Guidelines for energy-saving behaviour in six fields of action

The image shows a young woman with a mobile phone.

Six guidelines of the NRP 71 project “Sustainable lifestyles and energy consumption” support the authorities in promoting energy-saving behaviour in various fields of action.

​As part of the NRP 71 project “Sustainable lifestyles and energy consumption”, the Mobility Competence Centre of the Lucerne School of Business, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Timo Ohnmacht, has developed six guidelines for promoting a sustainable lifestyle in cooperation with the cities of Lucerne and Biel/Bienne. The guidelines support the authorities in introducing targeted measures aimed at promoting energy-saving behaviour that are geared both specifically towards the various action areas and the willingness of those concerned. This increases the acceptance of the introduced measures, which can be implemented in future on a selective basis and in a manner that affects people’s behaviour.

The basis of the research project is formed by the investigation of social-psychological influencing factors that impact everyday behaviour and thus represent starting points for promoting sustainable lifestyles in a targeted manner. Effective measures for various areas of day-to-day life have been developed. For each of the six guidelines, the relevant influencing factors have been defined and supplemented with specific proposals for action. On the basis of the guidelines, both authorities and campaign planners can now analyse behaviour in an easily understandable manner and classify it within the developed phase model. For each phase, behaviour-influencing measures are then proposed that aim to reduce energy consumption. Behaviour is presented to those affected in relation to the phase it belongs to. This offers the key advantage that specific behaviour can be viewed on a differentiated basis and that possible development potential is revealed.

Overview of guidelines (PDF, German):