The impact of ICT, in the form of real time data displays and a serious game, was tested in the context of the five User Behaviour Transformation (UBT) pilots.
Test objects (specific rooms and activities) were selected for testing and analysis in each of these public buildings:

• The Culture House, Luleå, Sweden
• Manchester Art Gallery, England
• Ala-Malmi School and Pihkapuisto School, Helsinki, Finland
• City hall, Leiden, Netherlands
• Town hall, Lisbon, Portugal.

As a result of this evaluating the major results of the pilots are

• The project has verified that it is possible to save energy through a user behaviour change
• A process for User Behavior Transformation has been developed
• A Toolbox for User Behaviour change has been developed
• Serious game has been developed and tested
• A generic UBT process that can be re-used and developed further.

There were significant differences in the results between pilots and there is a need for further analysis (in a new project) of the energy saving impact and associated cost of each UBT tool in different scenarios. This study would facilitate the widespread adoption of appropriate methodologies to maximise the energy saving potential of user behaviour change.

Summary of the main results in the pilots

Luleå pilot

In Luleå, the achieved savings are within the area of 7-30%. These energy savings are fully a result of the User Behaviour Change. The table on the left summarises the measured savings and the estimated impact of the UBT tools that have been implemented for each test object. Note, LL is short for Living Lab (by clicking the table you’ll see it better).

In Luleå pilot for both the Restaurant and the Office area the calculated ROI of the investment is 1-2 years. This is indicating that this kind of investement as done in SAVE ENERGY is indeed a good one. Luleå City has decided to keep the installation in the pilot building and is currently investigating further installations in other buildings.

For a future pilots the recommendation in Luleå is to use the UBT process and UBT toolbox that has been developed in this project. More focus should be in the early phases of setting up the Living Labs. The users should be involved earlier and more.

Manchester pilot

The following table summarises the measured savings and the estimated impact of the User Behaviour Transformation (UBT) tools that have been implemented for each test object (by clicking the table you’ll see it better).

In Manchester, the main conclusions made are that energy can be saved through implementation of a behaviour transformation programme.

An energy user behaviour transformation programme is similar to other behaviour change programmes and requires senior level commitment and integration with corporate objectives.
It is challenging to measure behaviour transformation and in particular to separate the measuement of behaviour change from other independent variables.

Sustained energy consumption reduction requires the use of a number of user behaviour transformation tools. The selection of appropriate tools needs to be made on a case by case basis.
Person to person contact probably has the greatest impact. There would be a significant benefit of further scientific research to understand the impact of different combinations of tools in different situations.

The Manchester pilot attempted to reduce energy consumption through a range of behaviour transformation initiatives, based primarily on real time data display. Useful behavioural change test results were obtained, although the findings did not fully match the initial hypotheses. Significant lessons have been learnt and the listed best practices will enable the reader to more easily facilitate, and more accurately measure, behaviour change.

The energy savings from Manchester pilot cannot be extrapolated to calculate potential savings from similar buildings across Europe. It is hoped that the lessons learnt from this pilot can be used in future pilots to accurately determine the effectiveness of different user behaviour transformation tools when used in different scenarios.

Savings achieved in the Manchester pilot are partly due to the use of ICT and partly due to the use of other user behaviour transformation tools. A data collection system was required to measure the energy consumption impact of behaviour change and the same system was also used to provide real time display information. Future pilots may use data in a similar way, or only for the purpose of change measurement.

The impact of a wide range of different behaviour transformation scenarios needs to be measured to determine metrics that can be widely utilised across Europe.

The following recommendations should be considered for future energy use behaviour change projects:

Technical

1. Install a measurement system that will provide accurate data with a high level of confidence, noting that many marketed data collection systems are inherently inaccurate and unreliable.
2. Follow an installation procedure that assures that the extent of connections to all circuits are fully documented and understood, and that all sensors are operating correctly and accurately.
3. Use an appropriate energy monitoring tool to quickly detect anomalies. Greater quantities of data require increasingly sophisticated analysis software.
4. Present display data in a simple and engaging form.

Testing

1. Target areas of high energy use where there is a real potential for energy saving.
2. Use an appropriate granularity (i.e. level of sub-metering and frequency of data) that will facilitate measurement and behaviour change, whilst minimising cost and analysis complexity.
3. When the system is running, the requirement for routine and non-routine adjustments needs to be analysed, then procedures implemented to ensure availability of data necessary to make these adjustments.
4. The baseline period must be long enough to enable routine adjustments to be accurately calculated. The baseline period cannot start until a procedure to make non-routine adjustments is operational.

