Garrison Institute “Climate, Buildings and Behavior”
Kent has been invited to attend this year’s symposium.
From September 18th to September 20th, the Garrison Institute will host its fifth annual Climate, Buildings and Behavior (CBB) Symposium. This high-level meeting will convene real estate folks including both for-profit and not-for-profit firms, building industry experts, and researchers in behavior change to explore the science and practice behind successful approaches for enhancing sustainable practices, reducing energy consumption, and significantly lowering the cost of building operations. CBB’s innovative approach is focused on the human behavior of resource optimization with special attention on engaging building occupants and shifting away from wasteful energy practices. . Buildings account for 42% of all U.S. GHG emissions; therefore reducing occupant energy consumption through behavior change can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. CMB integrates emerging knowledge from the behavioral and social sciences about what drives human behavior, with new thinking about climate change policies and solutions, in order to generate more achievable outcomes. Behavioral changes have little to no cost (particularly important in a weak economy) and require no regulation to achieve (for example turning off the lights when you leave the room). Recent studies show that simply giving office building occupants a web page where they can track their energy usage can lead to a 15% reduction in individual usage. Also, it has been shown that when given feedback, college students reduce their energy usage by between 12-40%.
This year, the Symposium will look at measurement and verification best practices and lessons learned across energy modeling/auditing, design, construction, commissioning, management, and occupancy to identify strategies for encouraging the human behaviors required to improve building performance. What are the best ways to build a culture of quality and ongoing improvement, drawing from case studies of non-optimal performance and the resulting outcomes? The Symposium will look at evaluation methods, the use of data, the role of human perception and attention in job performance, human behavioral issues relating to on-the-job performance, and social tools to systematize effective feedback and continuing performance improvement. It will develop practical, “take-home” value by exploring best practices on how to create an environment of learning and continuing improvement, not just related to sustainability but to bottom-line results.
We are excited to hear what Kent comes back with.
