Occupant Behavior

Although people interact with buildings daily, many tend to identify sustainable facilities with physical features, such as alternative energy systems, water-efficient fixtures, or recycled carpet. The perceptions seem to be that:

• Building designers are responsible for building performance.
• Building performance is established primarily prior to occupancy.

These perceptions are inaccurate. Building design effectiveness and efficiency are largely influenced by, and dependent on, those who operate and occupy the building. In fact, building performance and a significant proportion of building resource use are driven directly by operational and occupant habits that are often completely independent of the building design. In many cases, these habits have a larger impact on building performance than does the initial building design.

Some aspects of building performance are controlled primarily by building operators, maintenance staff, or controls programmers. Other aspects are controlled primarily by building occupants, who are seldom in a position to recognize their direct impact on building performance.

For example, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) fan energy use is an element of building design, but its effectiveness and efficiency are limited by building operational habits (e.g., filter maintenance). Similarly, lighting controls are elements of building design, but occupant habits (e.g., turning lights off) determine effectiveness and efficiency. In some cases, such as

with temperature setpoints, building design elements can be impacted both by operational and occupant habits (e.g., setting schedules and prohibiting individual space heaters and fans).  In addition, occupants can bring waste issues to the attention of building managers – for example, dripping taps, irrigation issues, lights that do not have occupancy sensors.

To maximize benefits from occupant behavior related to building performance, leadership is needed to foster change. Such leadership need not be formal; it can come from change agents and influencers throughout the organization.

Green Teams can make a major difference in the impact of U.S. operations on their host countries’ environments and local economies, as well as in the lives and health of embassy personnel. The Department is committed to supporting this change, and the Guide is designed to spark action.

Typically, a sustainability journey is a multi-disciplinary and interdepartmental effort involving psychology, observational and social research, marketing, communication, organization change, infrastructure design, and regulation.

Such complex efforts require special leadership skills. The following pages are devoted to providing the means and methods to help sustainability leaders at all levels at the BMS location address these needs by guiding them through three stages of organization behavior change: personal, social, and structural.