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Residential Energy Efficiency: Augmenting Existing Policies
Introduction
Urban areas are one of the key nodes of
consumption across the globe, accounting for around
more than two - thirds of the energy consumption.
They also have effects beyond their own geographic
limits, both on a local as well as a global scale [1].
With Climate Change increasingly becoming an
important factor which may adversely affect urban
areas, there is need to increase the resilience and
ability to deliver changes which can lower energy
demand, especially for cities like Mumbai in
industrializing countries [2]. However, incremental
change may not be quite enough, with the costs of
lower adaptation being higher and drastic actions
needed to reach the 2℃ and the ambitious goal of
1.5℃ agreed upon in the Paris Climate Agreement
[3][4].
Mumbai is one of the megacities of the world and the
most prominent financial centre in India. Also, it faces
the prospect of rising populations, projected to be the
fourth largest urban agglomeration in the world by
2030 with a population of more than 27 million [2].
Using the data for the yearly increase in electricity
demand for the residential sector for urban areas in
India, the expected growth rate is 6 – 9 % for Mumbai
[5]. Thus, there is a need for energy efficiency
policies to reduce the increasing demand as much as
possible so that emissions can be reduced.
Traditionally, most of the actions in India have been
undertaken on the federal level with respect to
energy efficiency and climate change action, with
states following later. Local governments and states
have the capacity to make policies which are more
suited to the specific conditions on the local scale
and thus can play an important role [6]. However,
targeting energy efficiency in the domestic sector will
be a challenge as residential consumers are driven
by different dynamics than industrial or commercial
consumers, for whom cost benefits matter more.
Understanding these dynamics and decision making
of residential consumers will greatly aid in designing
appropriate local policies. Furthermore, concepts
KEY FINDINGS:
 Household electricity consumption growth in Mumbai by 6 – 9 % per year till 2030
 Focus on Energy Efficiency measures key for reducing demand
 Behavioural initiatives at local level needed to complement federal measures
Fig. 1: Global greenhouse gas emissions under different
scenarios and the emissions gap in 2030. Source: UNEP
Emissions Gap Report 2016

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from social and behavioural sciences such as Choice
Editing, Nudges, Feedbacks, etc. can be
incorporated into these policies. Policy makers at the
local, regional and national level can thus use these
tools to reduce energy consumption through
efficiency measures.
Existing Policies
Two policies implemented nationwide through the
National Mission Enhanced Energy Efficiency
(NMEEE) related to commonly used appliances are:
1) Mass procurement of LEDs and CFLs from
manufacturers and distributing them through a
centralized distribution mechanism throughout the
country, 2) A similar policy to roll out higher efficiency
fans through mandatory efficiency standards [7].
These two programs have been based on mass
procurement as this helps in bringing the cost of
equipment.
There are significant outreach and information
campaigns through media, traditional as well as
electronic, to help consumers understand the
benefits of energy efficient products [7]. This has
been especially true about BEE Energy Star
Program. There are education programs being
implemented in schools so that children learn more
about saving energy. Thus, there is a significant
effort to provide consumers with relevant information.
The Perspectives of Citizens
Through a survey done in Mumbai, Sperling et al.
(2016) found that when asked about the priorities of
environmental issues, air pollution, waste and
sewage management, and water and sanitation were
the top three most common responses out of 10.
Energy was second last in the list, showing that
maybe people were not that concerned about it as an
environmental priority. Therefore, it may be important
to raise the overall awareness about Energy,
Efficiency and their connection to environmental
problems.
Dalvi et al. (2013) found that electricity consumption
was not related to home area when compared across
different house types in Mumbai, such as slums,
regular homes and flats, row houses and bungalows.
The areas increase from slums being the lowest to
bungalows having the highest. This result seems
counter intuitive, as greater built area is associated
with greater energy use. By digging deeper, the
authors observe that the energy use and energy
efficiency is related to greater awareness about
maintenance of appliances, information about
energy use and efficiency, and education and
information about this.
Providing education and training to households in
Mumbai does have a significant effect on the energy
savings in a house [9]. This helps them understand
Policy Recommendations
 Choice Editing: Energy efficiency standards for new electronic appliances making them the
default choice.
 Nudges & Information: Consumption information based on comparison. Providing
information about benefits of energy efficient appliances and labels.
 Continuous Feedback: Using mobile telephony to provide continuous feedback about
usage on varying timescales
 Building Codes: Enacting building codes for Green & White roofs and Windows
incorporating greater reflectivity to reduce cooling load.

