The ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐จ is like a high-stakes game of Monopoly, where the goal is to accumulate as much cash ๐ค as possible. But instead of a title deed, in real life the resource can be clean water, arable land, the environment, virus-free air etc. (โ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐จโ).
When everyone takes more than their fair share, it can lead to overuse and depletion. We all know that. But ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐จ, ๐ง๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐, ๐จ๐๐ก๐-๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ drive us to overuse and deplete anyway. Here are some examples:
Information and imposition of fines can only do so much. What if, instead, we could make it easy, attractive, social and timely for people to NOT overuse common resources? Letโs take the example of reducing the energy bill at work.
How to reduce office energy bills
Reducing energy usage at the workplace is not always as simple as encouraging remote working or turning down the thermostat (though it sometimes isโฆ).
The amount of energy used depends on how employees act in the office. it follows that, to cut energy bills and emissions, ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ค๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ค๐ฎ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐.
But unlike when people use energy in their own homes, employees donโt directly bear the cost of the energy they use in their office. They take it for granted and leave the bosses to worry about it. Also, sharing workplace facilities with many colleagues makes people feel that their actions wonโt make a big difference in this context. This is a classic example of the ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐จ.
Some good news! ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ค๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ค๐ง๐จ:
staff are bound by organizational policies
they look to their employers and colleagues for guidance on how to behave whilst at work
they can be held accountable for their workplace behavior.
So then, wow can employers encourage staff to use less energy in the workplace? Drawing on their EAST framework, UK's Behavioural Insights Team suggests that to encourage employees to save energy at work, employers need to ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ, ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐, ๐จ๐ค๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฎ.
Make it Easy
Automating desk cluster plugs to switch off if unused for 15-minutes resulted in energy savings of up to 20% compared to non-automated plugs.
Automation through desktop apps helped employees reduce energy use by up to 38% if used to control laptops, monitors, phones and desk lights.
Occupancy sensing heating systems reduce energy consumption by 17-24%.
Make it Attractive
When salient messaging through posters and โturn it offโ stickers was combined with strong messaging from the CEO and senior staff modelling energy saving, it resulted in a sustained 30% reduction in the number of monitors on as well as smaller reductions in hard drives and lights.
Selecting โexemplary employeesโ to demonstrate energy saving behaviors in the office, and publicly rewarding them, can reduce energy consumption by 5-12%.
Competitions can be effective too. Back in 2010, the UK government used a competitive approach to reduce energy consumption of departments, publishing monthly performance tables with a real-time display of energy consumption in the resorts. They even held a real competition to see which building could save the most energy. After a year of this initiative, the government saved 10% of its energy consumption.
Make it Social
Personalized feedback about the specific sources of energy waste at the employee level led to a 50% reduction in leaving computers on during lunch and a 75% reduction in leaving them on at the weekend.
Social feedback by letting customers know how much energy they spend compared to their more efficient neighbors can lead to small but sustained usage reductions.
Instant feedback via electronic dashboards and apps is effective at encouraging employees to use less energy, especially inefficient users.
Assigning a member of staff to be a dedicated โbehavioral energy advisorโ who provides personalized help and support (as well as monitoring) to colleagues can also help reduce energy consumption.
Make it Timely
The โfresh startโ effect refers to the feeling of empowerment we get from having a clean slate. This means that an ideal time to pursue a change is after a salient temporal landmark (a fresh start): like the beginning of the week, new year, our birthday, a new job, graduation etc. In our workplace context, prompts to save energy could be embedded into onboarding packages to help build positive habits for newcomers.
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