Wirksame Energiesparinterventionen durch Zusammenarbeit von Städten und Forschung : Erkenntnisse aus dem Forschungsprojekt "Förderung von energiesparendem Verhalten in Städten" des Nationalen Forschungsprogramms NFP 71

Broschüre mit Erkenntnissen aus dem NFP71 Projekt Förderung von energiesparendem Verhalten in Städte

Scientific and Practical Understandings of Smart Cities

Cities are key agents in the transformation of energy systems, since the majority of the world population lives in cities and most energy is consumed in urban areas. In recent times, the concept of smart cities has raised the attention of both scientists and practitioners in different fields. Smart cities are envisioned to link different fields of action such as mobility; energy production, distribution, and consumption; buildings; governance and stakeholder processes; and urban planning. Information and communication technologies are seen as key to these interconnections. The overall goal of a smart city is to save energy and simultaneously to increase the quality of life for inhabitants. Although a broad variety of descriptions of smart cities have been developed, the concept itself appears to be rather fuzzy and hard to grasp. A clear-cut, common definition of smart cities is still lacking. The goal of this paper is to better understand what a smart city constitutes and what it means from the perspective of science, as well as from a practical point of view. In a thorough literature analysis, we identify different i) definitions, ii) approaches, iii) fields of actions and iv) technologies associated with smart cities. Our analysis is based on interdisciplinary scientific literature, as well as on practical documents (e.g. websites of pilot projects). In a subsequent step, we compare the different understandings of smart cities. In so doing, we focus on similarities and differences between scientific and practical approaches. In a final step, we identify opportunities and challenges arising from the identified similarities and differences. Recognising these challenges and potentials is of particular interest for so-called transdisciplinary research in urban development, where scientists and practitioners work closely together. Differences between science and practice might on the one hand inform research on smart cities concerning practical implications and experiences. On the other hand, they can also inform practitioners about scientific innovation in urban development (e.g. cloud computing assessing sensor data in real time)

Switzerland

The long-term energy policy of the Canton of Zurich aims on maintaining respectively enabling a high, but eco-friendly living standard. Until 2050 the CO2 emissions are to be reduced from today approximately 6.0 tonnes per year and person down to 2.2 tonnes. By 2034, all remaining nuclear power plants in Switzerland, some of them among the oldest in Europe, will be taken of the grid (in accordance with the new political decision taken by the Swiss Federal Council in the wake of the Fukushima desaster). The overall target is therefore the transformation of the energy supply from a nuclear and hydropower based to a more sustainable one. Security of supply is often identified as one of the principle challenges in this context. For all these aspects, support and promotion of Innovation beyond R&D is a key relevance as well. The smart city concept is not only multi-dimensional but also future-oriented in tackling energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It follows an urban development strategy whereby focussing on how (Internet-related) technologies enhance the lives of citizens, empowering them for contributing to urban change and realizing their ambitions

The Process Matters: Fairness in Repository Siting For Nuclear Waste

Siting contested infrastructure such as repositories for nuclear waste very often faces strong local resistance. One major reason for this opposition may arise because siting processes do not appropriately consider fairness issues such as transparency, the availability of options, or the sufficient involvement of concerned and affected people. The aim of this study was to analyze people's concerns related to justice in siting nuclear waste. Besides procedural aspects, both distributive justice and outcome valence are considered important and therefore the "total fairness model” by Törnblom and Vermunt (Soc Justice Res 12:39-64, 1999) was used as a framework. In three quasi-experimental studies (N 1=53; N 2=56; N 3=83) applying conjoint analysis, respondents ranked 11 vignettes with the three attributes procedural justice, distributional justice, and outcome valence. Each vignette represents a realistic scenario of a site selection process for the disposal of nuclear waste in Switzerland. All the three studies yield a consistent result: vignettes representing a situation with a fair process are top-ranked by respondents; situations with negative outcome valence are ranked lowest; distributive issues turned out to be of minor importance. We conclude that procedural fairness should be given more attention in any kind of contested infrastructure siting and that real-world examples like the one discussed here can inform justice researc

Technologien auf dem Prüfstand : neu entwickeltes Indikatorenset zur Bewertung der Stromproduktion anhand der Ziele der Energiestrategie 2050

Wie sind die verschiedenen Stromproduktionstechnologien im Hinblick auf die Energiewende zu bewerten? Welchen Beitrag können sie leisten? Ausgehend von diesen Fragen hat ein Forschungsteam der ZHAW ein Set von Bewertungs-Indikatoren entwickelt. Dieses stützt sich auf die in der Energiestrategie 2050 definierten Leitlinien Sicherheit, Wirtschaftlichkeit und Umweltverträglichkeit. Im Sinne einer ganzheitlichen Betrachtung wurde zudem der Aspekt der Gesellschaftsverträglichkeit hinzugefügt

