The following case study is provided courtesy of BetterBricks
The actions of building occupants can impact how building systems run, especially if they are adapting to their environments in ways that negatively impact the overall building performance (i.e., covering sensors, adjusting or altering thermostats, bringing space heaters to the office, etc.). Training and actively engaging with building occupants can empower them to contribute to the performance goals of a building. Behavioral change programs or tenant engagement programs are becoming widely applied to achieve energy savings by teaching building occupants how to properly engage with their environments.
A tenant engagement program is a social intervention plan or campaign that encourages the occupants of a given building to participate in positive energy behaviors by using energy-efficient strategies [1]. In buildings with ambitious energy-performance targets, like the Catalyst building at the South Landing development in Spokane, Wash., engaging occupants through education and behavioral change is especially important to reach and maintain energy efficiency targets through the lifespan of a building. Engagement additionally can leverage individual motivations, green-lease agreements, or incentives to attract participation.
Behavior-based energy efficiency (BEE) programs are becoming widely adopted by utilities and are a source of energy savings as more energy-efficient technologies are adopted [2]. Utility BEE programs consist of strategies that increase energy-efficient behaviors through targeted interventions and information delivery [3], but ultimately are designed to engage with residential customers [4, 5]. Utility motivations to reduce energy consumption stems from the costs of energy production and reducing environmental impacts [6], but little has been done to understand how to engage with building occupants who do not directly pay for their consumption [7-9].
