Innovations in Home Energy Use: A Sourcebook for Behavior Change (RTI Press Books)

This collection highlights innovations to encourage reduction in homeowner energy use. The ideas described grew out of a summit at Duke University that brought together people from research institutions, county sustainability offices, government agencies, consultant organizations, architecture firms, building contractors, and real estate agencies—sectors of professionals and practitioners who do not often converse. The resulting book provides a foundation for new dialog about ways in which homeowners can be engaged as partners in the quest to reduce our collective energy use. It focuses on how to change individual behavior, which is a function of not only general attitudes, but also perceptions of social norms, specific skill knowledge, and available technology and tools. The essays in this book will appeal to a range of people charged with curbing residential energy use through communication-based intervention.