Purpose -In residential buildings, personal choices influence electricity and water consumption. Prior studies indicate that information feedback can stimulate resource conservation. College dormitories provide an excellent venue for controlled study of the effects of feedback. The goal of this study is to assess how different resolutions of socio-technical feedback, combined with incentives, encourage students to conserve resources. Design/methodology/approach -An automated data monitoring system was developed that provided dormitory residents with real-time web-based feedback on energy and water use in two "high resolution" dormitories. In contrast, utility meters were manually read for 20 "low-resolution" dormitories, and data were provided to residents once per week. For both groups, resource use was monitored during a baseline period and during a two week "dorm energy competition" during which feedback, education and conservation incentives were provided. Findings -Overall, the introduction of feedback, education and incentives resulted in a 32 percent reduction in electricity use (amounting to savings of 68,300 kWh, $5,107 and 148,000 lbs of CO 2 2 ) but only a 3 percent reduction in water use. Dormitories that received high resolution feedback were more effective at conservation, reducing their electricity consumption by 55 percent compared to 31 percent for low resolution dormitories. In a post-competition survey, students reported that they would continue conservation practices developed during the competition and that they would view web-based real-time data even in the absence of competition. Practical implications -The results of this research provide evidence that real-time resource feedback systems, when combined with education and an incentive, interest, motivate and empower college students to reduce resource use in dormitories.The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1467-6370.htmResearch was supported by grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency's "P3" program and by the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges and the US Department of Energy Rebuild America Energy Efficiency Program. A team of students was responsibility for organizing and advertising the competition, reading utility meters, and collaborated on the design and interpretation of the post-competition survey.

Reducing energy use in buildings is

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