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Climate, Mind and Behavior Newsletter

The Climate, Mind and Behavior Project has received generous support from the Surdna Foundation and the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation.

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In this Issue: Calendar of Events |Announcements|Crowd-Sourced Strategies for Engaging Multi-Family Housing Residents in Recycling | Survey Shows American Voters Support Climate Action and Politicians Could Benefit | Meta-analysis of Pro-environmental Behavior Experiments | New Books | Resources

Calendar of Events

2012

October 4: Pacific Northwest Regional Hub Meeting (Time 7 – 9am)
October 30: Rocky Mountain Regional Hub Meeting (Time TBA)
November 12-14: Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference (BECC)

2013

January 16: Pacific Northwest Regional Hub Meeting (Time 12 – 1:30pm)
January 23: Rocky Mountain Regional Hub Meeting (Time TBA)
March 13-15: Climate, Cities and Behavior (CCB) Symposium
April 17: Pacific Northwest Regional Hub Meeting (Time 7 – 9am)
April 18: Rocky Mountain Regional Hub Meeting (Time TBA)
June 3-8: ECEEE Summer Study- Belambra Presqu'île de Giens, France
June 10-12: Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Symposium
June 12-14: [SCORAI] Conference- The Future of Consumerism and Well-being in a World of Ecological Constraints, Worchester, MA
July 17: Pacific Northwest Regional Hub Meeting (Time 12 – 1:30pm)
September 18-20: Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium
October 16: Pacific Northwest Regional Hub Meeting: (Time 7 – 9am)

Announcements

The CMB Symposium date has been changed and will now be held June 10-12th, 2013. The change was made to coordinate with the Sustainable Consumption Research Action Initiative (SCORAI) conference on The Future of Consumerism and Well-being in a World of Ecological Constraints that will be held the latter part of that week at Clark University in Worchester, MA. The SCORAI conference (June 12-14) will focus on developing an improved understanding of the complex factors driving prevalent consumerist lifestyles in the wealthiest nations. Its aim is to generate insights into how to transition to alternative ways of pursuing individual and societal well-being in a technological society cognizant of ecological limits. The conference also hopes to build on recent advances in the field to establish a vibrant, global research community focused on sustainable consumption.

CMB hubs are now active in the Pacific Northwest, New York, Denver, Charlotte and Boston. They meet quarterly, presenting guest speakers and discussions with companies and organizations engaged in people-centered energy and climate initiatives in the region. For more information about regional hub meetings, to RSVP for a meeting, or to be added to a regional listserv, contact our CMB hub coordinator Adam Meier at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Crowd-Sourced Strategies for Engaging Multi-Family Housing Residents in Recycling

CMB network members represent a storehouse of valuable information and ideas. When asked for their thoughts and recommendations about effective strategies for creating a community committed to recycling, CMB network members responded en masse. We’ve posted the complete collection of responses on our website, and here is a short summary of some of the ideas they contained.

Multi-family housing communities face a unique set of obstacles when it comes to encouraging recycling. Since multi-family homes tend to be smaller, finding space for in-unit recycling is often difficult. Some CMB network members recommended built-in recycling stations in units; others suggested multiple recycling stations on each floor. Reuse of clothing, furniture and other items can be encouraged with on-site donation programs or by establishing pick-up days for the Salvation Army or other charities.

Often one of the toughest challenges for residents is knowing what can and can’t be recycled. Adequate labeling is critical for ensuring that recyclables end up in the right containers, keeping in mind that multi-lingual labels may be useful. Conspicuous labels that include pictures rather than text can help people quickly identify which items belong in specific recycling containers. Lastly, placing trash and recycling containers close together and emptied helps keep recyclables out of the general trash and vice versa.

Getting people motivated and engaged is also important. Many people in the CMB community expressed strong support for the establishment of green teams and for getting children involved in recycling. Green teams are typically led by tenants and are often associated with high levels of resident autonomy and participation that results in creative solutions and persistent programs. Involving kids has also proven effective and different programs have engaged them in a range of ways, from painting murals at the recycling signage areas to playing guessing games about which item goes in which recycling bin. Reaching children is also an effective way of reaching other family members. For example, educating children about food waste generated in their homes and composting at local parks, farmers’ markets or farms and may help get their families to participate in composting programs.

Information about recycling has also been turned into games and friendly competitions to make learning and practicing fun and engaging. Some examples used in a senior housing building involved the use of trivia, bingo, movies and giveaways in ‘ecology parties.’

A final strategy used by one CMB network member helped people recognize their role in the larger waste and materials system by organizing visits to on-site recycling facilities and by providing residents with feedback about their progress toward the community’s waste diversion and recycling goals.

Thanks to all the CMB network members who responded. Your suggestions can help build better recycling programs, and stronger and more interactive communities. A complete version of all the responses is posted here.

Survey Shows American Voters Support Climate Action and Politicians Could Benefit

As November elections draw near, research from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication suggests that there is a net benefit to political candidates who choose to take a pro-climate stand. A recent YPCCC survey of registered voters assessed potential benefits and harms that candidates might face at both the national level and in ten key swing states. The results show that candidates are more likely to benefit by talking about and supporting action to reduce global warming. Among the key findings of the survey:

-A majority of all registered voters (55%) say they will consider candidates' views on global warming when deciding how to vote.

- Among these climate change issue voters, large majorities (94%) believe global warming is happening and support action by the US to reduce global warming, even if it has economic costs. Also, a large majority of registered voters (88%) support action to reduce global warming, even if it has economic costs.

- Independents lean toward “climate action” and look more like Democrats than
Republicans on this issue.

- A pro-climate action position wins votes among Democrats and Independents, and has little negative impact with Republican voters.

- Policies to reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels and promote renewable energy are favored by a majority of registered voters across party lines. Among registered voters, 91% of Democrats, 80% of Independents and 74% of Republicans support funding more research on renewable energy sources.

Across party lines, the results indicated high percentages of Americans favor policies that reduce America’s reliance on fossil fuels and promote renewable energy. For example, a majority of registered voters regardless of party affiliation support holding the fossil fuel industry responsible for "all the hidden costs we pay for citizens who get sick from polluted air and water, military costs to maintain our access to foreign oil and the environmental costs of spills and accidents." A majority of registered Democrats, Independents and Republicans support regulating CO2 as a pollutant. Such findings may herald increased receptiveness of the voting public to recognize and tackle the problem of climate change, including national level policy solutions.

For more information on the study, please see the following web link.

Meta-analysis of Pro-environmental Behavior Experiments

What types of interventions actually help increase pro-environmental behaviors? It’s well known that there is no single silver-bullet strategy or treatment that is effective for inducing all types of pro-environmental behaviors. Instead, researchers Osbaldiston and Schott suggest that a more effective approach is to match particular target behaviors with particular intervention strategies. They recommend practitioners start by selecting the behavior they wish to target and then – using the information presented in the meta-review – 1) select the appropriate lead strategy (given the characteristics of the target behavior), and subsequently 2) identify the set of supporting strategies that work well in combination with the lead strategy.

In general, the results of the meta-review found that certain types of environmental behaviors, such as recycling in public spaces, water conservation or curbside recycling, could be achieved with strategies that require minimal levels of participant engagement. Other behaviors, such as conserving home energy or gasoline required strategies that relied on higher levels of engagement.

Among low-level engagement strategies, most focused on removing obstacles that prevented people from achieving a pro-environmental behavior. Overall, four specific low-level engagement strategies were identified by the authors: 1) making the behavior easy or convenient for would-be participants, 2) providing participants with prompts, 3) providing justifications and 4) providing instructions. These types of strategies have been effective in promoting a variety of relatively easy-to-achieve behaviors. For example, many public recycling programs have successfully increased recycling rates by making recycling easier, e.g. by having the proper recycling containers available where recyclables are generated, or posting clear instructions about which items can be recycled and which cannot.

Higher-level engagement strategies, such as the use of feedback, commitments and goal setting were found to be particularly effective for behaviors involving more forethought and effort, such as reducing home energy or gasoline consumption. And combining several high-level engagement strategies was especially important for especially high-effort behaviors, such as purchasing energy efficient appliances or fuel-efficient cars.

The study also identified three moderate-level engagement strategies including the use of economic and non-economic rewards, social modeling and cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance strategies access preexisting beliefs or attitudes and attempt to make participants behave in ways that are consistent with those beliefs to reduce the dissonance. “Foot in the door” treatments, where experimenters asked participants to engage in a small act first and subsequently asked them to engage in a larger act, also fall into this category.

The research suggests that moderate-level engagement strategies tend to be most effective for behaviors that span the middle ground from moderate to higher levels of forethought, such as water conservation, curbside recycling and home energy conservation.

The research also unwittingly revealed a relationship between the level of participant engagement and whether the target behavior was public or private. The findings suggest that public behaviors such as public recycling, water conservation and curbside recycling require lower-level engagement strategies, while private behaviors such as home energy conservation and gasoline conservation require higher levels of participant engagement.

When considering support strategies, the researchers found that certain pairs of strategies worked particularly well when applied in combination. Among the notable paired strategies identified by the authors were:

Goals and rewards
Goals and instructions
Goals and commitments
Making the action easy and using prompts
Justifying the action and using prompts and
Justifying the action and using cognitive dissonance.

A copy of the full journal article can be found here.

New Books

Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution
Leslie E. Sponsel (University of Hawai`i) Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger 2012 (July)

This foundational book provides a unique historical, cross-cultural context for understanding and advancing the ongoing spiritual ecology revolution, considering indigenous and Asian religious traditions as well as Western ones. For more information and ordering click here.

America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy
James Gustave Speth (Vermont Law School) Yale University Press, 2012 (September)

In this third volume of his award-winning American Crisis series, Gus Speth looks unsparingly at the sea of troubles in which the United States now finds itself, charts a course through the discouragement and despair commonly felt today and envisions an attractive and plausible future that we can still realize.

America the Possible identifies a dozen features of the American political economy—the country's basic operating system—where transformative change is essential. It spells out the specific changes that are needed to move toward a new political economy, one in which the true priority is to sustain people and planet. Supported by a compelling "theory of change" that explains how systems change can come to America, the book also presents a vision of political, social and economic life in a renewed America, envisioning a future that will be well worth fighting for. For more information and ordering, click here.

