Integrating Process and Impact Findings to Understand and Measure Behavioral Savings at Work

Energy related behavior-change programs in the workplace, those that focus on changing mostly habitual employee behaviors, are relatively new despite their potential to save substantial amounts of energy—5% or more. One barrier to implementation is that uniform methods for measuring energy savings and evaluating effectiveness do not yet exist. This paper explores the successes and challenges of assessing these types of programs and the lessons learned. At the heart of the discussion, the authors examine their recent experience with evaluating two workplace behavior-change pilot programs in the Northwest. Of particular interest to the authors was how to effectively integrate impact and process evaluation components to provide a better picture of potential program improvements and resulting performance.