Exploring the human element from

the POET perspective

Psychology 101
Dr. Mathilda du Preez

PhD Psychology

Title: Household energy use in South

Africa: a systemic study of an individual
intervention
 Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology focus on

studying the interrelationships
between people and their
environment with the aim of
understanding, quantifying and
possibly changing this interaction
 Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology focus on

studying the interrelationships
between people and their
environment with the aim of
understanding, quantifying and
possibly changing this interaction
 Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology focus on

studying the interrelationships
between people and their
environment with the aim of
understanding, quantifying and
possibly changing this interaction
 Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology focus on

studying the interrelationships
between people and their
environment with the aim of
understanding, quantifying and
possibly changing this interaction
 What do we know?

We design, sell, We create and Develop analytical

buy, consume, and maintain energy models to
discard flows through understand these
these technologies systems/possible
(efforts to change changes
through DSM or
EE) Lutzenhiser, 2008
Why? The answer is simple:
Comfort
Cleanliness
Convenience

Shove, E (2012)
 Behaviour change is necessary in
4 areas:
SOCIETY,
(1) technology
ENGINEERS, development and
ENVIRONMENTALISTS diffusion,
MARKETING

(2) voluntary action by consumers,

PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY,
MARKETING, POLICY –MAKING,
governments and businesses,
ACTIVISTS

(3) innovation in policies, markets and

POLICY DEVELOPERS, ECONOMISTS, ACTIVISTS
interventions, and
(4)M&V,
improved analysis
SOCIAL RESEARCH, and
ECONOMIC and modeling.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALISYS

Lutzenhiser (2008)
POET (Xia & Zhang, 2010)

Human element
 What can I focus on?
• Operation efficiency: Coordination of
time, scaling (sizing and matching) and
human elements.

• Performance efficiency: Maximise

production, minimise cost, soft kWh,
leakage.
 What does operation and
performance efficiency look
like when we consider human
behaviour?
Operation efficiency is….
 Human elements in operation
efficiency
• Coordination of human elements?
– Investment in equipment and technology
– Management of equipment and technology
– Intensity of equipment and technology use

O1=technology efficiency, equipment efficiency,

operation efficiency
O2= Equipment efficiency only (equipment
maintenance, time strategies for efficiency)
O3= Skills levels of humans operators (training,
mood, strategies, abilities to change, barriers,
norms, cultures)
Xia & Zhang, 2010
 Investment in Management of Intensity of
equipment and equipment and equipment and
technology technology technology use

Transportation Number and fuel Number of people in Distance travelled

efficiency of personal the vehicle;
and public engine maintenance
transportation vehicles

Heating and cooling of Size of buildings, Maintenance of Temperature settings

buildings efficiency of furnaces furnaces;
and air conditioners; caulking of windows
amount of insulation.

Household appliances Energy efficiency of Cleaning freezer coils; Amount of hot water,
and electronics water heaters, reducing standby time spent with TV on
televisions and power
refrigerators
APA, 2010
 Human factors in operation and
performance efficiency
What we Technology
Equipment
HAVE
Traditions
and
Aspirations
Maintenance
Operations
Time schedules

What we What we
THINK DO

Stephenson, 2012
 Human factors in operation and
performance efficiency
Technology
Equipment…
The equipment,
buildings, and
energy sources we
use
Traditions
and Maintenance…
Aspirations
…

What we are aiming How we use

at intellectually and electrical equipment
what we care about and technology

Stephenson, 2012
 Operation efficiency: human
factors Technology
Equipment…

Traditions Material
and
Aspirations
culture
…
Maintenance…

Cognitive Energy
norms practices

Stephenson, 2012
 Nicotine Reduces
patches sales of
sigarettes

Taxes to
increase
Social costs
marketing
Cessation
support

Social
Bans
networks

Shove,E (2003)
 Operation and performance
efficiency: human factors
Technology
Equipment
Material As-is buildings and
structures
culture Energy sources
Aspirations
Comfort levels Maintenance
Environmental Amount of plant/Size of
considerations project
Respect for Intensity of use
tradition Time-of-use

Cognitive Energy
norms practices

Stephenson, 2012
Stephenson, 2012
Stephenson, 2012
Similar to the backward Similar to the forward
method – demand exists method – a solution exists

Stephenson, 2012
 Changing behaviour
(Mehlmann et al, 2010)

