Changing  building  occupant  behavior  with  Energy  Chickens,  a  serious  game  

Presented  by  Candice  Kollar  

October  13,  2015  

The  problem  we  are  trying  to  solve  

In  a  modern  energy  efficient  office,  up  to  half  of  electricity  use  is  in  the  immediate  control  of  office  workers  

In  most  offices,  many  devices  are  le>  on,  even  when  no  one  is  using  them  

If  we  can  change  these  behaviors,  we  can  save  a  lot  of  energy,  and  money  

Q.  How  can  we  mo>vate  office  workers  modify  their  behaviors              to  cut  energy  use?  

A:  Use  plug  load  tracking  and  gaming  mechanics  to  measure,  track  and            mo>vate  building  occupants  

What  are  “plug  loads”?  

To  plug  into  one  of  these…  

Anything  that  uses  one  of  these…  

Typical  plug  load  devices  

Office  Spaces   Common  Areas  

Plug  load  energy  use  is  growing  

HVAC  

LighKng  

Office  Equipment  

Plug  Load  Best  Prac0ces  Guide    Managing  Your  Office  Equipment  Plug  Load          NBI/Pier  2012    

Plug  loads  as  %  of  office  electricity  use  

Dashboards  fail  to  change  office  staff  behavior  

“Almost all respondents indicated that behavior was not changed as a result of this research. Those who had access to the online dashboard indicate that they rarely or never checked the real-time energy performance of the plug-loads, which reduces the value of the submetering capabilities.” Plug-Load Control and Behavioral Change Research in GSA Office Buildings GSA/NREL 2012

Most  people  don’t  really  care    about  saving  energy  

The  problem  is  lack  of  moKvaKon  (the  barrier)  

So  how  can  we  get  office  workers  to  care  about  saving  energy?  

Introducing  Energy  Chickens…  

A  virtual  farmyard  game  

Designed  to  change  the  behavior  of  commercial  building  occupants,  Energy  Chickens  uses  data  collected  by  plug  load  tracking  devices.    

Each  chicken  in  a  player’s  farmyard  represents  the  actual  energy  use  from  a  unique  appliance  for  which  the  player  is  responsible.  A  player’s  energy  consumpKon  affects  the  well-­‐being  of  their  chickens.    

When  a  player  reduces  their  energy  consumpKon  for  an  appliance,  the  chicken  associated  with  that  appliance  grows  healthier  and  happier.  A  happy  chicken  will  lay  eggs  that  can  be  redeemed  for  rewards.  But,  if  a  player  increases  consumpKon,  their  chickens  will  appear  sickly.  They  will  not  lay  eggs  and  may  even  die.  

Players  log  in  to  care  for  their  chickens  and  to  collect  eggs  for  points.    

Take  care  of  your  energy  chickens!  

Serious  games  =  What’s  working  

“Serious  games  are  games  designed  for  a  purpose  beyond  pure  entertainment.  They  use  the  moKvaKon  levers  of  game  design  –  such  as  compeKKon,  curiosity,  collaboraKon,  individual  challenge  –  and  game  media,  such  as  board  games,  physical  representaKon,  video  games,  avatars  and  3D  immersion,  to  enhance  the  moKvaKon  of  parKcipants  to  engage  in  complex  or  boring  tasks.    

Serious  games  are  used  effecKvely  in  a  variety  of  professional  situaKons  such  as  educaKon,  training,  assessment,  recruitment,  knowledge  management,  innovaKon  and  scienKfic  research.”  

h^p://lexicon.>.com/Term?term=serious-­‐games  

Games  with  a  feedback  loop  have  been  found  to  be  effecKve.  Without    feedback,  people  just  conKnue  their  old  habits.  

Energy  Chickens  1.0  Pennsylvania  State  University    

The  Energy  Chickens  game  grew  out  of  a  research  project  led  by  Professor  Brian  Orland  and  Dena  Lang  at  Penn  State  and  their  colleagues  at  the  Penn  State  Studio  Lab.    

