Driving Energy Savings Through Behavior

THE NEED

The Garrison Institute and project funders, the Bullitt and Boeing Foundations, were interested in demonstrating the energy savings impact of specific tenant behavior change initiatives in commercial office buildings.

OUR APPROACH

Milepost worked with Social Scientist Dr. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez to develop a new approach to measure tenant behavior. This approach informed the engagement strategies employed to encourage office workers to reduce energy consumption through simple behaviors, such as powering down electrical equipment, changing thermostat settings and turning off lights. Utilizing a combination of observational research, interviews, surveys and focus groups, we established an accurate picture of employee energy use behaviors and patterns, which informed the activities included in an internal office competition and recommended changes to equipment and technology policies.

THE RESULTS

The pilot created a replicable process and protocol to audit tenant behavior in an office setting, which enabled the client to see savings attributable to a behavior intervention. As a result of the intervention, tenants showed an average monthly savings of 16% over baseline for a full year, indicating lasting savings and change.

OUR ROLE

• Program Design
• Behavioral Audit
• Change Management
• Facilitation
• Branding & Graphic Design
• Data Collection & Reporting