Enhancing Energy Conservation and
Efficiency with Occupant Engagement
Presenters:
Andrew Pape-Salmon
Director (on sabbatical), Energy Efficiency Branch
BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
David Helliwell
Co-founder and CEO
Pulse Energy
Overview
• Case Study – Jack Davis Building
• Lighting Energy Conservation Campaign
• Tools Employed: Social Marketing and Energy
Information Systems
• Results and Conclusions
Case Study: Reducing Energy in an Office
Building – Jack Davis Building
• Initiatives:
– Modest technology and
building retrofits
– Launch of a Green Team
– Workstation tune-ups
– Green Pledges
• Power Smart commitment: reduce internal electricity
demand by 9% by 2009 and by 20% by 2020
• Carbon Neutral Government by December 31, 2010
Lighting Energy Conservation Campaign
• Lighting retrofit in 2008 installed:
– photo sensors and dimmable
ballasts on floor #4;
– Light switches on floor #5; and,
– Occupancy sensors in meeting
rooms and washrooms.
• July 2009 campaign aimed to
achieve deeper savings through
engagement of 200 employees
• Used an Energy Information
System (EIS) to provide
immediate feedback
Tools Employed
• Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM):
– Communication – concrete, targeted, vivid, interactive
– Prompts
– Empowering champions
– Convenience (remove barriers)
• Feedback and Energy Information Systems:
– Real-time information
– Combination of tables, text and charts
– Monitoring of the specific end-uses (lighting on each floor)
– Dashboard on the Intranet (no login required)
– Comparison with control case (average annual demand)
Lighting Energy Conservation
Campaign: Results
4th floor (automated day light dimming)
5th floor (occupant engagement)
6th floor (no retrofits)
12.0% 12.6%
2.4%
Energy Savings
Lighting Energy Conservation
Campaign: Results
• Prompting had observable effects on behaviour
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Ele
ctr
ica
l D
em
an
d (
kW
)
5th Floor Lunchtime Electrical Demand
Avg. Electrical Demand from 12:15-1pm
Lighting Energy Conservation
Campaign: Results
• Clear relationship between energy savings and
visits to energy information tool dashboard:
Lighting Energy Conservation
Campaign: Conclusions
• Occupant engagement achieved electricity savings of
12% over and above the impact of installing new
energy efficiency technologies
• Key factors for successful occupant engagement:
– Designate an energy champion
– Customize information to specific actions being promoted
– Use timely email prompts
– Display comparison information
Lighting Energy Conservation
Campaign: Conclusions
• Energy Information Systems play an important role in
occupant engagement by:
– Improving the effectiveness of CBSM tools
– Helping to identify key opportunities for energy savings
– Providing comparison information to determine which
approaches are most effective
Reducing Energy in an Office Building:
Additional Engagement Actions
• Additional CBSM and EIS tools that could be
employed
– Further barrier removal (more light switches)
– Commitment – pledges to support target
– Long-term prompting
– Setting new norms to support persistence of savings
– Incentives and disincentives
Pulse Energy Management Software
Pulse Energy Management Software
Pulse Energy Management Software
Pulse Energy Management Software
Q & A
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Thank you!
• Additional questions? Contact Pulse Energy at:
1-778-331-0500 or email us at
• Look for our email with a link to the webinar recording
• Look for future webinars on our website:
www.pulseenergy.com
