The psychological determinants of energy saving behavior

Abstract

The energy sector represents the largest sources of emissions by far, accounting for almost 68% of greenhouse gases emission in the world. Buildings contribute to 32% of overall global final energy use. Energy saving behavior often influenced by monetary incentive shall not be generalized into an office building context whereby the users have no financial responsibility on its utilities expenses. At present, the challenge of how to encourage users towards energy saving behavior (ESB) is one of the emerging topics attracting the attention of researchers. Thus, this study focuses to identify the psychological determinants of ESB in buildings. Using behavioral changes as an adaptation approach, an extensive literature search was carried out on 72 published literatures to explore the existing ESB model to specify the psychological determinants of ESB within a building context. The result of the content analysis indicates that the ESB among building users was attributed by several psychological determinants: Attitude, Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavior Control, Habits, Motivation and Energy Knowledge. The findings may serve as an initial reference to the management progress in fostering ESB among users in a building context.