spend the money because being
cold is miserable
• We decided to insulate our house this year
because we found our youngest child has asthma
• We had guests over and their noses had turned
blue and we said right it’s time to do something
about this because this is embarrassing
Attractors
•
•
•
•
•
Practices relating to new technology
Better fit with values
Return on investment
Lower running costs
Comfort
Quotes
Attractors
• When I moved in it had a big woodburner which I
thought was good but I wanted something that
was going to be more energy efficient and easy …
so I pretty much straight away put a heat pump in
• It makes me feel better that our house is, and that
we’ve been, more energy efficient
• When we go to sell the house, that’s the market
we can be reaching for so what will suit us will
suit another young family.
Choosing
• Knowing what to change next
• Knowing what to change to
• Timing – right time and enough time
• Fit with physical features of house
• Fit with family needs
• Fit with subsidy requirements
Quotes
Choosing
• I just couldn’t really get the information I wanted
• Well there’s so many brands and so many choices
and so many options
• I’d like to see a heat pump built into the house
rather than sticking out, kind of flush mounted
smaller profile so it’s not so obvious
• [The WUNZ subsidy] really didn’t make my
decision I just was going to alter my heating, and
because it was that I found out about it, but it
certainly didn’t make my decision one way or the
other.
Enabling
•Access to targeted/ appropriate information
•Money availability
•Feeling competent to make decisions
•Trust in tradespeople/ retailers
•Support from family/friends
Quotes
Enabling
• My influence was my parents, they put one in,
they loved it so much, said we should have one
and my sister put one in, so we put one in
• I had good trades people… I was really pleased
with them and they gave me lots of advice too.
• I used the subsidy to get the insulation, the batts
into the house
• I think we relied a lot on the installers as to which
one we should pick, which would be the best for
the house because we didn’t know.
Janet’s story
Heating
expensive
House cold
More efficient
Low GHG emissions
Radiant heat
Drivers
Attractors
Enabling
Choosing
Legacy
Specialist installer
Husband’s skills
Home audit
Personal research
Visiting a home
• Knowing how bad
your house is
compared to others
• Financial support
• Help from trusted
people who’ve
made the change
• Being clear about
what you should do
first/next
• Trusting the
tradesmen/retailer
FOCUS GROUPS:
GENERIC CHANGE FACTORS
Drivers
Attractors
Enabling
Choosing
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Knowing the change
will improve family
wellbeing
• Feeling it has become
the norm
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Talking with trusted
people
• Independent objective
information about
options
• Information crafted to
householders’
circumstances
• Trusting the quality of
the technology
• Knowing how bad
your house is
compared to others
• Financial support
• Help from trusted
people who’ve
made the change
• Being clear about
what you should do
first/next
• Trusting the
tradesmen/retailer
TV
ADVERTISING
Drivers
Attractors
Enabling
Choosing
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Knowing the change
will improve family
wellbeing
• Feeling it has become
the norm
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Talking with trusted
people
• Independent
objective information
about options
• Information crafted to
householders’
circumstances
• Trusting the quality of
the technology
• Knowing how bad
your house is
compared to others
• Financial support
• Help from trusted
people who’ve
made the change
• Being clear about
what you should do
first/next
• Trusting the
tradesmen/retailer
INSULATION &
HEATING
SUBSIDIES
Drivers
Attractors
Enabling
Choosing
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Knowing the change
will improve family
wellbeing
• Feeling it has become
the norm
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Talking with trusted
people
• Independent objective
information about
options
• Information crafted to
householders’
circumstances
• Trusting the quality of
the technology
• Knowing how bad
your house is
compared to others
• Financial support
• Help from trusted
people who’ve
made the change
• Being clear about
what you should
do first/next
• Trusting the
tradesmen/retailer
HOME ENERGY
ADVICE
Drivers
Attractors
Enabling
Choosing
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Knowing the change
will improve family
wellbeing
• Feeling it has become
the norm
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Talking with trusted
people
• Independent
objective information
about options
• Information crafted
to householders’
circumstances
• Trusting the quality of
the technology
• Knowing how bad
your house is
compared to others
• Financial support
• Help from trusted
people who’ve
made the change
• Being clear about
what you should do
first/next
• Trusting the
tradesmen/retailer
SOCIAL
NETWORKS
Drivers
Attractors
Enabling
Choosing
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Knowing the change
will improve family
wellbeing
• Feeling it has become
the norm
• Experiencing a house
with the change
• Talking with trusted
people
• Independent objective
information about
options
• Information crafted
to householders’
circumstances
• Trusting the quality of
the technology
Social network survey
• “How influential have you
found XXX to be in help you
make a decision or take
actions related to
household heating or
energy use?”
