Taha, Ahmad ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1246-8981, Wu, Ruiheng, Emeakaroha, Anthony and Krabicka, Jan (2018) Reduction of electricity Costs in Medway NHS by inducing pro-environmental behaviour using persuasive technology. Future Cities and Environment, 4 (1):15. pp. 1-10. ISSN 2363-9075 (Online) (doi:10.5334/fce.46)

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Abstract

Hospitals represent a busy environment with the majority of the medical operations relying on electricity, for example lighting and medical equipment. Hence, it is important to conserve it to ensure high quality of services, improve patients’ wellbeing as well as to the reduction of the hospitals’ carbon footprint and the impacts on the environment. The studies carried out in hospitals considered the use of renewable energy or the use of power efficient equipment to tackle the energy problem. The challenge remains open in how to tackle the energy problem in a hospital through behavioural change. This study represents a step into reducing electricity costs of Medway NHS Foundation Trust (MNFT) in the UK. The proposed idea is to use technology to persuade MNFT staff to monitor their behaviour and with the right motive, from selected and appointed energy delegates, sustain a pro-environmental behaviour. This paper describes the methodology and system proposed to reduce electricity costs in MNFT by inducing pro-environmental behaviour with the aid of technology. This involves a smart electricity metering system to collect and communicate energy data to a centralised server that pushes the data onto a dedicated web interface. Furthermore, addressing the psychological factors by appointing energy delegates to monitor the consumption, in selected areas, as well as motivate the staff members. In addition, monitoring human dynamics and analysing it against energy data to identify a relation between occupancy and electricity consumption trends in hospital wards.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2018 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	electricity savings, feedback on consumption, pro-environmental behaviour, occupancy monitoring, energy delegates
Subjects:	T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Engineering (ENG)
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2018 22:49
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/21540

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