People

1. Determine the most cost effective user behaviour transformation tools that will facilitate sustained energy savings.
2. Senior management need to understand how their behaviour will influence the behaviour of building users and facilities management support needs to be allocated.
3. The behaviour transformation programme needs to be implemented in an environment where obvious energy efficiency measures (e.g. replacement of inefficient lamps) have been made, or are in progress.

Helsinki Pilot

The Helsinki pilot can show savings within the range of 7-74 % . Savings are based on User Behaviour Transformation and technical renewals. The table below summarizes the measured savings and the estimated impact of the UBT tools that have been implemented for each test object included into Helsinki pilot (click the table to see it better).

Save Energy project at Helsinki was based on Living Lab methodology as all SAVE ENERGY pilots. During the project a wide, sophisticated and innovative ICT system using the existing building automation systems and intelligent wireless sensor based system and the Serious Game was developed to provide the real time and historical information via dedicated display units for the different user groups. The users were involved in all the phases of the project.

The technical and user behavioral results were all very positive and successful. There was some quality problems dealing with the ventilation of the gym before the project started, and they were improved during the project. The kitchen personnel was satisfied with the real time information provided. When they were interviewed about the displays they said that they understood the measurements displayed and changed their behaviour to save energy. The pupils and the teachers at schools were very eager to participate througout the project.

Leiden pilot

The Leiden pilot did successfully attempt to save energy through user behavior change. This behavior change was merely based on the visualization of real-time and high-density data in different ways to the users of the building. The pilot succesufully identified user behavior change from several graphs, but unfortunately the actual energy savings did not reach the hypothesis in some of the test cases.

For the Leiden municipality SAVE ENERGY project pointed out a lot of significant issues that can easily be solved. As a general conclusion it can be said that the Leiden pilot found that:

1. Energy saving is very well possible in monumental buildings, on the basis of building automation technology.
2. Behavior of the users can be changed using RTI, but the savings could be more consistent if some actions would have been automated by the Building Automation System (becoming a Smart Building).
3. The current energy prices are too low to calculate a positive ROI if this is seen as the only benefit of reducing energy consumption.

Lisbon pilot

The Lisbon pilot achieved 27% savings distributed by the intervention at the building management systems level and UBT actions. The summary of the results can be seen in the table below.

The test plan and analysis allowed Lisbon pilot to conclude was that there is in terms of potential savings a large road to run in terms of building efficiency. The results of 27% savings in Lisbon pilot, shared 13% for BMS optimization showed that continues monitoring is a keystone for energy efficiency maintenance and performance measurement. Furthermore, the results obtain through the different types of initiatives related to user behaviour transformation tells that there is still need a little more improvements on the ways that we measure UBT. Namely, how the effect spreads over time. It has become clear that there is a momentum effect, due to the short-term engagement of the users. What is needed is to keep the engagement alive through time, and that the savings and performance are maintained over time, and are not only time framed effects.

Developing a User behavior transformation (UBT) process and toolbox

One of the results from the project is the UBT process and Toolbox. The UBT process describes, in a stepwise approach, how to setup a new pilot and then run the pilot in the purpose of saving energy through a user behaviour change.
The Toolbox describes the different tools (e.g. meetings, displays, real-time information) that should be used to facilitate a user behaviour change. The Toolbox also aids the user in the selection of which tool is most effective in your pilot.

The UBT process and Toolbox are based on the results from all the pilots testing. The UBT process and Toolbox have been developed through a series of meetings and workshops in the project. It is based on the experiences from all the pilots. It should however be adapted by the user in order to gain maximum effect. To do this the user must have some knowledge about their “pilot”. This includes facts about the building, energy management and about the users.

The UBT process is divided into three phases (Preparation, Execution and Checking). Each phase consists of a number of actions (green boxes) and decisions (yellow). Below is a flowchart of the UBT process and a description of each phase and corresponding actions. As can be seen in the flowchart the UBT process is incremental and therefore uses the advantage of taking small steps, evaluating, adjusting and then starting next step. In this way we will always be in control of what is happening and can adjust for changes needed. Often these changes come from the users! It is very important to keep a close dialog with the users throughout the UBT process (Living Lab approach) as they often help you detect possible problems and opportunities!