Navigating Environmental Attitudes
Thomas A. Heberlein (University of Wisconsin) Oxford University Press, 2012 (August)

The environment, and how humans affect it, is more of a concern now than ever. We are constantly told that halting climate change requires raising awareness, changing attitudes, and finally altering behaviors among the general public - and fast. New information, attitudes and actions, it is conventionally assumed, will necessarily follow one from the other. But this ignores much of what is known about attitudes in general and environmental attitudes specifically, namely, that there is a huge gap between what we say and what we do.

Solving environmental problems requires a scientific understanding of public attitudes. Like rocks in a swollen river, attitudes often lie beneath the surface-hard to see, and even harder to move or change. In Navigating Environmental Attitudes, Thomas Heberlein helps us read the rapids and negotiate their hidden obstacles, defining what attitudes are, and how they change and influence behavior. Rather than necessarily trying to change public attitudes, we need to design solutions and policies with them in mind. He illustrates these points by parsing the work of Aldo Leopold, while tying social psychology to real-world behaviors throughout the book.

Bringing together theory and practice, Navigating Environmental Attitudes provides a realistic understanding of why and how attitudes matter when it comes to environmental problems; and how, by balancing natural with social science, we can step back from false assumptions and unproductive, frustrating programs, and work to foster successful, effective environmental action. For more information and ordering, click here.

Resources

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Hmielowski, J.D. (2012) Climate Change in the American Mind: Public Support for Climate & Energy Policies in March 2012. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2012) Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in March 2012. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Krosnick, J., MacInnis, B., & Villar, A. (2011). The Impact of Candidates’ Statements about Climate Change on Electoral Success in 2010: Experimental Evidence.

Osbaldiston, R., and Schott, J. (2012) Environmental Sustainability and Behavioral Science: A Meta-Analysis of Proenvironmental Behavior Experiments. Environment and Behavior 2012 44: 257 DOI: 10.1177/0013916511402673

These and many other research articles on behavior and climate change are available in the CMB Resource Library.

In this Issue: Call for CMB Presentation Proposals | Strategies for Sustainable Occupant Behaviors | The Washington State Sustainable Prisons Project | Resources | Upcoming Events

Coming Up: the 2012 Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium

From May 23-25 2012, the Garrison Institute will host its fourth annual Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium. This high-level meeting will convene real estate professionals, building sustainability experts, and social scientists to explore the science and practice behind people-centered interventions that encourage sustainable practices, reduce energy consumption, and dramatically lower the cost of building operations in multi-family residential and non-residential commercial buildings. CBB’s innovative approach focuses on the human dimensions of resource use, with special attention to engaging building occupants and reducing losses from wasteful energy behaviors.

The importance of operator and occupant behavior is increasingly clear to building owners and managers around the country. More and more companies are working with sustainability experts, researchers, and software companies to implement diverse energy saving strategies that reduce the environmental impact of buildings while improving the financial bottom line. The trend is documented in a recent article in Building Green, which describes a range of interventions, from tenant and occupant engagement programs, to “smart building” software, to intercollegiate competitions on multi-media platforms.

Reporting Back: the 2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Symposium

The third annual CMB symposium took place at the Institute February 14-17, gathering over 100 scientists, researchers, advocates, policy and communications experts from a range of scientific and climate-related disciplines. You can view presentation videos from the symposium at garrisoninstitute.org/cmbvideos2012. Here are some takeaways from just a few these rich and stimulating talks:

Economist Skip Laitner reviewed evidence that US energy use is now only 14% efficient, meaning that 86% of our energy is simply wasted. He presented new research showing that targeted investments could increase energy efficiency by 40 – 60% and create 2 million jobs. You can view his talk here.

CMB Director Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez presented a framework for identifying and addressing the multiple, human dimensions of energy and climate problems and the dramatically large potential impact that such initiatives could have. In fact, occupant behaviors are the reason that energy use in similar buildings can vary by as much as 200-300%. More recent examples of the importance of occupant behavior has been observed as part of a military demonstration project that attempted to document the importance of insulation and other energy efficiency technologies but instead found that occupant behavior was the stronger determinant of energy use. Similarly one Colorado school district found that among the 4 high schools participating in energy reduction strategies, the school that focused on occupant engagement was able to achieve lower levels energy consumption per square foot than even their most technologically sophisticated LEED school. These findings are supported by numerous others that indicate that simple household choices costing little or nothing could save 20-30% of household energy consumption nationwide. In fact, says Ehrhardt-Martinez, 20-30% could be a conservative estimate. You can view her talk here.

Among the many mechanisms for unlocking the potential energy savings described above, John Petersen of Oberlin College acknowledged the importance of “feedback mechanisms,” that connect energy users to their energy use by making energy visible. According to John, different types of feedback engage people in different ways. The energy orb is among the types of feedback that John described. Rather than a presentation of numeric data, the gently glowing “orbs” change color as energy use increases or decreases. In another example a cartoon squirrel provides feedback by appearing sad when energy use increases (the angry squirrel, however, provoked defensive behavior and did not lead to a drop in energy use). You can view his talk here.

Among the pervading themes of the Symposium was the recognition that people are social beings and that community membership plays an important role in shaping individual behavior. UC Davis sociologist Dina Biscotti emphasized the need to study people as part of social organizations rather than focus on isolated individuals. Her current research considers the importance of group dynamics, organizational structures and culture. Of particular interest is the work being accomplished by Interfaith Power and Light (IFPL), a 10,000 plus member organization with member congregations in 29 states, incorporating sustainability values and practices into houses of worship. You can view her talk here.

Additional insights were garnered from Mary Evelyn Tucker’s presentation which reminded us that people find inspiration and motivation from numerous sources. Her talk focused on the many diverse ways spirituality, religion and a reawakened sense of wonder about the natural world can reinvigorate our response to climate change. While recognizing the importance of scientific approaches to climate problems, Dr. Tucker emphasized that insights from the humanities and religion can provide us with an opportunity to connect to “dynamizing human energies” that fuel the movement for ecological renewal. In this respect, human beings constitute a crucial renewable energy resource and faith-based communities are engaging their members to address climate issues in ways that resonate with community values and norms. Mary Evelyn Tucker, is the founder of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. You can view her talk here.

Public opinion researcher Jon Krosnik presented evidence that climate denial in the America public is misunderstood and often exaggerated. According to Krosnik, a large and growing majority of Americans in virtually every state believe climate change is real and anthropogenic and requires action.

The work of two other CMB presenters, Yale Professor of Law Dan Kahan, who discussed climate communications, and Boston College Professor of Sociology Juliet Schor who drew connections between labor economics and climate change, is described in more detail in the next two sections.

Media coverage of the 2012 CMB symposium is linked in the CMB 2012 Media Coverage section below.

Motivated Reasoning: Why Climate Communications Often Fails and How to Fix It

Cultural values may influence what and whom we believe about controversial issues like climate change, says Dan Kahan in a 2010 Nature article, “Fixing the Communication Failure.” Via a phenomenon known to psychologists as “motivated reasoning,” a prior end or goal we have in mind can direct our mental operations, in effect motivating cognition. Motivated reasoning is not a new concept, but a growing body of research now indicates that it strongly influences how ordinary people react to scientific evidence on societal risk.

We’re motivated far more than we realize to accept the facts that fit into our cultural belief systems, and reject those that don’t. As a result, flooding people with new information about climate change may not change beliefs. On the contrary, Kahan’s research finds that the more numerate and scientifically literate people are, regardless of whether they’re climate skeptics or climate activists, the more new information will tend to polarize them and make them more entrenched in their prior belief systems.

As a result, changing minds about climate change may require a counterintuitive approach. “The way to fix the problem is not to turn the volume up on the evidence,” Kahan says. “The way to deal with the problem is to change that meaning, to remove what makes it threatening to other people. It’s about framing it in a way that doesn’t antagonize or come across as an assault on one side.”

Climate change communicators are often clearly associated with particular cultural outlooks or styles, but that can alienate those who don’t share them, reinforcing resistance no matter how convincing the evidence. So Kahan argues climate communicators must present information which is endorsed by a diverse set of experts, in a way that affirms rather than threatens prior beliefs and values. You can download the article here.

Resources

Boyce, Barry. 2011. "The Joy of Living Green," The Shambhala Sun Magazine, November edition.

Galbraith, Kate. 2011. "Austin Studies Power Grid, Including Plug-In Cars," The New York Times, September 29.

Hanscom, Greg. 2011. "Change Hurts: Influencing our Energy Behavior is Messy Business," Grist.org, October 19.

Hoyer, Wayne. 2011. Energy Poll. The University of Texas at Austin.

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf and Jay D. Hmielowski. 2011. "Politics & Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the Tea Party," Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf and Nicholas Smith. 2011. "Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming," Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Margonelli, Lisa, John A. "Skip" Laitner and Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez. 2011. "The Energy Trap." The New America Foundation.

Nelson, Bryn. 2011. "The Self-Sufficient Office Building," The New York Times, October 4.

Upcoming Events

If there is an event you would like us to feature in our next newsletter, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. the details. We will also be creating an events calendar on our website, and will post submissions there as well.

November 30th - December 2nd, Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference. The Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference is the fifth annual conference focused on understanding the nature of individual and organizational behavior and decision making, and using that knowledge to accelerate our transition to an energy-efficient and low carbon economy. It will build on the overwhelming success of previous BECC conferences, at which more than 650 participants discussed successful policy and program strategies, shared important research findings, and built dynamic new networks and collaborations. For more information, please visit the BECC website.

February 15th - February 17th, The third annual Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium. A Garrison Institute Program. We will explore the connection between social sciences research and human-based solutions to climate change. The Climate, Mind and Behavior program seeks to translate science-based knowledge into smart, new initiatives that reduce our energy and carbon footprints in ways that are better aligned with human nature. By invitation.

February 22nd - April 8th, The Annual Lenten Carbon Fast. Over 6000 people from 14 countries participated in the first Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast in 2011. The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ is planning the 2012 carbon fast. Beginning Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, participants will receive a daily email with the day's suggested carbon-reducing activity. When possible, this will include a quantitative measure of the carbon reduction resulting from the activity. Each daily email will also have a section suggesting a weekly focus for the congregation. More information is available on the Massachusetts UCC website.

April 25th - April 27th, The second annual Climate, Cities and Behavior Symposium. A Garrison Institute Program. We will explore how city leaders - mayors, planners, sustainability directors and transportation commissioners - can use social science insights to foster pro-social and pro-environmental behavior in their cities and reduce their carbon footprint. By invitation.

