Tools- of Changes

Provides guides, reports, toolkits and videos to help build stronger municipalities, with resources covering Affordable Housing, Energy, Low Carbon, Transportation Land use, Waste, Water, Women in governmentGuide for Engaging Students to...

Is it worth targeting people with high socioeconomic status, with customized interventions? This open-access article explores how they can have a disproportionate impact on greenhouse gas emissions and potentially on climate change...

REScoop.eu is the European federation of citizen energy cooperatives.The term "REScoop" refers to energy cooperatives, a business model where citizens jointly own and participate in renewable energy or energy efficiency projects....

Includes a guide to community-based social marketing, and sections with articles, brief case studies, graphic examples, and an archived listserv.Covers environmental topics (composting, energy efficiency, household waste disposal, litter...

Participants who received an energy education visit before an energy audit adopted more low-cost, one-time energy conservation changes such as adjusting refrigerator/freezer temperatures and lowering hot water temperature. However, they did...

Covers radio and TV public service ads (PSAs)Topics include: environment (environmental involvement, global warming, oceans), fatherhood involvement, health and safety (booster seats, child abuse, asthma, obesity, crime prevention,...

Includes many annotated links to other web-based resources supporting social marketing and social change...

This web page lists free resources provided by the tech community in the following areas: climate change projections around the world; real-time visualization of electricity consumption and resulting CO2 emissions; and calculation of the...

A good, detailed, freely accessible overview of program evaluation and attribution methods....

Behavioral energy efficiency programs can reduce the same amount of damages from carbon emissions as structural retrofit programs, but in less time and at lower cost. They can  also further boost savings from structural programs.States and...

Many climate-relevant behaviours are habitual rather than intentional. Since changing contexts can effectively break habits, interventions may be more effective when habits are disrupted - for example, when people have recently relocated,...

Researchers in the U.K. found that, while adding home insulation initially lowered gas consumption, a rebound effect and/or concurrent renovations reduced these energy savings dramatically over time. For some groups there were no savings. ...

This article summarizes factors to consider when designing behavioral reinforcements, such as scheduling, shaping and delays....

This document provides a brief summary of options for assessing what portion of any measured behavior changes resulted from your program and what portion resulted from other influences. These options can also be used to attribute the...

This study focuses on methods for increasing employees' readiness to change their behaviors in favor of energy conservation, specifically examining the use of guided group discussions (GGDs). It finds that solution-focused communication...

The Centre's Climate Change in the American Mind program tracks and provides ongoing reports on public understanding of climate change and support for climate policies. Also works with specific intermediaries to influence public dialogue on...

This 2013 literature review summarizes behavioral barriers, benefits and interventions related to campus / institutional energy, water and waste-related behaviors.  Sections of this small-scale review, which was created for the University...

Two open-access articles in Behavioral Science & Policy (7: 2) provide guidance on crafting messages to promote green behaviors. The first argues that interventions will be most effective if they not only make it easier for people to...

This 2015 report summarizes program designs and participation rates for U.S. energy efficiency programs in a range of residential and commercial sectors. The sectors covered by the report include: Residential Products and Appliances ...

This 2014 white paper addresses three primary questions about electricity savings from longer-running Home Energy Report programs and savings after the end of treatment.The three questions addressed are: How do HER programs perform...

Two British studies indicate the value of thermal imaging for making heat loss visible and changing behaviors. Published in 2015.In one British study (n=43), householders who received a thermal image reduced their energy use at a 1-year...

This 2015 analysis presents easily available data to determine the ramp-up, dependability and short-term persistence of savings in Home Energy Reports (HERs).This report, the third in a series of reports on smart meters, presents smart...

This second-order meta-analysis found that the studied interventions increased associated environmental behaviors by 2% to 12%. Social comparisons and financial approaches, followed closely by appeals and commitment strategies, were the...

Why are men less likely than women to embrace environmentally friendly products and behaviors? Building on prior findings that men tend to be more concerned than women with gender-identity maintenance, this article argues that this green...

The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health publishes highly credible reports documenting the impacts of climate change on health.Eleven of the United States's leading medical societies formed the Medical Society Consortium on...

Provides research reports on ways users can change their behavior to save energy, and ways that these behaviors can be encouraged and amplified. Some examples follow. Valuing Efficiency by Clicking on Energy Efficient Real Estate...

This 2017 study compares two modes of visually presenting information  - one using photographs and the other using cartoons - on audience's knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intentions.This study compares two modes of visually presenting...

It's not just about money. People invest in home energy upgrades for a variety of reasons. This report explores these motivations and unveils, based partly on a representative survey of nearly 2,000 homeowners, the best strategies for...

This 2018 paper links climate science and behavioural science, estimates the potential impact of behavioural programs, and predicts the three types of behavioural programs with the largest impact.The authors of this paper link the C-ROADS...

Participants who received an energy education visit before an energy audit adopted more low-cost, one-time energy conservation changes such as adjusting refrigerator/freezer temperatures and lowering hot water temperature. However, they did...

This 2020 study investigated the relationships between three types of nature contact, psychological connectedness, health, subjective wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. It suggests that interventions increasing both contact with,...

This study indicates that high-profile public advocates like Greta Thunberg can shape collective efficacy beliefs and motivate collective action, but their effect is likely stronger among those with a shared political ideology.Despite Greta...

Using satellite imagery and machine learning techniques, this study finds that the density of solar panels within the shortest measured radius of an address is the most important factor in determining the likelihood of that address having a...

To reduce energy demand, norm interventions may be more effective for shifting behaviors, and information interventions may be more effective for promoting the avoidance of targeted behaviors. Based on a review of 584 empirical papers.This...

Normative feedback in the form of multi-level reference groups can have a significant positive effect on occupants' behavior change and energy savings in shared spaces,Normative feedback is considered a cost-effective solution for promoting...

This study found appliance-specific feedback to be a powerful tool to curb electricity consumption. While the largest reductions in consumption occurred when social comparisons were made with identifiable neighbors, a comparison with the...

This field experiment with 7,680 low-income homeowners boosted referral rates, new participant numbers, and progam cost-effectiveness. It achieved this with two changes to a program that was already running. (1) It offered, in addition to...

The temporal histogram model and synthesiser that is presented in this open-access paper statistically models the unique usage behaviour of electricity or hot water usage for individual residential households.The temporal histogram model...

Hard-to-decarbonize houses are properties that require difficult or expensive retrofits in order to make them green and sustainable. They are thought to represent one-quarter of homes globally, and to be responsible for more than one...

One of the broadest and most comprehensive global message testing studies conducted on climate change provides guidance for effective climate change related messaging.Potential Energy is a global, nonprofit marketing firm creating public...

Provides research reports and toolkits addressing a wide range of topics, and information and training on framing...