Snap it off! Researching energy saving schemes in halls of residences. Lizzie Bone Environmental Researcher NUS Services

Halls – Energy behaviours Carbon implications of halls Student behaviours Encouraging pro-environmental behaviours Preliminary findings Your university

Carbon implications in halls

Halls - in terms of carbon 2.3 million students (UK HE) 22% in halls (506,000 bed spaces) 348,000 HEI / 158,000 private Halls on English HEIs £73.5m, 401,315 tCO2 (£250m total, 29.5%) 1.8 million students (England HE) Per bed space £185; 1.01 tCO2 Total UK spend for halls £94m; 513,000 tCO2

Halls - in terms of behaviour Of 506,000 bed spaces, 44.5% (225,170) are first year students Often living away from home for the first time Virtually all halls charge a fixed rent inclusive of utilities A lack of incentives; clear disincentive. Habit discontinuity hypothesis (Verplanken et al., 2008) Superb opportunity to green UK population!

Student behaviours

Action % of respondents in halls (base 1,388) % of respondents in private accommodation (base 2,206) Leaving lights on unnecessarily Leaving a mobile phone charger on when not in use Overfilling the kettle Leaving the tap running when brushing teeth Leaving the heating when not in use Putting more clothes on rather than turning up the heating Percentage of student respondents living in halls and privately-rented accommodation doing the specified actions always or quite often

Appliance % of respondents with appliance in their study room (base 4,267) Computer / laptop97.7 Mobile phone charger92.0 Other charger (IPod, camera, etc.)75.0 Desk lamp (own, not supplied with room)61.3 Printer – inkjet57.6 Hairdryer51.5 Computer speakers47.2 Hair straightener45.6 Stereo40.2 Desk lamp (supplied with room)20.3 Electric heater (own, not supplied with room)18.5 Fridge13.2 Kettle12.9 Printer – laser8.7 Microwave8.0 Toaster8.0 Percentage of student respondents with given electrical appliances in their study room

Encouraging pro- environmental behaviours

Five mechanisms of encouraging pro- environmental behaviour 1.General awareness campaigns - Durham University 2.Peer-to-peer encouragement - Leeds University 3.Low-carbon University / energy efficient halls – University of Central Lancashire 4.Comparative and competitive - University of Bradford 5.Financial incentives - University of the West of England

Durham University Study Rooms Communal Living Existing materials Van Mildert College

University of West of England Carroll Court

Project analysis / dissemination Meter data allowing monitoring relative effectiveness of each intervention In person focus groups allow qualitative collection of attitudes and behaviours Online focus groups allow understanding of uptake of pro-environmental behaviours Campus questionnaire to provide baseline attitude and behaviours Wider online questionnaire to provide national student opinion

Preliminary findings

Preliminary findings (1) A consumer mentality drives high energy use Respondents feel that fixed residence fees are high Consumer mentality drives high use of energy –Some respondents claimed that they didn’t think of their energy use –Many reported that they felt entitled to use as much energy as they wanted –Over 50% of survey respondents agreed with the statement “leaving the heating on when I go out is something I do frequently” The habit discontinuity hypothesis dictates that the first year of university is a key habit forming stage however poor behaviours are adopted, irrespective of habits learned prior to university –Lack of financial incentive and lack of enforcement means respondents of all types adopt poor energy efficiency behaviours –Respondents state that key drivers of energy efficiency at home are parental insistence and school enforcement –Importantly most respondents feel that they will adopt energy saving behaviours in the future – to save money and the environment. Education in effective use of university provided equipment is needed “I do see myself adopting these [energy saving] behaviours in the future as we are running out of energy (1st year, female, UWE) Focus group Dec 2009

Preliminary findings (2) Respondents are strongly influenced by their peers Peer pressure can act as a barrier to saving energy –A large proportion of respondents reported examples of energy wastage in their accommodation –Only a small minority claimed that they would try to influence those wasting energy –Interestingly, respondents who noticed energy wastage would be more likely to stop the energy waste e.g. by switching a light off, than raise the issue in conversation Environmental concerns are not felt to be ‘cool’ Respondents can feel unsupported in energy saving –A ‘go to’ role is required – continuity is key “telling people to save energy doesn’t work because there’s too many people not doing it. I still do it, but I don’t think it works (1 st year, male), UCLan Focus group Dec 2009

Your university

Discussion - What steps are already being taken in your university? What works? What doesn’t? What is the student culture in your university?

Discussion – What are the unmet needs? How could we challenge these? Questions?

Snap it off! Researching energy saving schemes in halls of residences. Lizzie Bone Environmental Researcher NUS Services