May 16th - May 18th, The fourth annual Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium. A Garrison Institute Program. We will explore how building managers and occupants can use social science insights to foster pro-social and pro-environmental behavior in their buildings and reduce their carbon footprint. By invitation.

July 1st - 7th, Summer Institute: Contemplative Environmental Studies: Pedagogy for Self and Planet (Lama Foundation, New Mexico). Environmental challenges call into question not simply our technological, economic, and political capabilities, but also our understandings of who we are as a species, and how we fit into the broader more-than-human world. The Summer Institute aims to develop tools for teaching and researching environmental dilemmas with this broader sensibility in mind. It focuses on the interface between environmental challenges and contemplative practices with the understanding that the latter can provide access to inner resources for understanding and responding meaningfully to environmental issues. Part workshop/part retreat, this experiential Institute will combine discussions and presentations with contemplative practice. For more information click here.

In this Issue: Calendar of Events | New CMB Program Coordinator | Making Climate Communications More Effective | Midwest Residential Energy Survey Findings | New Information on the Impact of School Buildings on Student Health and Performance | Research Findings on the Commonalities and Differences in Public Understanding of “Climate Change” and “Global Warming” | Resources

Calendar of Events

2012

August 9: Rocky Mountain Regional Hub Meeting, Denver, CO (12 – 1:30pm)
August 12-17: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study on Energy-Efficiency in Buildings
September 6: Boston Regional Hub Meeting (5 – 7pm)
September 6: New York Regional Hub Meeting (Time TBA)
November 12-14: Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference (BECC)

2013

March 13-15: Climate, Cities and Behavior (CCB) Symposium
June 12-14: Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Symposium
September 18-20: Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium

For more information about regional hub meetings, to RSVP for a meeting, or to be added to a regional listserv, contact Adam Meier, the CMB Hub Coordinator, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

New CMB Program Coordinator: Susan McKeever-Duys

We are happy to announce the selection of our new Symposium Coordinator, Susan McKeever-Duys, who will be joining the Climate, Mind and Behavior Program, beginning in August.

Susan has had a life-long career in the environmental field. Her previous work included founding Numas Sustainability, a consulting firm to assist organizations and companies with planning and implementing their sustainability initiatives. Prior to her consulting, she worked for six years at the Philips Electronics North America corporate headquarters in NYC as an environmental specialist where she developed and coordinated their annual Sustainability seminars, conducted compliance audits, and managed the company’s sustainability projects and initiatives. Susan also worked for Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research & Conservation (CERC). As the Center’s Assistant Director of Administration, Susan managed all central administration needs for the Center’s education, training and research programs. Lastly, Susan worked at Johnson & Johnson as an environmental engineer for 6 years managing site compliance, a wastewater treatment plant and sustainability initiatives for the company. Susan has a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science from Rutgers University and has studied at Columbia University in environmental engineering and Pratt University in eco-design.

Susan’s email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , will be active beginning August 7th.

Making Climate Communications More Effective: George Marshall discusses his work with the Welsh Government

How does the Welsh government begin to address climate change in their country? – They hire a comedian! Yes, George Marshall is a serious comedian (pun intended) but when he’s not engaging audiences with his stand up routines, he takes on the role of a dedicated thought leader who approaches climate change communications with a holistic strategy, paying close attention to cultural and social sensitivities.

His experience has helped him to understand the complexity of social change and its reliance on a spectrum of actions and actors. In a recent presentation at the Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium, Marshall observed that discourse about climate change has largely been dominated by the worldviews of environmentalists and climate scientists to the determinant of the effort. As a result, other potential climate action proponents – such as social justice groups, human rights organizations and faith-based leaders – have often chosen to actively exclude themselves from engaging the issue of climate change.

Instead, Marshall advocates a more nuanced, evidence-based approach to climate communications that applies empirical testing at every stage. This strategy places local values and worldviews at the center of communications efforts, and includes several key tenets, including:

The environment is all around us - it should not be conveyed as external.
Messengers own the message – find messages that people want to use and own.
“Belonging” is the reward from taking action on climate change strategies.
In order to minimize the distancing effect of climate change, develop a narrative that conveys the continuity of future, present.
Honest, modest leadership from the government and other leadership roles is important for maintaining authenticity.

During the next year, Marshall will be working with the Welsh government to apply this approach. You can have a laugh and learn more about Marshall’s approach towards effective climate communication by watching the video presentation: http://garr.in/marshall2012cmb

A wide range of other presentations from the 2012 Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium can also be viewed on our website.

Midwest Residential Energy Survey Findings: Household Perceptions and Actions

Understanding how people think about climate and energy is a complex undertaking but it can provide valuable information for people who are trying to create more effective programs. Ingo Bensch – senior researcher at the Energy Center of Wisconsin – has spent years deciphering survey research results and recently presented new findings from the 2011 Midwest Energy Survey.

Among the good news is that a majority of households (73%) surveyed reported that they have taken action to save energy. Notably, households reported taking an average of four energy saving actions, including switching to energy efficient light bulbs, changing air filters and maintaining appliances. In addition, a high percentage of respondents reported having made investments in windows or doors – an action which may not be very rational from an economic perspective. Bensch hypothesizes that the cause could be linked to a misunderstanding of expected savings on the part of residents. In fact, responses to several survey questions indicated that households are prone to overestimating the amount of energy that they are likely to save from specific energy saving actions. For example, respondents reported expected energy savings of $95 per year from the installation of just three energy efficient replacement windows. The prevalence of such misperceptions may signal the need for a recalibration of household savings expectations to help people make better decisions and avoid future disillusionment.

Finally, the research found that economic concerns weighed heavily in people’s thinking and played an important role in the way respondents made sense of their efforts to save energy. In fact, concerns about the nation’s poor economic performance was one of the most frequently cited factors prompting households to engage in efficiency and conservation actions. However, a flagging economy can also act as a deterrent for investments in energy efficient equipment. In fact survey data showed that 67 percent of households reported deferring a major purchase during the prior year. Conversely, 82 percent of households reported taking a wide range of steps to reduce their household expenses, actions that included; cutting food expenditures, household maintenance costs and the purchase of general household items. The findings suggest that programs emphasizing the benefits of low-cost or no-cost energy saving programs are likely to be the most attractive to many households for the time being.

Household engagement was also greatly influenced by environmental concerns and has often been linked to concerns with family health and community wellbeing. Consistent with other research, the Midwest survey findings suggests that people who guide their decision making by beliefs and values are more likely to take steps to save energy than those guided by pleasure and happiness.

You can watch Ingo discuss these important findings and many others from the 2011 Midwest Energy Survey in a new on-demand webinar.

USGBC Center for Green Schools: The Impact of School Buildings on Student Health and Performance

Buildings play a vital role in establishing an environment that is healthy and conducive to learning and teaching. Considering that roughly a quarter of our nation’s population spends much of their day in school buildings there is enormous stake in ensuring the building environment is positive. But how exactly school buildings affect health and performance is not fully understood.

A recently released white paper by the McGraw Hill Foundation and the US Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools provides new insights into the importance of building design and operations for student health and performance.

Among the topics reviewed, the study presents well documented evidence that:

Building design and operations that minimize background noise increase the audibility of voices, protect the aural health of students and teachers, and improve learning.
Design and practices that deprive students’ exposure to natural light disrupt children’s melatonin cycles, reducing students’ level of alertness during school hours.

The study also highlights areas where new research is need and discusses how teachers and students, design professionals, government agencies and others can help draw connections between where students learn and their well-being.

You can access the full study here: [hyperlink to pdf in our Resource Library]
Learn more about the USGBC’s Center for Green Schools program by visiting their website.

What's in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of “climate change” and “global warming”

The link between climate knowledge and personal action is complicated but a recent study from the UK provides some valuable insights for people who are trying to determine the best means of linking energy reduction efforts to global climate change.

One of the most interesting findings shows that although most people identify human activities as contributing to climate change or global warming in some way, few associate it with their own energy use. Helping people to make that link could be an important mechanism to engage the public in addressing the problem.

The study also found that the terms “global warming” and “climate change” hold different meanings for people and that these differences have important implications for communications efforts. Among the public, the term “global warming” is seen as more closely linked to human causes and evoking significantly more concern. On the other hand, “climate change” is generally thought of as distant in both space and time, with impacts affecting the wider environment and future generations. The authors of the report make a point to caution communicators to be aware of the distinctly different connotations of “climate change” and “global warming” and warn against using the terms interchangeably.

The study also sheds some light on how people arrive at their understanding of climate change and its importance in their own lives as well as for society more broadly. The findings suggest that individuals are most likely to learn about global warming and climate change by relating the issues to their own concerns, experiences and existing knowledge. The researchers suggest that one potentially effective strategy to boost the resonance of climate issues would be to link the issue to air pollution, local air quality and personal actions such as car use. Such an approach would build on the existing conceptual link between air pollution and climate change/global warming that is prevalent amongst the public. According to the researchers, the weaving of climate into the discourses of pollution may ultimately bring the global environment closer to familiar cognitive and affective domains.

You access read an abstract and access the article here. The citation is also in the resources section below.

Resources

J. Bord, R., E. O'Connor, R and Fisher, A (2000) In what sense does the public need to understand global climate change? Public Understanding of Science July 2000 9: 205-218, doi:10.1088/0963-6625/9/3/301

Whitmarsh, L (2008) What's in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of “climate change” and “global warming” Public Understanding of Science July 2009 18: 401-420, first published on September 16, 2008doi:10.1177/0963662506073088

Whitmarsh, L and Köhler, J. (2010) Climate change and cars in the EU: the roles of auto firms, consumers, and policy in responding to global environmental change. Cambridge J Regions Econ Soc (2010) 3(3): 427-441 first published online March 19, 2010doi:10.1093/cjres/rsq008

These and many other research articles on behavior and climate change are available in the CMB Resource Library.

