Determinants of Energy Efficiency Behaviours in the Home: A Case Study of Waterloo Region‪.‬

Abstract This study examined the underlying factors that influence three types of energy consumption behaviours (technology investment, management, and curtailment) in a sample of 339 households from Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. A 154-item survey was used to collect information on respondent demographics, situational variables, self-reported energy conservation and energy-related home retrofit behaviours, environment and energy-related attitudes, energy knowledge and opinions on energy policy. Unlike most analyses of home energy behaviours, the study also incorporated structural data (derived from Canada's national `Home Energy Rating System' model HOT 2XP) to examine potential feedbacks between dwelling infrastructure and energy related behaviours. A stepwise multiple regression procedure revealed that the pattern of significant predictor variables differed for each of the three types of home energy related behaviours. Energy use curtailment behaviours were more strongly influenced by personal norms (environmental attitudes and social responsibility), while energy efficient technology investments were predicted more by pragmatic factors like a desire for increased home comfort and the number of years to recoup investment. The different predictors for each of the three types of home energy behaviours supports the theoretical contention that environmentally responsible behaviours are distinct and do not constitute a single consistent environmentally responsible pattern of behaviour. Several findings were particularly relevant for public participation in Canada's EnerGuide for Houses (EGH) programme. Marketing of EGH should focus on pragmatic benefits rather than normative suasion, with particular emphasis on increased home comfort. The positive influence of social networks on technology investment and energy management behaviours was also an important finding, as it suggests initiatives to advance energy efficiency in the Canadian residential sector will have indirect, synergistic effect with people not directly involved in the EGH programme. The majority (72%) of respondents in this study acknowledged that their home energy behaviours were not fixed and it is therefore important that EGH not overlook the potential of energy conservation through behavioural change. The in-person provision of energy conservation information together with the detailed EGH technical retrofit plan may create a situation where cognitive dissonance reinforces a range of energy efficiency actions in the home.