Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will help test the latest energy saving technologies under a partnership project with NSW-based energy supplier, Country Energy to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The project will provide in-house energy display units and trial new social marketing techniques to improve energy saving behaviours of students living on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus.

 

“The University is aiming to reduce its energy consumption by ten per cent by 2011 and to be greenhouse ‘neutral’ by 2015. This project will address a major stumbling block in reaching these targets – people’s own behaviour in reducing our consumption of gas and electricity,” said Mr Adrian Lindner, Chair of CSU’s Sustainability Program Committee.

 

Eighteen student cottages  will receive in-house energy display units which will give immediate feedback to students on current energy use.

 

CSU researchers will investigate how this information is used by students in University residences and the effect it has on their energy use.

 

The research team leader from the University’s School of Environmental Sciences, Dr Penny Davidson, said “the energy display units will be tested as a tool for helping change students’ behaviours to save energy and, in turn, reduce emissions and energy costs for the University”.

 

“We’re testing two approaches to changing the students’ behaviour,” Dr Davidson said. “One is having a real-time display of energy in each cottage and the other is supporting the students to identify the barriers in reducing their energy use and developing strategies to overcome those barriers. For both approaches we’ll be closely monitoring energy use to help evaluate the usefulness of each approach.”

 

Country Energy’s Group Manager Environmental Strategy, Mr Paul Watson, said, “The $240 000 project will provide knowledge about what ultimately influences human behaviour when it comes to electricity consumption.”

 

“This is a climate change initiative being supported by Country Energy demonstrating our commitment to environmental leadership.”

 

With further assistance from Telstra and in-house display unit manufacturer Ampy, the units will be linked via remote telecommunications and allow constant monitoring and analysis to provide immediate information on energy use to University building managers.

 

“This project will provide valuable insights into the strategies that are most effective in encouraging behavioural change to reduce energy use,” Mr Lindner said. “The results will not only help the University achieve its energy reduction goals but will be valuable to the wider community.”

 

Monitoring of energy use started in September 2007. The results of this first stage of the project will be used to develop strategies that can be applied to all University’s student residences from 2009.