The Impact of Incentives on Employees to Change Thermostat Settings—A Field Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Sustainable Trends in Organizational Behavior
1.2. Growing Energy Demand
1.3. Emerging Importance of Human Behavior as Energy Saving Factor
1.4. Complexity of the Human Behavior Factor
1.5. Towards a Pro-Ecological Behavior Change—An Experimental Approach
2. Objectives
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Energy Saving in the Office (ESO)—Experiment Design
3.2. Carrying out the ESO Experiment
- Thermostat readout Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4;
- Intervention—The first incentive for energy saving delivered to groups G2 and G3;
- Thermostat readout Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9;
- Intervention—The second incentive for energy saving delivered to group G3 only;
- Thermostat readout Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14;
- Intervention—The information about the end of the main part of the project delivered to groups G2 and G3;
- Thermostat readout Nos. 15, 16, and 17.
4. Results
4.1. Statistical Test of the Effect of the First Incentive Delivery
4.2. Consideration of Effect of the Second Incentive Delivery
5. Discussion
6. Summary and Conclusions
- Providing incentives for energy saving resulted in a statistically significant positive reaction of the employees of the department studied.
- This reaction was not instantaneous and weakened with time, but to a success rate level higher than the starting one.
- When seeking to save resources (water, energy, paper, etc.) in offices or other buildings, it is important to remember to raise awareness and train staff, to learn from each other, and to encourage adapting resource-efficient behaviors. It is equally important that select employees declare that they will transfer their changes in behavior to their private lives.
- In regard to the methods leading to changes in the behaviors of individuals and organizations towards becoming more resourceful and energy-efficient, the experimental approach proposed in this article can be an effective solution.
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
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Zalewska, M.E. The Impact of Incentives on Employees to Change Thermostat Settings—A Field Study. Energies 2021, 14, 5315. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175315
Zalewska ME. The Impact of Incentives on Employees to Change Thermostat Settings—A Field Study. Energies. 2021; 14(17):5315. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175315
Chicago/Turabian StyleZalewska, Mariola E. 2021. "The Impact of Incentives on Employees to Change Thermostat Settings—A Field Study" Energies 14, no. 17: 5315. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175315