NSF Award
2228957
Improving energy efficiency is high leverage climate action with many co-benefits. It is considered the cleanest, most abundant, and most affordable way to deliver energy services and resilience to climate extremes and disruptions in energy supply. But even in states with policies aiming to incentivize residential energy efficiency projects, communities that may have the most to gain from such incentives face barriers to participation. In the proposed research we ask whether intentional focus on word-of-mouth, or social, diffusion can accelerate adoption of energy efficiency programs (EEPs) in under-served environmental justice urban communities. In this model, EEPs work with civic organizations to reach influential early adopters, build tools and incentives for adopters to share information about the programs, and use their existing networks for social diffusion. Unlike direct outreach programs, social diffusion can drive exponential growth in adoption or enable a product or idea to ‘go viral.’ Integrating social diffusion strategies into existing community-based outreach programs can fuel subsequent waves of adoption. This project lays the groundwork to develop, implement, and research social diffusion strategies guided by analysis of communities’ social structures, discourse, and social capital. <br/><br/>The project team combines leaders of community-based outreach programs, civic organizations, municipal government, experienced social scientists, and sustainability experts with established networks in our pilot communities in Lowell, Massachusetts. UMass Lowell’s urban campus is embedded in environmental justice communities that are underserved by EEPs. Stages 1 and 2 will address research questions: 1. How do community social networks and socio-demographic characteristics impact social diffusion of energy efficiency programs? 2. What skills, tools, and incentives can increase the impact of early adopters on subsequent social diffusion of energy efficiency programs? 3. What tools allow adopters to effectively engage with the community’s digital public square to foster openness and awareness about energy efficiency programs? 4. What approaches can be used to incentivize adopters to share effective messages with potential adopters and thereby accelerate social diffusion? 5. What metrics should be developed to assess progress in increasing participation in energy efficiency programs? Our project will build a toolkit for intentionally strengthening and using social networks to foster social diffusion of energy efficiency programs. It has the potential to transform the way that community officials and leaders increase EEP participation, generating scalable, strategic approaches to accelerate adoption of residential EEPs, cutting energy demand, costs, and emissions for under-served populations. <br/><br/><br/>This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track A. Living in a changing climate: pre-disaster action around adaptation, resilience, and mitigation—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
