Cool to Warm Up? Understanding Student Energy Behaviour In Indonesian University Buildings.

We report on a study at Universitas Indonesia’s Computing Department, where there is interest in students’ contributions to energy reduction, particularly related to use of air conditioning (AC). We ran a survey with 190 students, complemented by environmental monitoring together with observational work, to understand energy attitudes and behaviour in order to draw implications on potential behaviour change interventions. While students showed much interest in ecological issues there was much lower awareness of impacts of the use of appliances, and no observed energy-saving action by students. Thus, while attitudes supporting behaviour change appear to be in place, this is not yet translating into action. Drawing on Social Practice Theory (SPT, Shove et al, 2012), we propose that this is to do with absence of salience (energy use is not the key focus of student activity), together with absence of licence (students appear not to feel they are permitted). We draw implications for future behaviour change work amongst the Indonesian student body centring on energy-saving AC use.