Concern
Help formulate
Feedback
questions

Act Find out

Formulate intention
Houses of Parliament PostNote, 2012
Houses of Parliament PostNote, 2012
 Designing Feedback
As engineers, you need to allow people to
SEE the system.
SEEING > INFORMATION > ACTION
> FEEDBACK > CARE > LOOKING
 Procurement of Management of Intensity of
equipment and equipment and equipment and
technology technology technology use
Methods Buy timers and Maintenance Limit use
energy-efficient (reasonable
equipment Rethink use/excessive use)
expected
Sell or recycle standard of Increase
obsolete service functionality (full
technology and loads, cook
equipment Use alternatives everything in the
oven or everything
Use alternatives on the stove and/or
further apart)
 Systemic summary of change
(du Preez, 2014)
Environmental Feedback and information Behaviour and strategies
concern

Micro Values Personal information Cognitive dissonance

Awareness Pinpointing indicators of success Spillover in motivation
Responsibility Feedback and guidance on desired
Comfort behaviour in personal circumstance,
Efficacy informing questions
Meso Gender roles, Normative feedback on gender roles Behaviour strategies
family and acceptable energy efficiency Communication
support, behaviour (folk knowledge), discussion strategies
influence of of results with friends and family
religion
Exo Distrust in Billing system and normative feedback Campaign focus
government,
municipalities and
Eskom
Macro Socio-economic Establishment of normative goals Normative goals
impact, conspicuous Low carbon citizenry
consumption Energy efficiency impact on
quality of life
 Uptake of new technology
• Changes in material culture through
policy, knowledge, infrastructure

Stephenson, 2012
 Changing practices
• Assess practices critically

Stephenson, 2012
Changing ideas about what it
should be like….

Stephenson, 2012
 A new norm
• Material culture supports cognitive
norms

Stephenson, 2012
What are the implications of this
for you?
Conceptual
Active and Technical cycles of assessment
Focusing on…
Whole system
approach
 Of which the human element is
not negligible
When using decision making tools to
determine importance of energy efficiency
Energy Time People
Technology
Equipment
Operation
Performance
Case study – O Power

Alex Lansky video

 Principle 1
• Design for how people actually behave
• Using techniques such as:
– Normative comparison
– Loss language
– Defaults
– User commitment

– https://vimeo.com/87209567
 Principle 2
• Assume people don’t care
• Burden of relevance – “boring until proven
otherwise”
• 9 minutes per year thinking about energy
• Use familiar mental models, clear
language, visual cues, to help people
quickly process info

• https://vimeo.com/87209566
 Principle 3
• Always lead to action
• People must change their behaviour to
save
• Saving tips must be actionable
• Users should have a clear net step
 Principle 4
• Aim for long lasting relationships, not
one night stands
• Provide appropriate encouragements
and rewards
 Principle 5
• Build for everyone
• Send the right message enabling
everyone, everywhere to have the right
message
• Regardless of their income, energy
knowledge, or access to technology

http://blog.opower.com/2014/10/load-
curve-archetypes/
 References
American Psychological Association (APA). (2010). Psychology and global climate change: Addressing a
multifaceted phenomenon and a set of challenges. A report of the American Psychological Association task force
on the interface between psychology and global climate change. Retrieved from
www.apa.org/science/about/publications/climate-change.aspx

Du Preez, M. (2014). Household energy use in South Africa: a systemic study of an individual intervention.
Unpublished. Doctoral thesis, University of Pretoria.

Houses of Parliament, PostNote (2012).Energy use Behaviour change. 417, p. 1-4. Retrieved from:
www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/POST-PN-417.pdf

Lutzenhiser, L. (2008). Why behaviour is important. Behaviour energy and climate change keynote address for
California Senate legislation development related to a California Climate Change Research Institute. Retrieved
from: http://web.stanford.edu/group/peec/cgi-bin/docs/events/2007/becc/presentations/0T-
Setting%20the%20Stage%20-%20Why%20Behavior%20is%20Important%20(Presentation%20Summary).pdf

Mehlmann, M., McLaren, N., & Pometun, O. (2010). Learning to live sustainably. Global Environmental
Research, 149(2), 177-186. Retrieved from http://www.airies.or.jp/journal_14-2eng.html

Laskey, A. & Kavazovic, O. (2011). Energy efficiency through behavioural science. XRDS, 17(4), 47-51. DOI:
10.1145/1961678.1961687

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.

Stephenson, J. (2012). Energy cultures. The concept and applications (so far). Talk to UCL Energy Institute. 2
October 2012. Available from:
https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/energy/news/documents/Energy_Cultures_talk_to_UCL__2_Oct_2012.pdf

Shove, E. ‘Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience’, published by the Department of
Sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YN, UK. Retrieved from:
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