In this Issue: The 2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium Agenda | Workshop Offering: Cultivating Personal Resilience in Climate Work | Insights from the 2011 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposia Series | Personal Carbon Allowances | Evolution, Science and Gut Feelings: What Can We Apply to Climate Change? | The Psychology of Denial: Our Failure to Act Against Climate Change | Resources | Upcoming Events

2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium

The third annual Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium, taking place February 15-17 at the Garrison Institute, is convening over 100 environmental leaders and scholars to bring the social and cognitive sciences to bear on climate solutions. The 2012 Symposium will feature an opening presentation by environmental leader, author and entrepreneur, Paul Hawken; environmental justice expert Michael Dorsey; social psychologist Jon Krosnik, an expert on climate perceptions, attitudes and polling; bestselling author Bob Doppelt discussing the practical keys to human and organizational behavioral change with respect to climate; sociologist Juliet Schor, an expert on consumption patterns and the emergence of a conscious consumer movement; Alenka Brown of the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, studying ways of changing energy behavior on military bases; environmental literacy pioneer David Orr advancing multiple strategies to build sustainability at Oberlin; Mary Evelyn Tucker, founder of the Forum on Religion and Ecology leading a session on the intersection of religion and climate change; George Marshall, founder of the Climate Outreach and Information Network, on the psychology of climate change and climate denial; and many more.

You can view the Symposium agenda here.

Although registration is full, new learning and outcomes from the Symposium will be presented in the 2012 CMB report later this year. Stay tuned!

CMB Workshop: Cultivating Resilience in Climate Work - Register Now!

We are excited to offer a one day pre-symposium workshop on Cultivating Resilience in Climate Work for people teaching about or working to resolve climate issues. Open to CMB participants and community members, this is an experiential workshop in which participants will explore the personal challenges of working and living with these immense issues as well as helping others cope with them. The workshop will allow ample time to discuss ways to bring ‘resilience methods’ to others in settings outside of workshops.

The workshop builds on the insights and practices of Joanna Macy, a well-known eco-philosopher, scholar and activist with five decades of experience in this field. It will be facilitated by Marc Lapin, a conservation ecologist who teaches environmental studies at Middlebury College and has consulted to state and federal agencies, conservation organizations and private landowners for over 20 years.

There are still a few spots open in the workshop. Click here to register.

Insights from the 2011 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium Series

While human behavior has often been identified as a cause of environmental stresses, it is much less frequently identified as a source of solutions. Not so at the Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) program. The CMB program connects new insights from social and behavioral sciences about the drivers of human behavior with new thinking on solutions to climate change and other environmental issues. In 2011 the Garrison Institute held three high-level symposia for each of the three projects that make up CMB, including:

Climate, Mind and Behavior - exploring and applying social, behavioral, and cognitive science principles to environmental policies and programs;

Climate, Cities and Behavior - developing effective, low-cost, people-centered strategies for achieving more sustainable resource use practices; and

Climate, Buildings and Behavior - developing and implementing climate-friendly solutions in multifamily residential and commercial buildings.

Now available for download, the 2011 CMB report provides a summary of key content from these three meetings, including a synopsis of the most compelling findings and insights shared by CMB network members. It also includes information on the broader Climate, Mind and Behavior program, highlighting our objectives for research and applied work.

Personal Carbon Allowances

It's not too late for one more New Year's resolution to reduce your carbon footprint. Have you considered budgeting your carbon dioxide emissions? Personal carbon budgets are one way of getting engaged in climate solutions and can be employed on virtually any scale - from the household up to the neighborhood, church or corporation.

The personal carbon allowance (PCA) approach allocates a carbon budget to individuals. Depending on the scale of the policy or intervention, it could include all citizens, members of an organization, congregation, team or company, or residents of a town or neighborhood. Participating individuals receive an annual carbon emissions budget that covers emissions under direct personal control, including household energy use and private transportation. To live within them, they would have to budget their carbon emissions as they would their finances. With each purchase of carbon-based energy, allowances would be deducted from the individual's carbon budget and those who exceed their allowance would have to buy additional credits. Individuals whose emissions fall within their budgets could sell their leftover allowances to the carbon market. Meanwhile, each year the total pool of allowances would be reduced to continually cut back on carbon emissions. In essence, this is an individual-level cap and trade program that could be instituted by any variety of public or private institutions. One advantage of the PCA approach is that individuals have the freedom to allocate their carbon allowance as they see fit. Efficiency and curtailment behaviors are incentivized so participants can make the most of their limited allowance.

The work of Yael Parag and Deborah Strickland of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University examines the policy dimensions of a PCA scheme as well as the personal motives involved, including economic incentives, intrinsic psychological motivations, and normative mechanisms. To learn more, see their chapter in "People-Centered Initiatives for Increasing Energy Savings," a free e-book downloadable here, or their article on personal carbon trading here.

Evolution, Science and Gut Feelings: What Can We Apply to Climate Change?

In a recent Ohio State University study, scientists found that when it comes to accepting evolution, "gut feelings" tend to be more influential than facts. The scientists analyzed the beliefs of South Korean biology teachers and determined that an intuitive notion of how right the theory of evolution felt was a powerful indicator of whether or not students accepted evolution, more so then knowledge or religious affiliation. David Haury, a co-author of the study, explained,

"The whole idea behind acceptance of evolution has been the assumption that if people understood it -- if they really knew it -- they would see the logic and accept it, but among all the scientific studies on the matter, the most consistent finding was inconsistency. One study would find a strong relationship between knowledge level and acceptance, and others would find no relationship. Some would find a strong relationship between religious identity and acceptance, and others would find less of a relationship... [We've assumed] that people accept something or don't accept it on a completely rational basis. Or, they're part of a belief community that as a group accept or don't accept. But the findings just made those simple answers untenable." To read the complete ScienceDaily article, click here.

Insights from neuroscience suggest that our brains don't always process information logically; we also rely on how right something feels when evaluating an idea. Haury observed, "when there's a conflict between facts and feeling in the brain, feeling wins."

Applying this research about evolution to climate change, we shouldn't assume that people's beliefs will change by inundating them with more information or frightening them with bleak projections. Their internal sense of knowing must be reached, perhaps by appealing to their sense of responsibility, compassion or interconnectedness. CMB network member Dr. Dan Siegel's Wheel of Awareness practice offers one way of cultivating inner wisdom and bringing it to the fore, helping feelings and facts line up.

The Psychology of Denial: Our Failure to Act Against Climate Change

George Marshall, founder of the Climate Outreach and Information Network, will be presenting a plenary talk at the 2012 CMB Symposium on the psychology of climate change and climate denial. He has written many articles on the topic, and has sent some to us to share with you. In one linked below, Marshall analyzes the social context of denial, drawing on theory and historical examples to understand why climate denial is pervasive and how to overcome it. He cites Stanley Cohen's book, States of Denial: Knowing about Atrocities and Suffering. Marshall argues denial involves a fundamental paradox: "in order to deny something it is necessary at some level to recognise its existence and its moral implications." Cohen describes this as a state of simultaneous "knowing and not-knowing." The paradox has major implications for climate change: people can know that it exists and, at the same time, be stifled by the enormity of the issue and the multitude of unknown factors and repercussions. Like the evolution study cited above, Marshall argues that overcoming denial is not a question of providing more information. In fact, more information can actually entrench denial. Rather, the development of a large, vocal movement, with emotionally-charged activities such as debates, protests, and viable and visible alternatives is essential to curtailing denial and mobilizing climate engagement.

To read the complete article, please click here.

Additional Resources

Krosnick, Jon and Bo MacInnis. 2011. "National Survey of American Public Opinion on Global Warming." Stanford University with Ipsos and Reuters.

Schor, Juliet. 2007. "In Defense of Consumer Critique: Revisiting the Consumption Debates of the Twentieth Century." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; 611; 16 - 30.

Tucker, Mary Evelyn. 2011. Video clip: "Religion and a New Environmental Ethic." Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Upcoming Events

February 15th - February 17th, The third annual Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium (Garrison Institute) An exploration of the connection between social sciences research and human-based solutions to climate change. The Garrison Institute's Climate, Mind and Behavior program seeks to translate science-based knowledge into smart, new initiatives that reduce our energy and carbon footprints in ways that are better aligned with human nature. By invitation.

February 22nd - April 8th, The second annual Lenten Carbon Fast. Over 6000 people from 14 countries participated in the first Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast in 2011. The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ is planning the 2012 carbon fast. Beginning Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, participants will receive a daily email with the day's suggested carbon-reducing activity. When possible, this will include a quantitative measure of the carbon reduction resulting from the activity. Each daily email will also have a section suggesting a weekly focus for the congregation. More information is available on the Massachusetts UCC website.

May 23rd - May 25th, The fourth annual Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium (Garrison Institute) An exploration of how building managers and occupants can use social science insights to foster pro-social and pro-environmental behavior in their buildings and reduce their carbon footprint. By invitation.

July 1st - 7th, Summer Institute: Contemplative Environmental Studies: Pedagogy for Self and Planet (Lama Foundation, New Mexico). Environmental challenges call into question not simply our technological, economic, and political capabilities, but also our understandings of who we are as a species, and how we fit into the broader more-than-human world. The Summer Institute aims to develop tools for teaching and researching environmental dilemmas with this broader sensibility in mind. It focuses on the interface between environmental challenges and contemplative practices with the understanding that the latter can provide access to inner resources for understanding and responding meaningfully to environmental issues. Part workshop/part retreat, this experiential Institute will combine discussions and presentations with contemplative practice. For more information click here.

Reporting back: 2012 Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium

The fourth annual CBB symposium took place at the Institute May 23-25. It convened over 80 for-profit and not-for-profit real estate professionals, government representatives, social scientists and building industry experts from across the nation. Together we explored ways of applying social and behavioral science insights to reducing energy use and GHG emissions in building portfolios, particularly in multi-family housing and non-residential commercial buildings. Among the presentations, researchers from the Garrison Institute, MIT, NYU, Colorado State University, and the Fraunhofer Institute shared their scientifically rooted insights on the effectiveness of programmable thermostats, feedback, benchmarking, networks, and culture change. In addition, a variety of real-estate practitioners from Enterprise Community Partners, US General Service Administration, Tower Companies and other companies discussed first-hand experiences, successes, challenges and insights. Participants used this information to develop new and updated personal action plans to guide their efforts in leading change. Here are a few takeaways from CBB presentations:

CMB program Director Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez led a diverse panel of presenters on the topic use of energy use feedback in residential and commercial real estate. Her opening presentation focused on the effectiveness of different types of feedback on changing residential sector energy consumption patterns. Until recently, households had almost no access to energy consumption information resulting in significant barriers to mindful energy use and meaningful energy management practices. But smart metering and other newly emerging feedback technologies and programs are creating new opportunities for making consumption practices more visible and meaningful, allowing for new sets of practices to emerge. In fact, data from a meta-analysis of 57 different feedback initiatives indicates that residential feedback initiatives have achieved average program-wide savings of 4 to 12 percent depending on the type of feedback. You can view Karen’s talk here.