The  research  was  iniKated  in  response  to  findings  that  dashboards  failed  to  have  any  impact  whatsoever  on  the  energy-­‐saving  behaviors  of  building  occupants  in  buildings  where  they  had  been  deployed.    

 The  study  was  funded  by  a  grant  from  U.S.  DOE    

 The  research  was  published  and  is  available  for  purchase  on  the  web  

 Presented  at  BECC  and  Greenbuild  InternaKonal  Conference  2013  

How  does  it  work?  

•  Monitor  energy  use  

•  Evaluate  current  use  vs.  past  use  

•  Provide  Energy  use  feedback  

•  Change  energy  behavior  

Behavior  change  feedback  loop  

Energy  Chickens  2.0  A  Pilot  Project  at  StopWaste,  A  work  in  progress  

Energy  Chickens  1.0  was  adequate  for  purposes  of  iniKal  research  only.  Required  a  complete  back-­‐end  so>ware  rebuild.  Original  version  was  a  solitary  game,  not  social.  That’s  all  changed.  

Shrink  the  Change:  The  goal  of  the  game  is  to  maintain  healthy  chickens.  Learning  and  behavior  change  are  a  side  effect  of  play.    

Mo9vate  the  elephant:  The  chicken  characters  are  cute.  Players  care  about  their  pet  chickens.  

Des9na9on:  A  farmyard  full  of  happy  egg-­‐laying  chickens.  The  underlying  goal  of  recuing  energy  use  is  abstract  and  not  stated.    

The  idea  of  playing  a  game  at  work  was  an  immediate  hit.  Staff  orientaKon  generated  a  lot  of  excitement.  

Power  Ports  A  Power  Port  is  a  “smart  power  strip”  that  monitors  the  electricity  used  by  individual  electrical  devices  plugged  into  each  outlet.  

The  energy  usage  data  for  each  electrical  device  is  stored  in  an  online  database  accessible  via  an  Internet  browser.  

19  Power  Ports  are  installed  at  StopWaste.Org  in  9  cubicles  and  one  office  space.  

Plug  Load  Manager  online  database  

Why  does  it  work?  

BARRIERS   TOOLS   APPLICATIONS  

Lack  of  moKvaKon   Commitment  Norms  IncenKves  MoKvated  elephant!  

Pledges  Transparency  Rewards  Endearing  characters  

Forget  to  act   Prompts   Pop  ups  (on  screen)  Email  noKficaKons  

Lack  of  social  pressure   Norms   Can  see  coworkers’  farmyards  

Lack  of  knowledge   CommunicaKon  Social  diffusion  

Quick  visual  cues  Can  view  others’  yard  Shared  responsibility  

Structural  barriers   Convenience   On  the  desktop  

Bonus!  Energy  Chickens  may  improve  office  worker  producKvity  

Viewing Cute Images Promotes Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus

“This study shows that viewing cute things improves subsequent performance in tasks that require behavioral carefulness… which is beneficial in specific situations, such as driving and office work.” Hiroshi Nittono, Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, 2012

Energy  Chickens  and  Power  Ports  

Energy  Chickens  will  be  up  and  running  this  Spring  for  the  10  StopWaste.Org  staffers  who  have  Power  Ports  installed  in  their  workspaces.  

Thank  you!  Want  to  chat  more  about  Energy  Chickens?    

Contact:    Candice  Kollar,  LEED  AP  415.536.1536  candice@kollardesign.com  

Special  interest  area:  Behavior  change  in    commercial  buildings  

I  would  appreciate  a  shout  out  when  you  learn  about  new  opportuniKes  to  team  up  with  worthy  folks  on  innovaKve  projects,  such  as:  ~  Sustainability-­‐oriented  social  markeKng  ~  Step  Up  Power  Down  campaign  ~  Energy  Chickens  deployment  ~  LEED  Dynamic  Plaque  implementaKon  ~  Sustainability-­‐  related  communicaKons