Favouring behavioural change of household’s energy consumption through social media and cooperative play

A change in how individuals consume energy is a key step in fighting climate change since it represents a crucial contribution to a more collective and sustainable lifestyle adoption. To carry out such process, designers and scientists are seeking new ways to increase public discussion and social involvement in energy reduction issues. In relation to this, the emphasis is on raising collective awareness to enable behavioural change and to inspire people in making sustainable decisions on energy consumption. This article draws on techniques and approaches from social science, gameful design and sustainability. It defines and discusses cooperative play as a privileged path for developing energy-related mobile applications. We present here an overview of multiple perspectives, in terms of content and methodology, to contribute to elaborating design methodologies that can favour behavioural change on households’ energy consumption

How do different residential consumer groups react to monetary and unconventional non-monetary incentives to reduce their electricity consumption? : final report

Zur Realisierung der Ziele der Energiestrategie 2050 gewinnt die Nachfragesteuerung von Verbrauchenden für Energieversorgungsunternehmen (EVU) zunehmend an Bedeutung. Energieeffizienz bedarf dabei nebst technischer Lösungen auch Ansätzen zur Verhaltensänderung. Anreize sind eine Möglichkeit für EVU, ihre Kundschaft zum Energiesparen zu motivieren. Im Projekt wird erforscht, ob unkonventionelle nicht-monetäre Anreize besonders geeignet sind, Haushalte zum Stromsparen zu bewegen. Dazu wurden im ersten Schritt qualitative Experteninterviews mit Vertretern von Energieunternehmen durchgeführt, um realitätsnahe Anreize zu identifizieren. Anschliessend prüften wir diese Anreize in zwei Online-Experimente (N = 805 und N = 1106) auf ihre Wirkung auf die Stromsparabsicht - sowohl allgemein wie auch für spezifische Verbrauchergruppen. Im ersten Experiment zeigte sich, dass Gebühren auf niedrige Akzeptanz trafen. Des Weiteren war die Energiespar-Absicht bei monetären und unkonventionellen Belohnungen nicht höher als bei blosser Aufforderung zum Energiesparen. Verschiedene sozioökonomische Gruppen reagierten gleich auf die Anreize. Jedoch reagierten Gruppen mit hohem Umweltbewusstsein besonders positiv auf Belohnungssysteme und Energiespar-Aufforderungen ohne Anreiz. Im zweiten Experiment wurde die Wirkung monetärer Anreize mit der Wirkung einer Auswahl von unkonventionellen Anreizen verglichen. Eine Auswahl zwischen Gutscheinen für alltägliche Dienstleistungen (z.B. öffentliche Verkehrsmittel, Lebensmittelgeschäfte) motivierte die Teilnehmenden am stärksten, Strom zu sparen. Verschiedene Belohnungen und die Aufforderung zum Energiesparen wirkten gleichermassen positiv auf die Loyalität der Verbrauchenden zum Energieunternehmen. Insgesamt schnitten bei Haushalten mit geringem Interesse an Energie-Themen unkonventionelle Anreize nicht besser ab als andere Anreizsysteme. Beide Experimente zeigten jedoch, dass Verbrauchende die Förderung von Energiesparverhalten durch EVU als positiv wahrnehmen. Auch zeigte sich, dass sie Interesse daran haben, mehr über ihren eigenen Energieverbrauch zu erfahren. Das Projekt bietet eine Grundlage, um verschiedene Ansätze der Sensibilisierung zum Energiesparen in der Realität anzuwenden und weiterzuentwickeln.Demand-side management is becoming more relevant for energy utilities to reach the goals of the Swiss Energy Strategy 2050. Besides technical approaches to increase energy efficiency, approaches for behavioural change are also necessary. Here, energy utilities may use incentives to engage the public and their customers, in particular. The key idea of this project is to examine if unconventional non-monetary incentives are particularly successful in engaging households to save electricity through behavioural change. Therefore, we first conducted a series of qualitative expert interviews with representatives of energy utilities to identify suitable incentives. Subsequently, we conducted two large-scale online experiments (N = 805 and 1,106) to examine which incentive schemes are most effective in general, and for certain consumer groups. The first experiment revealed that fees receive low acceptance and energy-saving intentions were not higher when monetary or unconventional rewards were offered compared to a condition without incentives. Moreover, disparate socio-economic groups did not differ in their intention to change their behaviour for various incentives, in contrast to groups varying in their awareness of energy issues. The second experiment offered participants a choice of incentives. Here, a choice among coupons that can be used on a day-to-day basis (e.g. coupons for public transport and supermarkets) most motivated participants to change their behaviour. As in the first experiment, we found no alterations among socio-economic groups; incentives did not have a differing effect on participants’ customer loyalty to the energy utility. Taken together, both experiments suggest that unconventional incentives are not more successful compared to other types of incentives to engage customers that, thus far, have been uninterested in energy issues. However, both experiments suggest that energy utilities’ promotion of energy saving through behavioural change was highly welcomed by participants in general. In addition, both experiments suggest that participants are keen to learn about their own energy consumption. Hence, the project provides a rich basis for starting a real-world field trial to further explore the energy-saving potential of different types of incentives