Arkadi Gerney of Opower told us how utilities and energy providers across the US are rapidly adopting his company’s feedback platform, resulting in total electricity savings of over 1 terawatt-hour of energy and over $100 million. Opower incorporates social norms research conducted by Dr. Robert Cialdini in ways that get more people motivated to explore new energy use practices and reduce their level of consumption. Their approach compares households’ current consumption levels to their own past usage and to their neighbors. Households receive the feedback on a monthly basis and have achieved average electricity savings of 1.5-3% per customer. Since Opower’s approach has been to work directly with utilities using an “opt-out” approach, they have been extraordinarily successful at reaching a large number of households.

Olga Sachs and Kurt Roth, two researchers from Fraunhofer’s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, presented just-released results from an ongoing study of the impact of thermostat usability on energy usage. Their initial findings refute earlier research that suggested that measures of thermostat usability were important in determining actual use of programmable thermostats. Instead, their research found that usability had no meaningful effect on how often home occupants used default energy-saving settings on their thermostats. You can view their talk here. Their research is described at length below.

Other presentations were more focused on the ability of sustainability programs to build social and human capital. For example, BioRegional’s One Planet Communities are not only zero-carbon and zero-waste communities, but they’re designed to make it convenient and compelling for people to make a precipitous drop in their carbon footprints while increasing their quality of life. Greg Searle presented on One Planet Communities and his Eco Concierge pilot project, which helps make sustainable practices an inconspicuous norm. “Sustainability shouldn’t even be in the marketing,” says Searle. “We’re selling a lifestyle; one that’s healthier and happier.”

Through a resident engagement program, led by kids from the Boys and Girls Club, Eden Housing saved over $13,000 in a short period of time at three of their affordable housing sites in Petaluma, CA. Jennifer Reed also presented information about Eden Housing’s Green Ninjas who engage with organizational members and community residents on green education initiatives; another example of making the process of building an organizational culture of sustainability fun and desirable. You can view her talk here.

Susan Hunt Stevens presented on using gamification to make energy savings and behavior change fun. Through the use of an online community platform, participants in Practically Green’s approach have committed to over 1.2 million pledges of sustainable behaviors and their employee engagement platform engages over 80 percent of employees in participating companies. Practically Green uses gamification – the application of game-mechanics and dynamics to non-game applications – to prompt higher commitments create tighter community through friendly competition. Susan Hunt Stevens, Practically Green’s founder, also reminded us how important it is to eschew impersonal terms like “building occupants” in favor of “people.” You can view her talk here.

Milepost Consulting’s building operator training program regularly achieves 15-20 percent building-wide energy savings through low-cost, no-cost efforts. Their experiential-based program empowers building operators by building fundamental knowledge of their buildings and teaching them to ask ‘why.’ John Silkey told us how Milepost emphasizes building community and teams in their efficiency training programs and empowers people to be creative in tackling inefficiencies. Milepost is participating in Seattle 2030 District, an ambitious goal to halve the city’s emissions by 2030, which they hope to help achieve by establishing cross-company connectivity for people to share ideas. You can view John’s presentation here.

More CBB video presentations and slides are posted at http://garr.in/2012cbb.

Job opportunity: CMB Program Coordinator

The Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) program is currently seeking a full-time Program Coordinator. The Coordinator provides administrative and programmatic support to the Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Program Director. This position is responsible for coordinating the CMB symposia, writing electronic newsletters, drafting program communications, managing an online resource library, and coordinating regional CMB hubs. The position requires 3+ years administrative experience, with some as a coordinator organizing events, conferences or trainings, and a Masters Degree preferred in the social sciences, environmental humanities and/or environmental studies. The CMB program works to translate social science research into smart new programs that reduce our energy and carbon footprints in ways that are better aligned with existing social systems, behavioral predispositions and cognitive biases.

View a full description for the Program Coordinator position.

CMB regional hubs: meetings and news

The CMB program’s five regional hubs provide people with the opportunity to engage with their regional community on the human dimensions of energy and climate issues. Hubs are active in the Pacific Northwest, New York, Denver, and Charlotte with a Boston hub in formation. Regional hubs create additional opportunities to learn from the work presented at the CMB, CBB, and CCB symposiums. CMB hubs meet on a quarterly basis for informative presentations by guest speakers and discussions with local companies and organizations that are engaging in people-centered energy and climate initiatives.

To be added to a regional listserv or to learn more about the hubs, contact Adam Meier, the CMB program intern, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Here are the dates for upcoming meetings:

Pacific Northwest: Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 from 7:00-8:30am at GGLO Space at the Steps, 1301 First Avenue, Seattle
Denver: Thursday, August 9th, 2012. Time and location TBA
New York: Thursday, September 6th, 2012. Time and location TBA
Charlotte: TBA
Boston: TBA

Programmable thermostats: user-friendliness and energy savings don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand

In a recent experiment to find out whether more user-friendly programmable thermostats (PT) facilitate more energy saving behavior, researchers at Fraunhofer’s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems equipped 83 households with either a high-usability touch screen PT or low-usability button interface model. The field study was partially funded by the Department of Energy’s Building America program.

After collecting data for most of the heating season (December though April), engineers analyzed sensor data to determine whether occupants were actually using the thermostats’ energy-savings settings. Initial data showed thermostat usability had no meaningful effect on how often home occupants used default energy-saving settings on their thermostats. The results are both surprising, and suggestive. Here’s why:

In 1995, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the EnergyStar programmable thermostat (PT) program, which actively promoted PTs as a means of saving energy and money. Today, most US households use either manual (48%) or programmable (37%) thermostats to regulate their heating (US Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey).

PTs are only useful to the extent that users can understand and control their energy-saving settings. The typical device has a wide range of functions – separate schedules for weekdays, weekends, vacations, a hold or override option, etc. – laid out with confusing abbreviations, terminology, symbols and interface elements. Add to that general user misconceptions, such as “heating all the time is more efficient than turning the heat off” or “a thermostat is simply an on/off switch” (Meier et al., 2011), and it’s not hard to see why earlier studies of PTs did not demonstrate clear energy savings.

Subsequent research focused on thermostat usability and how it can lead to household energy savings. The EPA started redeveloping its EnergyStar thermostat program for new usability-based specifications. But the preliminary results from the Fraunhofer’s Center study indicate that usability may not be as important as originally believed. For example, it found only 3% of households studied used default nighttime setbacks on the coldest nights of the past heating season, regardless of what kind of thermostat they had.

These findings suggest that while technologies like PTs might enable energy saving behavior, behavioral factors and household dynamics are also essential parts of the equation. Even the best-designed device can’t save energy unless consumers are empowered to change their habits. To adopt new behaviors, people need three basic things, according to the work of B. J. Fogg: ability, motivation and triggers. A programmable thermostat provides the theoretical ability to reduce energy consumption, but not the motivation or trigger to actually use it.

In her presentation of the Fraunhofer CSE study with Kurt Roth at CBB, Olga Sachs told us the next steps in this research will be to investigate ways of enhancing motivation and triggers in conjunction with PT technology. That could inform building energy performance simulation models and provide more accurate predictions of post-construction building energy use.

You can view Sachs and Roth’s CBB presentation here. Their research will also be published in a paper and presented as part of the conference proceedings at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study in August.

Yale Project on Climate Change Communication: findings from the project’s most recent national survey

In recent months YPCCC released three reports based on their new national survey, which polled over 1000 adults. The reports reveal Americans’ current beliefs and attitudes about climate, energy and weather-related issues.

YPCCC’s "Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind" shows 82% of Americans say they experienced an extreme weather event or natural disaster in the past year. Many reported extreme weather in their area became more frequent and/or damaging. A large majority believed global warming made a number of high-profile extreme weather events worse, and most also say US weather is getting worse. Yet only about a third said they had a disaster plan or an emergency supply kit in their homes.

The second report, “Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies”, found that most people in the US think global warming and clean energy should be national priorities, and want more action by elected officials, corporations and citizens. A majority of survey respondents support a variety of climate change and energy policies, including holding fossil fuel companies responsible for all the “hidden costs” of their products. Most also said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a “revenue-neutral” tax shift from income taxes to fossil fuels, and that global warming will be one of the issues that determine their vote for President this fall.

The third YPCCC report, “Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes” found 47% percent of respondents trusted President Obama as a source of information on global warming versus 21% who trusted former Governor Mitt Romney, whose trust levels have dropped 5 points since November 2011. 66% believe global warming is happening (up three points from November 2011), while 46% believe global warming is caused by human activity (down four points from November 2011). Only 14% say they do not believe global warming is real, but respondents think denial is more common than it is; they overestimated the number to be 21%.

In addition to climate change in the American mind, YPCCC also conducts research on international public opinion on climate change, vulnerability to sea level rise and coastal erosion in northwest Alaska, as well as the Roper/Yale environmental poll. You can find this research on YPCCC’s Publications and Reports page.

Resources

These articles and many more can be found in the CMB Resource Library.

Kahan, D. et al. (2012) The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nature Climate Change Journal June 2012 Vol. 2 Issue 6

Nature Climate Change's article webpage

Conlon, E. and Glavas, A. (2012) The relationship between corporate sustainability and firm financial performance. Notre Dame

Newswire: Green companies earn more ‘green,’ new study shows

Hargreaves, T. et al. (2010) Making energy visible: A qualitative field study of how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors. Energy Policy Journal Vol. 38 Issue 10

Allcott, H. and Mullainathan, S. 2010. Behavior and Energy Policy. Science Magazine Volume 327

Fogg, BJ. 2009. A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design.

This edition of the Climate, Mind and Behavior newsletter features two short articles with summaries and links to longer pieces on promoting sustainable behavior: One discusses strategies for engaging building occupants in more sustainable energy use practices. The other describes Washington's Sustainable Prisons Project.

You’ll also find a call for presentation proposals for the 2012 CMB symposium, held February 15-17, as well as an announcement about Meredith Cowart, whom we’re welcoming as the newest member of our CMB staff. Below that you’ll find a list of current news coverage, research articles and other resources, as well as a list of upcoming events.

