Energy Saving at Work: Understanding the Roles of Normative Values and Perceived Benefits and Costs in Single-Person and Shared Offices in the United States

Developing and maintaining efficient energy-saving behaviors in the workplace is an important factor in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Building on integrated theories, including a recently developed theoretical approach to studying the dynamics of social norms and decision-making, the theory of planned behavior, the norm activation model, and the motivation-opportunity-ability model, this study analyzes the influence of normative values, office design, and perceived benefits and costs on energy-saving behaviors in different office settings. Based on a survey from 555 U.S. employees, this study found that occupants in single-person offices were influenced by a combination of descriptive, injunctive, and personal norms, while those in shared offices tended to align their actions with injunctive norms and ascription of responsibility. Descriptive norms had a stronger effect on energy-saving behaviors in single-person offices than in shared offices. Ascription of responsibility, however, had a stronger effect on energy-saving behaviors in shared offices. The perceived ease of access to building control features significantly influenced energy-saving behaviors of shared-office occupants only. Time availability had no significant effect on energy-saving behaviors of occupants in both single-person and shared offices. This study provides policy recommendations for building architects, engineers, managers, and policymakers to enhance energy-saving behaviors.