Exploring societal preferences for energy sufficiency measures in Switzerland

Many countries are facing a challenging transition towards more sustainable energy systems, which produce more renewables and consume less energy. The latter goal can only be achieved through a combination of efficiency measures and changes in people’s lifestyles and routine behaviours (i.e. sufficiency). While research has shown that acceptance of technical efficiency is relatively high, there is a lack of research on societal preferences for sufficiency measures. However, this is an important prerequisite for designing successful interventions to change behaviour. This paper analyses societal preferences for different energy-related behaviours in Switzerland. We use an online choice-based conjoint analysis (N=150) to examine preferences for behaviours with high technical potentials for energy demand reduction in the following domains: mobility, heating and food. Each domain comprises different attributes across three levels of sufficiency. Respondents were confronted with trade-off situations evoked through different fictional lifestyles that comprised different combinations of attribute levels. Through a series of trade-off decisions, participants were asked to choose their preferred lifestyle. The results revealed that a vegetarian diet was considered the most critical issue that respondents were unwilling to trade off, followed by distance to workplace and means of transportation. The highest willingness to trade off was found for adjustments in room temperature, holiday travel behaviours, and living space. Participants’ preferences for the most energy-sufficient lifestyles were rather low. However, the study showed that there were lifestyles with substantive energy-saving potentials that were well accepted among respondents. Our study results suggest that the success of energy-sufficiency interventions might depend strongly on the targeted behaviour. We speculate that they may face strong resistance (e.g., vegetarian diet). Thus, it seems promising to promote well-balanced lifestyles, rather than extremely energy-sufficient lifestyles, as potential role models for sufficiency

Why some electricity utilities actively promote energy efficiency while others do not—a Swiss case study

Electricity utilities are key players for promoting energy efficiency (EE) because of their close link to consumers. Utility-centered EE policy frameworks, such as white certificate schemes coupled to saving obligations, have been shown to be both effective and efficient in several US states and various European countries. In Switzerland, where such a policy framework is absent on a national level, large differences occur among utility providers in their activities to promote EE. This study sheds light on this issue, using data from a survey of Swiss utilities (N = 114). A two-step cluster analysis was used to identify three groups of utilities. It is based on these utilities' evaluation of 20 incentives and constraints for promoting EE. An analysis of variance found significant differences between the clusters regarding size (number of employees), share of production, number of large clients, and—most importantly—level of activity in implementing EE programs. The most active cluster comprises mainly larger utility companies, which primarily see the incentives of promoting EE. The passive cluster consists of small companies, focusing primarily on constraints. There is also an ambivalent cluster. It includes middle-sized companies, which see both clear incentives and many constraints - mainly a lack of human and capital resources—for engaging in EE. Based on our analysis, we conclude that due to the large heterogeneity of Swiss utilities, there is a need for contextualized policies targeting different types of utilities in order to effectively promote EE

Kommunale Interventionen und Kampagnen zur Förderung von energiesparendem Verhalten : Erkenntnisse aus dem Forschungsprojekt «Förderung von Energiesparendem Verhalten in Städten» des Nationalen Forschungsprogramms NFP 71

Ein wichtiger Pfeiler der Energiestrategie 2050 ist eine deutliche Reduktion des individuellen Energieverbrauchs. Hierbei spielen Städte und Gemeinden eine zentrale Rolle. Gerade wenn es darum geht individuelle Verhaltensänderungen anzustossen stellen sich für Gemeinden aber auch viele Fragen: Welche Massnahmen sind breit akzeptiert? Wie gestaltet man eine Kampagne möglichst effektiv? Was hat sich in anderen Gemeinden bewährt? Mit welchen lokalen Organisationen lohnt es sich, zusammenzuarbeiten? Diese Broschüre gibt anhand aktueller  Forschungsergebnisse des Projekts «Förderung von energiesparendem Verhalten in Städten» (gefördert vom SNF, NFP 71) einige Antworten auf diese Fragen. Sie thematisiert insbesondere folgende Punkte: Wo ansetzen: In welchen Bereichen sind Energiespar-Kampagnen besonders vielversprechend? Wie ansetzen: Welcher Typ Kampagne eignet sich für welche Ziele und was soll bei der Kommunikation beachtet werden? Von wem lernen: Wo kann man sich über bereits erprobte Kampagnen und Ansätze informieren? Mit wem zusammenarbeiten: Welche Organisationen bieten sich als Partner für Massnahmen im Energiebereich an