Call for CMB Presentation Proposals

CMB network members like you will help determine the agenda for the 2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium, held February 15-17. For the first time ever, we will solicit proposals for symposium presentations from a broad range of researchers, practitioners and others whose work pertains to sustainable behavior.

The 2012 CMB symposium will be organized around a set of specific themes. We will be publishing these themes next week along with a call for presentation proposals or abstracts. Presentations should explore specific research, and/or the process and outcomes of a specific intervention. They should share relevant insights and/or practical experience. Proposals will be reviewed and selected by program staff and the CMB steering committee. Watch for our RFP to be issued next week.

Strategies for Sustainable Occupant Behaviors

Individuals, households and communities are important partners in the work of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Behavioral Wedge features 17 household actions that, if adopted in a large scale, could result in 123 million metric tons of carbon dioxide savings per year by year ten, with little or no reduction in household well-being. That is the equivalent of 20% of all household direct emissions or 7.4% of U.S. national emissions. Similarly, Laitner et al. identify the potential impact of changed habits, lifestyles and technology-based behaviors in terms of potential energy savings in the residential sector. They find that changed behaviors might reduce household energy use by about 22 percent within the United States.

There is consensus that behavior change at the household level could boost carbon mitigation efforts significantly, however the challenge lies in motivating people to participate. In a recent Environmental Building News article, Occupant Engagement - Where Design Meets Performance, Paula Melton introduces useful strategies for facilitating occupant engagement, which, she explains, "describes a building-wide culture in which empowered building occupants are aware of and accountable for their own energy and water use, waste disposal habits, and use of toxic chemicals." Everyone from architects and engineers to building manager and employers to occupants themselves can help create this culture.

The three strategies that she identifies are: designing for feedback; transforming social norms; and creating incentives.

1) Designing for feedback is becoming the norm in the building industry as local and state regulations require building owners to disclose energy consumption. Designers don't want to be held responsible for poor performance, which may actually be due to inefficient operational or occupant practices. Feedback systems help building operators and occupants understand how their choices affect their energy use, and empower them to cut back or shift their habits.

2) Transforming social norms entails tapping the power of interpersonal habits and expectations to help accomplish the transition to more sustainable practices. Melton writes, "Simplifying sustainability is key to the process of tenant and occupant engagement...it must be contextualized, direct, visually engaging, meaningful and part of a larger action plan." When social expectations related to energy use are clear, and building owners and managers reinforce them through direct communications, their own behaviors and other motivators (such as competitions or incentives), occupants will follow suit.

3) There are many creative ways of using incentives to motivate occupant engagement -- competitions, social media networks, goals and commitments, etc. Tapping into people’s playful or competitive side can achieve measurable energy savings. This has already been documented on college campuses, via inter-office challenges, and by utilities.

Read Melton's full article here.

The Washington State Sustainable Prisons Project

At the recent CMB Strategic Planning Meeting we learned from Climate, Cities and Behavior network member Jill Boone about the Sustainable Prisons Project in the state of Washington, using science and sustainability education as a means of reducing recidivism. Literature on effective rehabilitation strategies highlights the benefits of academic education, vocational education and cognitive behavioral therapies. By combining all three, the Sustainable Prisons Project supports rehabilitative outcomes, inspires an environmental stewardship ethic and improves quality of life for men and women in prison. This paper offers a novel perspective on climate, mind and behavior, and lends some compelling insights to the broader CMB conversation.

Jill reached out to Sarah Clarke, the author of a recent Masters thesis analyzing the Sustainable Prison Project, who shared her study with us. We've included the abstract below, and a link to the full document is available here.

Abstract:

The Sustainable Prisons Project (SPP), a collaboration between the Evergreen State College and the Washington State Department of Corrections, brings extensive community partners together to offer science and sustainability education to incarcerated men and women (offenders) in four correctional facilities in Washington State. Using interviews and surveys of offenders and staff, this exploratory study drew upon a mixed methods analysis to evaluate the effects of the suite of SPP activities on participating offenders. This paper focuses on the qualitative findings from interviews. Rehabilitation programs that are aimed at reducing crimes once offenders are released are a major correctional strategy and a part of social sustainability. I examined the extent to which the SPP programs share characteristics with the most effective programs for reducing recidivism and assessed the significance of science and sustainability education in the rehabilitative potential of the SPP. Results suggest that SPP projects share characteristics with successful rehabilitation programs. Science and sustainability education appears to foster an environmental stewardship ethic and influences emotional health, improving the quality of offenders' lives while they are incarcerated and contributing to rehabilitative outcomes.

Meet Meredith Cowart, CMB Program Associate

Meredith Cowart has joined the CMB team as Program Associate, replacing Emily Grady. Emily is leaving the Garrison Institute at the end of the year to pursue a Fulbright Fellowship in Argentina.

Meredith comes to us from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she recently completed her Master of Forestry with a focus on climate change mitigation and community development. She is excited to join CMB, which she sees as a cutting-edge movement, applying emerging findings from behavioral sciences to climate change solutions. When she’s not at her desk you might find her out in the woods ogling mycorrhizal fungi. To reach Meredith, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 845-424-4800 ext. 139.

Resources

Upcoming Events

Looking forward: 2013 CMB Symposia schedule

The following dates have been set for 2013 Symposia in the Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior program:

March 13-15, 2013, the Garrison Institute will host its second Climate, Cities and Behavior (CCB) Symposium. CCB convenes invited mayors, city planning directors, urban sustainability directors, city commissioners, directors of economic development programs and others to build a network of institutions and leaders to generate behavior-based climate solutions for cities.

June 12-14, 2013, the Garrison Institute will host its fourth annual Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Symposium. CMB convenes leading thinkers and practitioners in the fields of climate change and environmental advocacy, behavioral, evolutionary and neuro-economics, psychology, social networking, policy making, investing and social media. They collaborate on new ways to shift behavior on a large enough scale to realize significant GHG emissions reductions.

September 18-20, 2013, the Garrison Institute will host its fifth annual Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium. CBB convenes for-profit and not-for-profit real estate professionals, building industry experts and social scientists. Together they explore the science and practice behind behavioral approaches that are successful at reducing energy consumption, enhancing sustainable practices and dramatically lowering the cost of building operations.

Reporting back: CMB Southeast regional hub kicks off

A new CMB Southeast regional hub has been established, allowing participants to connect with other regional practitioners and researchers, establish new networks, share experiences, and explore new opportunities for collaboration. The new hub is the fourth CMB regional hub; the others are located in the Pacific Northwest, New York and Denver, Colorado.

The CMB Southeast Hub convened its first meeting on April 5, held at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. The full house of 40 participants included representatives of Envision Charlotte, the City of Charlotte, the Urban Land Institute, Gingko Residential and many other organizations.

CMB director Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez gave a talk on “Saving Money and Energy through Occupant Engagement” in which she described CMB’s work, stressed the importance of engaging building owners, operators, and occupants in sustainable behaviors, and explored strategies for generating them. To date most approaches to saving energy, carbon and money have focused on large-scale investments in new technologies, she said. Yet 50 to 60 percent of energy consumption in commercial buildings is rooted in occupant behavior, so even though people-centered approaches to understanding and reducing energy consumption require relatively small investment, they can result in large-scale savings.

For more information on CMB regional hubs contact Adam Meier at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Multi-media resources: CMB 2012 Symposium video presentations and slides

The 2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium in February gathered over 100 leading scientists, researchers, advocates, and policy and communications experts from a range of scientific and climate-related disciplines. You can now view video of their presentations online at www.garrisoninstitute.org/cmbvideos2012. Slide decks and presentation abstracts are also available on our website. This material offers the insights of thought leaders, cutting-edge research and new perspectives on the critical human dimension of energy and climate change.

New book: From Me To We by Bob Doppelt

CMB is pleased to co-sponsor the launch of Bob Doppelt's new book, From Me to We: The Five Transformative Commitments Required to Rescue the Planet, Your Organization, and Your Life (Greenleaf Publishing UK). It offers a simple, compelling five-part framework to guide the changes in thinking and behavior needed to resolve the climate crises, growing job losses and social inequity, and other pressing issues.

From Me to We argues that most of us live a dream world of false perceptions and beliefs. The most deeply held illusion is that all organisms on Earth, including each of us, exist as independent entities. To awaken from it requires shifting our primary focus from personal needs and wants to the ecological and social relationships that make life possible and worthwhile, and in which we are all embedded. Doppelt describes techniques to accomplish this that research shows are effective, and calls for recognition of the laws of interdependence, cause and effect, moral justice, trusteeship and free will – all essential for creating positive behavioral change.

You can read the introduction here, and get general information on the book and purchase it at a 20% discount here.

Systems change expert Bob Doppelt is the Executive Director of The Resource Innovation Group (TRIG) and a Senior Fellow at Willamette University. TRIG is involved with climate preparedness, renewable energy, climate communications and behavioral change, and sustainable thinking projects across the US, including coordinating the National Climate Ethics Campaign.

Doppelt addressed the 2012 CMB Symposium, and you can view his presentation here.

Job Opportunity: CMB Program Coordinator position

The Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Initiative is currently seeking a full-time Program Coordinator. The Coordinator provides administrative and programmatic support to the Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Initiative Director. This position is responsible for coordinating the CMB Symposia, writing electronic newsletters, drafting program communications, managing an online resource library, and coordinating regional CMB hubs. The position requires 3+ years administrative experience, some of which as a coordinator organizing events, conferences or trainings, and a Masters Degree preferred in the social sciences, environmental humanities and/or environmental studies. The CMB Initiative works to translate social science research into smart, new programs that reduce our energy and carbon footprints in ways that are better aligned with existing social systems, behavioral predispositions and cognitive biases. To learn more about our work, and to see a full description for the Program Coordinator position, please click here.

Greening workstyles: how the US House of Representatives cut its carbon footprint by 74%

The Green the Capitol program is a comprehensive initiative aimed at reducing the energy use, waste and emissions of the US House of Representatives. Just 18 months after its launch, the House has cut its carbon footprint by 74%.