Implementing the process

Preparation phase

Evaluate the pre-requisite such as General policies City objectives, EU goals other existing policies. Also evaluate the users and their needs for achieving the goals.
Make an energy Audit of the building (often done by local authorities).
Define the goals based on the input from the evaluation. What is possible to achieve and what cost is acceptable for achieving this.
Select the needed tools (see Toolbox below) form the Toolbox and from the Technology box (choosing the technology such as sensors, gateways, displays etc.) for achieving the goals at an acceptable cost.
Plan your activities. One of the most important tasks is to plan for the user involvement. Plan the meeting schedule, how to provide information etc. to the users. Also consider, who is the user? Of course people in the building but perhaps also local management, house owner, and visitors?

Execution phase

Prepare by installing technology, establishing reference baseline, correction factors etc. The reference baseline can normally be established in two ways. Either by having historical energy consumption data (or plan for your own reference period where you establish these historical data) or by having a reference building to compare with (often more complicated to ensure that the two buildings are the same and that operation of the reference building is not influenced by what is happening in the test building).
Launch the program officially, involving all the users so that everyone is aware and committed.
Operate the execution by monitoring technology, users and building to see that everything is running normally and according to plan. Do we need to re-evaluate the goals? If so jump back to the preparation phase!

Checking phase

Review the progress and analyze the intermediate results. What adjustments are needed? Have we reached the goals?
Send short intermediate reports about the current status compared to the goals after every Review. In the Save-Energy project we had an incremental cycle of about 3-4 month where we analysed results and decided about improvements etc.
A final report should be issued stating the results compared to the defined goals when you have finished process.

The UBT Toolbox

The UBT toolbox has been developed to assist in the selection of appropriate tools to be used within the UBT process. Examples of these tools are meetings, signage and incentives – they are listed in the first column.

It is understood that energy user behaviour is based primarily on five sub-conscious questions that we all ask ourselves:

1. Is there a problem?
2. Do I know what to do about it?
3. Do I care?
4. Will the solution work?
5. What will my peers think of my behaviour?

These questions can be placed into two groups, those that can be answered by education and those that need a motivational element. Even when all of these questions have been answered positively by the sub-conscious mind, when we are fully educated and motivated, we also sometimes need to be prompted or reminded what to do.
The objective of any UBT program is to effectively answer the five questions in the context of a specific environment and also to act as a prompt. The color coding in each cell is an indication of how useful each tool may be in answering each of the questions. Green indicates useful and red indicates not very useful. At the start of the UBT process and during each checking phase, the range of tools can be adjusted to meet the identified need. It should be noted that each tool has an associated cost (€) and at all times the value (€ or kgCO2) of the potential change must be assessed against this cost.

Serious game best practices and recommendations

Conclusion on best practices for serious games development can be summarised by the following bullet points. Note that considerable additional conclusions can be found in the two mentioned peer-reviewed journals.

• Carefully relate entertainment and pedagogical design – have experts for both.
• Create synergy between design and practitioners of serious topic – energy experts, etc.
• Involve software engineering professionals, at least in early stages.
• Synergy with pilot groups.
• End to end publicity.
• Regular events/contacts.
• Promotional tie-ins.
• PR manager.
• Technical support.
• Community management.
• Evaluation considered at design stage.

Project conclusion

The SAVE ENERGY project has verified that it is possible to make significant energy savings through the implementation of a UBT process facilitated by ICT.

Measuring energy savings due to UBT is not a simplistic task and requires a methodology that combines careful operation of an appropriately accurate measurement system, with a robust process to minimise the impact of routine and non-routine variables.

Real time information display and serious games can be useful elements of a UBT programme, but should be combined with other UBT Tools to maximise energy saving potential and return on investment.
Results from the five pilots indicate that there are many factors that influence the actual savings achieved. Key factors include:

• The culture in which the pilot was operated, both national and specific to the working environment.
• Interaction and the relationship between project team and the energy users.
• Other UBT Tools used in addition to ICT.

The SAVE ENERGY UBT process is a framework which can be used for future behaviour change initiatives. This can be developed further by applying the lessons learnt and best practices from each of the pilots.

The UBT Toolbox is a starting point from which appropriate behaviour change techniques can be identified.

There is a need for further analysis (in a new project) of the energy saving impact and associated cost of each UBT tool in different scenarios. This study would facilitate the widespread adoption of appropriate methodologies to maximise the energy saving potential of user behaviour change.