Behavioral demand response : A technology to support the smart grids of the future

Sammanfattning: Residential buildings are one of the main stakeholders to electricity consumption. As there is fast-paced technological advancement in electricity conservation, the residential buildings infrastructure has become very electricity-efficient in Sweden. However, there is still room for improvement with regards to electricity conservation via behavioral change. Meaning, residents have the potential to reduce household electricity consumption by developing a conservative behavior. The road to such a behavioral development is not straightforward. According to literature, behavioral change is influenced by different beliefs and norms. There also exists a global trend that fewer and fewer people are able to name a single neighbor, and it is aptly called “Globally Connected yet Locally Isolated”. In this master thesis the strategy to achieve electricity conservation is based upon local social cohesion, and the awareness of electricity, at Malvinas – a student residence at the campus of KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The study is carried out at LocalLife – a local social networking service for sustainable communities – implementing a mixed methodology of surveys and interviews. 8 LocalLife users are studied in detail. The result incorporates the most suitable features from the relevant topics that could enable long term change and retainment of users. The results showed that the participants: 1) indicated an increased energy awareness; 2) reported an improvement in local community-life; 3) felt motivated to change behavior to facilitate saving electricity.