• XXX = community groups,
organisations, media,
family/friends
• 5-point Likert scale [very
unhelpful – very helpful]
LOCAL GROUPS
ORGANISATIONS
MEDIA
OTHER PEOPLE
ALL INFLUENCES
SOURCES OF INFLUENCE
COMBINED
Least influential
Enabling
Material
culture
Attractors
Choosing
Social
norms
Drivers
Energy
practices
Policy implications: Social networks &
behaviour change:
 Huge opportunities to gain traction by supporting what
social networks do.
How to tap into the key opinion-leaders? ....
7% say they talk to friends & neighbours about energy
‘often’ or ‘very often’
6% say they are ‘often used as a source of advice’
How to support this AND ensure information is sound?
Current research
Comparison: individualised home energy advice
vs empowering social neworks
• Evaluation:
Material
culture
Social
norms
Energy
practices
OTHER APPLICATIONS OF THE
ENERGY CULTURES FRAMEWORK
Relationship between values &
habitual energy behaviour
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Behaviour
Rationalisation
Value
An example:
Do you line dry your laundry?
Pleasure
V
C
B
Conservation
Not good for
product
Situation
Hygiene
Comfort
Convenience
Often,
Always (4,5)
Capable
Protecting
the env
Respect
for trad
Economy
Environment
Time
Routine
Physical
Aesthetics
Technical
Law and policy influences
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Minimum energy performance
standards (MEPS)
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
PhD – what happens to norms &
practices when people move home?
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
PhD: How do children learn about
energy & translate that into practices?
Material
culture
Norms
???
Energy
practices
Energy cultures of small-medium
businesses
Energy cultures of timber companies
NZ’s national energy culture: norms
NZ’s national energy culture:
material culture
Road transport energy as a % of household energy
300
250
NZ’s national energy culture: practices
Low in-house energy
use per person,
mostly electricity
200
150
100
50
0
40
Other fossil fuels
Household energy use per capita per annum (GJ)
35
30
Heat
Electricity
Natural gas
25
20
15
10
5
0
Soild biofuels
High transport
energy use as % of
total household
energy use
What does ‘behaviour’ mean?
eg Changing Behaviour conference Helsinki Sept 2012
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Uptake of passive houses involved many drivers
including knowledge, policy support,
infrastructure
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Behaviour is “practice”
“Energy efficiency depends on behaviour”
(referring to practices and knowledge)
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
“Behaviour comes from attitudes and practices”
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
“Passive houses have become the norm in
Austria, there’s been a national culture
change”
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
“Energy demand is the outcome of practices shaped by
technology”
Behaviour change is “both technological and practice
change”
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
Behaviour is “ways of thinking and acting on
practices and technology changes”
Material
culture
Norms
Energy
practices
‘In each country the building industry
has different cultures”
Material
culture
Material
culture
Norms
Norms
Energy
practices
Material
culture
Material
culture
Norms
Norms
Energy
practices
Energy
practices
Energy
practices
An integrating framework
•
•
•
•
Informed by different
disciplines
Material
culture
Informed by different
theories of behaviour
Informed by different research methodologies
Informed by both qualitative and quantiative
data
Energy
Norms
practices
• A framework around which insights are built
up.
Adaptability of the EC Framework
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Supports interdisciplinarity
Helps understand habit and change
Characterises heterogeneity
Applies to different contexts
Works at different scales – household, cluster,
nation
6. Helpful for integrating findings
Publications to date
Stephenson, J., Barton, B., Carrington, G., Gnoth, D., Lawson, R., Thorsnes, P. (2010): Energy
Cultures: A framework for understanding energy behaviours. Energy Policy. 38: 6120–6129.
Thorsnes, P., Lawson, R., Stephenson, J., Barton, B., Carrington, G. (2011). Household Preferences
for Energy Efficient Space and Water Heating Systems. 34th International Association for Energy
Economics Conference: Efficiency and Evolving Energy Technologies, Sweden, June 2011.
http://www.hhs.se/IAEE-2011/Program/ConcurrentSessions/Pages/Wednesday,June22,09001030,Sessions51-62.aspx
Stephenson, J., Lawson, R., Carrington, G., Barton, B., Thorsnes, P., & Mirosa, M. (2010). The
practice of interdisciplinarity. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(7), 271282.
Mirosa, M., Gnoth, D., Lawson, R., Stephenson, J. (2011). Rationalising energy-related behaviour
in the home: Insights from a value-laddering approach. Proceedings of the ECEEE Summer Study,
pp.2109-2119.
Lawson, R., Mirosa, M., Gnoth, D. (2011). Linking personal values to energy-efficient
behaviours. Environment and Behaviour. Online
http://eab.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/12/26/0013916511432332
Lawson, R. (2011). Energy Cultures: An Empirical Examination of New Zealand Households.
Presented at the Conference on Sustainable Consumption, Hamburg, 6-8 Nov 2011.
Questions?