This research sheds light on the best practices in energy efficiency interventions aimed at making the energy-consuming behaviors of low-income households more energy-efficient. To achieve this, we first briefly explain why energy efficiency programs in North America are so important for low-income households. We note that low-income Canadian households are affected more severely than wealthier households by high energy prices, and that, in general, their behaviour is more energy-intensive than that of Canadian households as a whole.
To deal with these hazards, the practice of energy-efficient behaviours can be stimulated through energy efficiency programs aimed specifically at educating and/or raising the awareness of the people who participate in them. Secondly, we conducted a review of the scientific research on energy efficiency programs and their potential for stimulating behavioural change among participating consumers.
We find that energy efficiency program designers can use a wide range of intervention strategies, such as disseminating energy-saving information using feedback, setting targets associated with financial rewards, or even media campaigns or customized workshops. In this respect, we believe that the use of several intervention strategies in a single program can lead to a significant reduction in energy consumption among participants.
On the other hand, it's important to know the market for which a program is intended. The program must address a very real aspect of the problem for the target clientele. In addition, the target clientele must be studied, to determine which behavioral changes can be successfully implemented.
Lastly, we presented various energy efficiency approaches to focus group participants from low-income households, to find out what they thought about the practice of energy efficiency. To enable us to propose a variety of initiatives, we commissioned an external firm to carry out a mapping of energy efficiency program offerings in North America. Six broad categories of approach were identified, and matched with an example of a program currently in force. After presenting these approaches to focus group participants, we wanted to find out which were most likely to encourage them to adopt more energy-efficient behaviours.
The focus groups revealed a wide range of opinions among participants, reflecting the very heterogeneous nature of what constitutes "low-income households". First of all, participants seem to appreciate approaches that place them at the center of the intervention.
So, while they appreciated programs that enabled them to benefit from heavy measures (such as insulation upgrades or window replacement), they were particularly appreciative of energy efficiency programs that included an educational component delivered in the form of a private workshop accompanied by a personalized energy audit. We can therefore deduce that it is this type of program that is most likely to encourage low-income households to change their energy consumption habits and adopt energy-efficient behaviors.
