DOI: 10.5061/dryad.82nc3
title: Data from: Electricity and water conservation on college and university campuses in response to national competitions among dormitories: quantifying relationships between behavior, conservation strategies and psychological metrics

description: “Campus Conservation Nationals” (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide
 electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on
 college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the
 competition’s effects on resource consumption and the relationship between
 conservation, use of web technology and various psychological measures.
 Significant reductions in electricity and water use occurred during the
 two CCN competitions examined (n = 105,000 and 197,000 participating dorm
 residents respectively). In 2010, overall reductions during the
 competition were 4% for electricity and 6% for water. The top 10% of dorms
 achieved 28% and 36% reductions in electricity and water respectively.
 Participation was larger in 2012 and reductions were slightly smaller
 (i.e. 3% electricity). The fact that no seasonal pattern in electricity
 use was evident during non-competition periods suggests that results are
 attributable to the competition. Post competition resource use data
 collected in 2012 indicates that conservation behavior was sustained
 beyond the competition. Surveys were used to assess psychological and
 behavioral responses (n = 2,900 and 2,600 in 2010 and 2012 respectively).
 Electricity reductions were significantly correlated with: web visitation,
 specific conservation behaviors, awareness of the competition, motivation
 and sense of empowerment. However, participants were significantly more
 motivated than empowered. Perceived benefits of conservation were skewed
 towards global and future concerns while perceived barriers tended to be
 local. Results also suggest that competitions may be useful for “preaching
 beyond the choir” – engaging those who might lack prior intrinsic or
 political motivation. Although college life is distinct, certain
 conclusions related to competitions, self-efficacy, and motivation and
 social norms likely extend to other residential settings.
description: DataForAssessingSeasonalEffectsOnElectricityAndWaterForRepositoryThis Excel file contains data used to conduct a seasonal analysis to assess whether seasonal patterns exist in electricity use in dorms and whether these patterns differ by latitude. The first worksheet contains metadata.Fall 2010 Campus Conservation Nationals surveyThis online survey was administered to students attending colleges who participated in the Fall 2010 Campus Conservation Nationals competition. Not all schools who participated in the competition administered the survey.CCN_F10_survey.pdfSpring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals surveyThis online survey was administered to students attending colleges who participated in the Spring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals competition. Not all schools who participated in the competition administered the survey.CCN_Spring12_survey.pdfFall 10 Campus Conservation Nationals electricity, water, webhit, and commitment dataThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected by Lucid before, during, and after the Fall 2010 CCN competition. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Fall10_CCN_elec_water_webhits_commitments.xlsxSpring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals electricity, water, and commitment dataThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected by Lucid before, during, and after the Spring 2012 CCN competition. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Spring12_CCN_elec_water_commitments_no.xlsxFall 10 CCN data aggregated at dorm level with psychological variablesThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected from our online survey and merged with the resource use data. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Fall10_CCN_dormagg_with_psych_variables.xlsxSpring 2012 CCN data with psychological variablesThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected from our online survey and merged with the resource use data. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Spring12__CCN_dormagg_with_psych_variables.xlsx