To find out how they did it, you can access a recent report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) on “Greening Work Styles: An Analysis of Energy Behavior Programs in the Workplace.” The report assesses the Green the Capitol initiative as well as four other energy behavior case studies from across the US and Canada: the Tenant Energy Management Program in the Empire State Building; Conservation Action! at BC Hydro, Canada; an energy behavior campaign at a provincial government building in Canada; and the TLC-Care to Conserve program at the University Health Network of the University of Toronto.

The five programs share four key approaches: (1) setting the tone with the support of upper management and its public pledge; (2) building a team with a project committee and peer champions on board; (3) utilizing communication tools such as e-mails, prompts, websites, public meetings and posters to reach target audiences and (4) engaging building occupants by means of feedback, benign peer pressure and competition, as well as through performance-linked rewards.

The ACEEE report suggests that the benefits of such programs extend beyond the buildings or workplaces that undertake them, spread by participants to other settings. The experience of the program can often change participants’ thinking and behavior, and make them more active in their own energy-saving practices.

“Gamification” and “big data”: Using game mechanics to encourage greener behavior

“Gamification” and “big data,” were two buzzwords at the recent South by Southwest Interactive conference, reported Ben Holland for GreenBiz.com. “Gamification” is the use of computer gaming techniques and concepts in non-gaming contexts. “Big data” refers to the huge data sets, measured in terabytes, exabytes and zettabytes, of the kind search firms collect. They can contain key insights but are hard to capture and analyze.

“The terms are closely related and could have interesting implications for energy use when combined,” writes Holland. “By applying principles of gaming to non-gaming applications it is thought that people can be motivated to change behavior. Mobile app developers such as foursquare have had great success doing this by incorporating location-based awareness data into their products.”

Similar techniques can be applied to shifting consumers’ energy behavior. For example, Holland discusses Chevy Volt drivers competing to see who can drive more miles without activating the gas engine. Financial incentives are often effective at changing the energy behavior of businesses, but consumers tend to be motivated by emotional factors that games can tap. Holland cites the study “Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment” by Dr. Robert Cialdini, showing that it was peer pressure that drove homeowners’ energy efficiency investments in things like insulation, lighting retrofits and solar panels, even when they also offered an attractive return on investment. A mix of extrinsic rewards, normative comparison and social pressure, social game mechanics can leverage behavior change, impacting energy consumption.

Before that can happen, it takes data to be aware of one’s energy consumption and establish peer comparison+s. Energy use is a very big data set, and has not been widely accessible to consumers, but that is starting to change. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy recently announced new online tools that will help change that and give consumers in California and other states easy access to their energy use data. A key one is the Green Button Initiative, a feature on the websites of two of California’s largest electric utilities that enables some 17 million consumers to download their energy use data with the click of a mouse. Another example is the recent collaboration between Facebook, OPower and the Natural Resources Defense Council which will allow 20 million households served by 16 utilities in New York, California, Massachusetts and other states to upload their energy use data from their local utility to their Facebook page and invite friends to do the same, setting up social marketing-based peer feedback. You can read more about this collaborative effort here and check out the new app here.

In this update we highlight energy saving projects that rely on people-centered strategies to succeed. We feature two recent articles that make a strong case for changing the culture of organizations - the military and public schools respectively - to save money, to save lives (in the case of the military) and to improve climate outcomes. In addition, we describe the proceedings of recent network meetings in Seattle and New York City and share slides that depict innovative applications of behavior change research.

We would like to draw your attention to the CMB Program Assistant announcement and encourage you to pass it along to potential candidates. As always, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. new resources to share with our network. Also, take note of the upcoming events and let us know if you would like to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in your city.

Improving Military Energy, Behavior, and Culture

Imagine four houses on a military base, each built with different levels of energy efficiency performance. The first house was built according to a standard construction process without energy efficiency technologies. The second contained additional insulation in the attic and the third was built with extra insulation in both the attic and the exterior walls. The final house integrated multiple energy efficiency systems, including insulation, rooftop solar panels, motion sensors, and energy efficient windows. The four houses were built at Fort Belvoir in Virgina, with the express purpose of demonstrating the energy saving potential of closed cell spray polyurethane foam - the insulation used in houses two, three and four. When the Secretary of Defense Power Surety Task Force analyzed energy consumption data for the four houses, they made an unforeseen discovery: house four consumed the most energy and house one consumed the least, exemplifying the clear role of the inhabitants' practices in energy consumption. The family living the the first house turned off lights when they left rooms, refrained from using air conditioning and the dishwasher, and adopted other energy-saving behaviors, while the family in the fourth house assumed the energy saving technologies might offset wasteful behaviors, which, as it turned out, was not the case.

These findings have critical implications for the Department of Defense. Recently the Department has sought to reduce its energy consumption on both domestic installations and overseas operations and between 2003 and 2007 cut its installation energy use by ten percent and generated twelve percent of its electricity from renewable sources. However,much of the savings so far have come from physical upgrades and technological innovations and, with more significant reductions in the pipeline, behavior change may present one of the most promising methods of reducing energy consumption.

To learn more about energy saving behavior change measures in the military, read the article from which this excerpt was drawn, "Improving Military Energy Behavior and Culture," by Richard M. Andres, PhD, Professor of Natural Security Strategy, National War College; and Micah J. Loudermilk, Research Associate, National Defense University.

Schools Cut Their Energy Bills Using Post-Its and Checklists as Prompts to Action

According to New York Times correspondent Winnie Hu, "Simple yellow Post-it notes with the message 'When not in use, turn off the juice,' left on classroom computers, printers and air-conditioners, have helped the Mount Sinai School District on Long Island save $350,000 annually on utility bills." Similarly, energy consumption in New York City's school buildings dropped about eleven percent between 2008 and 2011 as motion detectors were installed on classroom lights and unused refrigerators and freezers were unplugged for summer months. "In Yonkers," she explains, "energy savings have financed $18 million in new broilers, windows and other capital improvements that the Westchester County district could not otherwise afford."

In an effort to put into practice the environmental stewardship principles discussed in classrooms, to cut back on energy costs and to manage increasingly tight budgets, schools are evaluating their operations and seeking to reduce energy consumption as much as possible. Many school districts have found that the most effective and low cost energy saving measures stem from getting building occupants and managers to change their practices - to turn off lights, computers and exhaust fans and to regularly adjust thermostats and oven and pool temperatures so they remain in an optimal range. In the examples above, they are doing so using prompts - posting notes and checklists calling attention to the desired energy-related practices, so as to remind occupants and managers to conserve.

The use of prompts to facilitate behavior change is one component of a community-based social marketing strategy. In his book, Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Doug McKenzie-Mohr explains, "A prompt is a visual or auditory aid which reminds us to carry out an activity that we might otherwise forget. The purpose of a prompt is not to change attitudes or increase motivation, but simply to remind us to engage in an action that we are already predisposed to do." Prompts are especially useful in relation to repetitive, day-to-day actions that are likely to be forgotten without a nudge, or for one-time actions that result in a long-term positive environmental outcome, such as installing and setting a programmable thermostat. To be effective, prompts must target specific behaviors and be delivered close in space and time to the target behavior. They are also more effective when they encourage people to engage in a positive environmental action, rather than to avoid a negative one.

To learn more about energy saving efforts in schools, read the rest of Winnie Hu's New York Times article, "With Post-Its and Checklists, Schools Cut Their Energy Bills."

Updates from Two Regional Hubs

The NYC Regional CMB Hub Learned How New Yorkers Can Save Energy and Money By Changing Behavior

The September New York City Regional Hub gathering featured presentations by Michelle Moore of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Marsha Walton of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and Roya Kazemi of the New York City Mayor's Office for Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. Moore's presentation emphasized the role of the government in advancing sustainability efforts, such as leveraging the federal regulatory opportunity to set standards around home appraisal value so energy performance can be factored in to home values. Walton described NYSERDA's behavior research program, which funds energy saving behavior-change projects using community-based social marketing strategies, from a van pool program to state office paper reduction campaigns. Kazemi introduced Birdie, GreeNYC's mascot for sustainable behaviors, and shared NYC’s process for identifying the most meaningful environmental actions on which to focus public education efforts. CMB New Yorkers discussed the importance of using mid-level organizations and institutions, such as businesses and city governments, to nudge employees and citizens to adopt pro-environmental practices. The hub will continue to explore the energy saving potential of taking human behavior change to scale. To learn more, take a look at Marsha Walton's and Roya Kazemi's slides.

Northwest Behavior Change Hub Kick Starts in Seattle, Washington
An update from Jason Twill, Vulcan Inc.

On August 24th, over 50 individuals from Oregon, British Columbia and Washington State representing the fields of real estate, design, policy, city administration the behavioral sciences convened a roundtable discussion for the purpose of creating a northwest regional behavior change hub to address the linkages between human behavior, resource use & climate change. Garrison Institute co-founder Jonathan Rose was in attendance to provide the group with a history of the Institute and the evolution of the Climate Mind & Behavior program. Compelling presentations were given by Climate, Building and Behavior affiliates Dana Bourland from Enterprise Green Communities and Dr. Dune Ives from Milepost Consulting. The group engaged in an open dialog session that revolved around policy initiatives, tenant engagement practices and open source sharing of lessons learned in effectively applying knowledge from the behavioral and social sciences into actionable programs that positively change the behavior patterns of building occupants, residents, and managers.

“We hope that this will be the first of many gathering providing an opportunity to maintain a learning network with colleagues as we work to put our ideas into action and to share information about the cutting edge work that is coming out of the Garrison Institute in this area.” -Jason Twill, Vulcan Inc.

Job Opportunity

Our current Program Assistant, Emily Grady, will leave the Institute at the end of the year to pursue a Fulbright Scholarship in Argentina. We will be hiring a new Program Assistant this fall. Please take a look at the job opening announcement and encourage potential candidates to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Resources

Biggart, Nicole and Loren Lutzenhiser. 2011. "Constructed Logics: Social Ideals, Residential Design and Energy Use." European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy 2011 Summer Study.

Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team. 2011. Behaviour Change and Energy Use. London: Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team.

Chopra, Aneesh. 2011. "Modeling a Green Energy Challenge after a Blue Button," The White House Blog.

Fahey, Jonathan. 2011. "Shocker: Power demand from US homes is falling," Associated Press, September 7.

Gardner, Timothy. 2011. "More Americans Believe World Is Warming, New Reuters/Ipsos Poll Shows," Inside Climate News, September 16.

