Electricity generation accounts for over 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by the United States. This project will investigate how energy usage information provided through advanced metering technology can induce conservation behavior. It tests the long-term effectiveness of real-time feedback on electricity use combined with messages aimed at motivating behavioral change. The interdisciplinary research team will combine innovative electrical engineering and computer science methods with insights from psychology and consumer behavior research to design optimal interventions for changing energy use behavior. The research will involve two experiments. In the first, residents of 120 campus apartments used to test the effectiveness of three different types of messages: pecuniary, pro-social, and pro-self conservation messages. The second experiment will investigate the effectiveness of public recognition of conservation behavior.
The results will be applicable to the 65 million smart meters to be installed in the United States by 2015 to provide measurable outcomes for energy management. The research findings will be integrated into undergraduate courses at UCLA including the capstone design courses in Engineering, the Environmental Sciences senior practicum, and the UCLA Sustainability Action Research Teams (ART). This project will also help K12 students gain experience in the energy field through UCLA?s High School Summer Research Program and engineering Tech Camp, and will engage students from underrepresented minorities by offering research opportunities for a freshman class through the Center for Excellence in Engineering Diversity.
