Evaluating the impact of technological renovation and competition on energy consumption in the workplace

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of two interventions aimed at reducing electricity consumption among branches of a large Italian bank. The first intervention consists in the technological renovation of 70 branch buildings through the installation of an automated energy management system. The second is an energy-saving competition that involved more than 500 branches for a year. Using two separate difference-in-differences estimations, we find that the technological renovation curbs electricity consumption by 15.8 percent overall, and by more than 25 percent outside the main work schedule. The behavioral intervention only reduces electricity consumption, by around 6 percent, outside the main work schedule. Branch characteristics do not lead to differentiated responses to the behavioral program, in stark contrast with the residential sector. Our findings suggest that energy savings in the workplace are more easily obtained by reducing passive waste than through behavioral change during working hours, and that behavioral programs and investments in smart technology may address similar sources of energy inefficiency with different effectiveness.

Keywords: Behavioral intervention, Energy conservation, Workplace, Difference-in-difference, Energy efficiency

JEL Classification: C93, D91, H32, Q41