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf and Nicholas Smith. 2011. Climate change in the American Mind: Americans’ global warming beliefs and attitudes in May 2011. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Upcoming Events

Doppelt_From_Me_To_We-150 The Climate Mind and Behavior Program of the Garrison Institute is pleased to be a co-sponsor of the launch of Bob Doppelt’s new book, From Me to We: The Five Transformative Commitments Required To Rescue The Planet, Your Organization, and Your Life. Doppelt, a systems change expert, offers a simple yet compelling framework to guide the changes in thinking and behavior needed to resolve the climate crises, growing job losses and social inequity, and many other pressing issues.

A book talk and signing will be held Monday, April 23 from 6:30-8:00 pm at the Cullen Room at Busboys and Poets, 5th and K (1025 5th St. NW), Washington, DC.

Bob Doppelt is Executive Director of The Resource Innovation Group (TRIG), a sustainability and global climate change education, research, and technical assistance organization affiliated with the Center for Sustainable Communities at Willamette University, where he is also a Senior Fellow.

A summary of the book can be found at: http://bit.ly/HjCuqo
At last check, the book is not yet available for purchase on Amazon.com, but it should be any day, and you can view its Amazon listing here.
See Bob Doppelt’s presentation at Climate, Mind and Behavior 2012 here.

Together, the participants in the Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Program successfully accomplished real change over the past year! In this update we would like to share with you some of the ideas, insights and accomplishments that have been achieved and the progress made in understanding and reshaping behavior in buildings.

In addition, we are delighted to introduce you to Dr. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez who was recently hired as the new Director of the CMB Program. Learn more about her extensive background in applied research on the social and behavioral dimensions of energy and climate change below.

Finally, check out the articles related to the CMB Program. As always, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. new resources to share with our network. Also, please take note of the upcoming events and let us know if you would like to organize a regional gathering in your city.

New Learning from the Climate, Buildings and Behavior Network

The third annual Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium, hosted at the Institute in late May, brought together seventy-five public, private and non-profit sector real estate leaders and social and behavioral scientists to explore the human dimensions of saving energy and water and reducing waste in buildings. CBB network members shared fascinating research findings and the results of on the ground pro-environmental interventions, several of which were inspired by the 2010 CBB Symposium.

We learned from Dr. Ehrhardt-Martinez that a variety of unsupported myths have led people to undervalue the contributions of people-centered initiatives in saving energy in buildings. The evidence and examples provided in her presentation suggest that 1) significant reductions in energy use and carbon emissions will require voluntary action by building owners, operators and managers who can empower others through the establishment of successful initiatives; 2) the potential energy savings from people-centered initiatives (in the residential sector and personal transportation area alone) are dramatic (roughly 9 quads or 9% of total US energy consumption); 3) the predominant focus on technological solutions cannot achieve the size of change that we need nor can it provide the savings quickly enough -- we need to engage people to change their energy use practices; 4) people may not universally care about climate but they do care about energy use and waste; and 5) social science insights are often more effective than economic incentives as means of empowering and engaging people to take action.

Dr. Shahzeen Attari explained that people's environmental decision-making is often informed by false perceptions. For example, her research shows that although energy efficiency projects tend to save a lot more energy than energy use curtailment, 55% of survey respondents believed that curtailment is the most effective measure they could take to reduce energy consumption, while only 12% cited efficiency. Many of her findings have significant implications in the context of technology, policy, education and program development.

On the ground practitioners such as Dennis Creech, founder and executive director of Southface Energy Institute, Linda Mandolini, executive director of Eden Housing, and Dana Bourland, Vice President for Green Initiatives at Enterprise Community Partners, confirmed that people-centered approaches to saving energy work. For example, Creech managed to transform his region's building practice by equating "green" with "quality" in the real estate marketplace. Mandolini catalyzed up to a 65% energy reduction at Eden Housing's properties by pairing technological solutions, including retrofitting and insulating, with social and behavioral solutions, such as competitions and awards. Bourland described Enterprise Green Community's Resident Engagement Toolkit, highlighting the importance of engaging building occupants in energy saving objectives.

The Symposium, guided by the question Do buildings use energy or do humans use energy?, demonstrated that the answer is both, of course. In order to achieve maximum energy reductions in buildings, we have to empower people at all levels of our organizations to participate in energy saving practices, set clear and simple goals, design interventions rooted in the social sciences, and recognize successes, big and small, to positively reinforce green behaviors.

Videos of all of the CBB symposium presentations are posted on our website alongside videos from the Climate, Mind and Behavior and Climate, Cities and Behavior Symposia.

Meet Dr. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, CMB Program Director

The Garrison Institute is pleased to announce that Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert on the behavioral and social dimensions of energy and climate change, joined the Institute as the new director of its Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) program on July 1, 2011.

Dr. Ehrhardt-Martinez has nearly 20 years of experience in applied and academic research with a focus on the social and behavioral dimensions of energy and climate change. She comes to the Garrison Institute from the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) at the University of Colorado, where she remains a Senior Research Associate. She is a cofounder of the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference and served as the BECC Conference Chair in 2009. Prior to that she led the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) research program on the social and behavioral aspects of energy efficiency and environmental change.

In 2009 she was invited to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. Her testimony explained how insights from the social and behavioral sciences can help save energy in buildings, industry and the residential and transportation sectors through maximizing potential technology-based savings, improving decision-making and facilitating smart energy behaviors.

Dr. Ehrhardt-Martinez is co-editor of the ebook People-Centered Initiatives for Increasing Energy Savings and co-author of "Advanced Metering Initiatives and Residential Feedback Programs: A Meta-Review for Household Electricity Saving Opportunities." She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts and Manufactures and a member of the Climate Change Task Force Steering Committee for the American Sociological Association.

Resources

Attari, Shahzeen, Michael L. DeKay, Cliff I. Davidson, and Wändi Bruine de Bruin. 2011. "Changing Household Behaviors to Curb Climate Change: How Hard Can it Be?" Sustainability 4(1): 9 - 11.

Attari, Shahzeen, Michael L. DeKay, Cliff I. Davidson, and Wändi Bruine de Bruin. 2010. "Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(37):16054–16059.

Attari, Shahzeen, Mary Schoen, Cliff I. Davidson, Michael L. DeKay, Wändi Bruine de Bruin, Robyn Dawes and Mitchell J. Small. 2009. "Preferences for change: Do individuals prefer voluntary actions, soft regulations, or hard regulations to decrease fossil fuel consumption?". Ecological Economics 68: 1701-1710.

Carroll, Ed, Eric Hatton and Mark Brown. 2009. Residential Energy Use Behavior Change Pilot. Franklin Energy.

Ehrhardt-Martinez, Karen. 2011. "Changing Habits, Lifestyles and Choices: The Behaviours that Drive Feedback-Induced Energy Savings". European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy 2011 Summer Study.

Enterprise Community Partners. 2011. "Enterprise Green Communities Tools: Green and Healthy Living - Resident Engagement Training in a Box".

Janda, Kathryn and Yael Parag. 2011. "A Middle-out Approach for Improving Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings, European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy 2011 Summer Study.

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf and Nicholas Smith. 2011. "Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies", Yale Project on Climate Change and George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication.

Pike, Cara and Meredith Herr. 2011. "American Climate Attitudes: An Analysis of Public Opinion Trends and Recommendations for Advancing Public Engagement on Global Warming".The Resource Innovation Group, May 2011.

Upcoming Events

August 24th, Climate, Mind and Behavior Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting. By invitation.

September 7th, Climate, Mind and Behavior New York Regional Meeting. By invitation.

November 30th - December 2nd, Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference. The Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference is the fifth annual conference focused on understanding the nature of individual and organizational behavior and decision making, and using that knowledge to accelerate our transition to an energy-efficient and low carbon economy. It will build on the overwhelming success of previous BECC conferences, at which more than 650 participants discussed successful policy and program strategies, shared important research findings, and built dynamic new networks and collaborations. For more information, please visit the BECC website.

Articles

Climate, Mind and Behavior Newsletter

Calendar of Events

2012

2013

Announcements

Crowd-Sourced Strategies for Engaging Multi-Family Housing Residents in Recycling

Survey Shows American Voters Support Climate Action and Politicians Could Benefit

Meta-analysis of Pro-environmental Behavior Experiments

New Books

Resources

Coming Up: the 2012 Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium

Reporting Back: the 2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Symposium

Motivated Reasoning: Why Climate Communications Often Fails and How to Fix It

Resources

Upcoming Events

Calendar of Events

2012

2013

New CMB Program Coordinator: Susan McKeever-Duys

Making Climate Communications More Effective: George Marshall discusses his work with the Welsh Government

Midwest Residential Energy Survey Findings: Household Perceptions and Actions

USGBC Center for Green Schools: The Impact of School Buildings on Student Health and Performance

What's in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of “climate change” and “global warming”

Resources

2012 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium

CMB Workshop: Cultivating Resilience in Climate Work - Register Now!

Insights from the 2011 Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium Series

Personal Carbon Allowances

Evolution, Science and Gut Feelings: What Can We Apply to Climate Change?

The Psychology of Denial: Our Failure to Act Against Climate Change

Additional Resources

Upcoming Events

Reporting back: 2012 Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium

Job opportunity: CMB Program Coordinator

CMB regional hubs: meetings and news

Programmable thermostats: user-friendliness and energy savings don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand

Yale Project on Climate Change Communication: findings from the project’s most recent national survey

Resources

Call for CMB Presentation Proposals

Strategies for Sustainable Occupant Behaviors

The Washington State Sustainable Prisons Project

Meet Meredith Cowart, CMB Program Associate

Resources

Upcoming Events

Looking forward: 2013 CMB Symposia schedule

Reporting back: CMB Southeast regional hub kicks off

Multi-media resources: CMB 2012 Symposium video presentations and slides

New book: From Me To We by Bob Doppelt

Job Opportunity: CMB Program Coordinator position

Greening workstyles: how the US House of Representatives cut its carbon footprint by 74%

“Gamification” and “big data”: Using game mechanics to encourage greener behavior

Improving Military Energy, Behavior, and Culture

Schools Cut Their Energy Bills Using Post-Its and Checklists as Prompts to Action

Updates from Two Regional Hubs

Job Opportunity

Resources

Upcoming Events

New Learning from the Climate, Buildings and Behavior Network

Meet Dr. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, CMB Program Director

Resources

Upcoming Events

More Articles...