The Role of Occupant Behavior in Achieving Net Zero Energy: A Demonstration Project at Fort Carson

This study, sponsored by the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, aimed to understand the potential for institutional and behavioral change to enhance the performance of buildings, through a demonstration project with the Department of Defense in five green buildings on the Fort Carson, Colorado, Army base. To approach this study, the research team identified specific occupant behaviors that had the potential to save energy in each building, defined strategies that might effectively support behavior change, and implemented a coordinated set of actions during a three-month intervention

An Investigation of the Effects of Social Influence on Perceptions of Work Over Time

154 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1980.New employees in an organization or job receive information about their jobs and the organization from many different sources. Their perceptions of the work and work environment may be influenced by the objective characteristics of the situation and by personal and social factors. Most work design and redesign however, usually involves the content of the work only and ignores much of the variability in employee reactions to their jobs arising from non-work factors.Recent literature suggests that one important context factor is social influence. That is, information existing in the social environment is used by workers to form, verify or change their perceptions of and reactions to their work. The generalizability of the social influence research however, has been limited, in part, by the short duration of the experimental tasks and the prevalence of demand characteristics.A long term design was used to assess the persistence of social influence in a simulated work environment. Subjects were trained in a task requiring use of fine manipulative skills through the use of a training film. Embedded in the film were statements which suggested that the trainer and others held a positive, negative or neutral opinion of the task. The effect and persistence of cues received in training were measured (1) over time in individual judgments about the work, and (2) in the transmission of cues across generations of subjects. Training given by one group of subjects to an incoming group of subjects was used to transmit social cues concerning the work from one generation to another.Data were analyzed over time and across generations using repeated measures ANOVA. Results indicated that the social cues received in training had a significant although short-lived or highly specific effect on reported affect, perceptions of the task and behavioral intentions. Positive cues received in training, in general, resulted in more favorable perceptions of task identity and skill variety, and in the intention to consider doing the work again. Receipt of negative cues in training resulted in the lowest levels of satisfaction with the task throughout the study.Time effects were evident for a number of variables including perceived task autonomy, significance, acquisition of new skills, opportunity for social interaction and satisfaction. Except for social interaction, ratings of task favorability declined over time. Generalizational effects were also evident with the first generation faring better than the second generation in terms of acquisition of new skills and satisfaction with the task.The study found little support for a generalized and persistent effect of social cues on the perception of a task and affect toward the task over time. Experience with the task tended to attenuate initial group differences at least for those groups receiving positive and neutral cues.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

A Conceptual Model to Identify Intent to Use Chemical-Biological Weapons

This paper describes a conceptual model to identify and interrelate indicators of intent of non-state actors to use chemical or biological weapons. The model expands on earlier efforts to understand intent to use weapons of mass destruction by building upon well-researched theories of intent and behavior and focusing on a sub-set of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to account for the distinct challenges of employing different types of WMD in violent acts. The conceptual model is presented as a first, critical step in developing a computational model for assessing the potential for groups to use chemical or biological weapons

A Conceptual Model to Identify Intent to Use Chemical-Biological Weapons

This paper describes a conceptual model to identify and interrelate indicators of intent of non-state actors to use chemical or biological weapons. The model expands on earlier efforts to understand intent to use weapons of mass destruction by building upon well-researched theories of intent and behavior and focusing on a sub-set of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to account for the distinct challenges of employing different types of WMD in violent acts. The conceptual model is presented as a first, critical step in developing a computational model for assessing the potential for groups to use chemical or biological weapons

The "New" Face of Transnational Crime Organizations (TCOs): A Geopolitical Perspective and Implications to U.S. National Security

Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez is an NPS faculty author.Significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat…Criminal networks are not only expanding their operations, but they are also diversifying their activities, resulting in a convergence of transnational threats that has evolved to become more complex, volatile, and destabilizing