Saving energy when others pay the bill

Most energy saving measures focus on using financial incentives to stimulate consumers to take action. However, in reality, financial incentives are often irrelevant, for example in hotels, where energy costs are included in the room price, or in all-inclusive student housing. Therefore, this project consists of a series of field experiments in which non-financial incentives and their potentially positive effect on energy saving are being researched. 

The research is conducted by Wageningen University, in collaboration with The Student Hotel and Bectro Installatietechniek. It is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, as part of Topsector Energy's social innovation program 'MVI Energy' ('Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Innoveren - Energie').

The research project in brief

• A series of studies on energy saving behaviour, using field experiments
• Focus on situations in which financial incentives are irrelevant: student housing, hotels
• Unique: longitudinal research on actual (directly measured) energy savings, with continuously renewed groups of participants
• Great potential for new scientific insights that are both fundamental and practically applicable
• Results can be taken up directly in professional practice, e.g. in hotel management and installation engineering
• Excellent opportunities for expanding the project with new partners and additional experiments​​

See Project for a more detailed description of the research project.