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how they can save money by various actions, such
as regular maintenance, proper operation and
turning off appliances.
Interventions
1. Choice Editing
Choice editing can be undertaken from the supply
side for appliances, such as air conditioners,
refrigerators, lighting equipment, etc. Electronic
appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators,
televisions, etc. in households are usually used for a
number of years before being replaced. Thus,
encouraging consumers to buy energy efficient
equipment is important. By improving the efficiency
of equipment which will be supplied to the market,
through energy efficiency standards for
manufacturers, consumers will be choosing from
energy efficient equipment by default.
2. Nudges and Information
Delivering information about electricity usage
through a combination of electricity consumption of a
household with respect to average consumption of
neighbouring households and a cue if the
consumption is decreasing or increasing can be a
better strategy rather than just using one [11]. For
example, the monthly bill can indicate the usage
compared to the 10 % most efficient households in
the neighbourhood and the emoticon can be a smiley
with a positive emotion if the usage was lower than
the previous month or with a negative emotion if it is
higher.
One thing to be kept in mind is that Mumbai has
heterogeneity in neighbourhood composition in
terms of the households with different socio –
economic backgrounds. Thus, using neighbouring
households as a comparative measure may not be
the best strategy. A prospective measure maybe
using a combining the connected load and actual
consumption into a composite measure. The
connected load in a household directly corresponds
to the total number of appliances connected in a
household when all appliances are turned on. Thus,
it will be a better proxy for the number of appliances
and the total probable electricity usage and by
extension the income level of the household, as more
prosperous and affluent households are more likely
to have more appliances and usage.
New energy efficient appliances may be expensive.
The residential sector in India is a price sensitive
market i.e. despite the environmental benefits,
people are more likely to buy something which is
energy efficient if they believe it is going to be
cheaper for them [10]. Thus, it becomes important to
communicate the overall savings to them from using
the equipment overall its lifetime and that the benefits
are tangible. Information must be also provided in a
way that the consumer can make an appropriate
choice.
There is a significant effort to incorporate labels on
appliances through the NMEEE. By understanding
how useful these programs may be, successful
programs can be identified and used to nudge
consumers towards energy efficient products. Both
information campaigns and choice editing can be
combined to have greater impacts.
Conveying information about the environmental and
health effects of higher electricity usage i.e.
conveying the externalities that arise out of higher
energy usage can be another intervention [12].
People in Mumbai value and give priority to pollution
and heat more than Energy [8]. By combining with
the earlier policies, specifically those related to
nudges and feedback, can be experimented with
figure out whether there are higher efficiency gains
than using these policies in isolation.
Fig. 3: Priorities for people which are most important to
them. Source: Jörgensen, Mishra & Sarangi (2015)

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3. Continuous Feedback
Continuous feedback systems informing consumers
about electricity usage through text messages can
be another tool which can build on the nudges being
used. Mobile telephony and connections have
increased dramatically in the last decade in India,
with a very high penetration rate. Especially for a city
like Mumbai, mobile users are less likely to suffer
from poor network coverage and connection.
Designing appropriate messaging for consumers so
that they can get updates on the energy use daily or
suppose weekly, will help them track their usage in
real time and providing feedback while incorporating
the nudges. Also, it is important to have a measure
of positivity in the messaging, as too much negativity
can mean that consumers may just not care about
taking actions Deciding the correct time – period for
messages can be a little tricky. This is because if
there is too much information, consumers may suffer
from an information overload and instead choose to
ignore the messages.
4. Improving Building Codes – Green &
White Roofs, better Windows
Enhancing building codes can also aid in reducing
the overall energy demand. Some specific
interventions include using better windows and green
roofs which can deliver substantial savings. Windows
can reduce the lighting loads and if used with glazing
can also reduce the cooling load in the summers by
reflecting sunlight [13]. Green roofs can reduce the
heat that a building gains by evaporative cooling and
insulates the top further reducing the heating load.
However, Mumbai also has problems of adequate
water supply so using a white roof instead may also
be a significant strategy, with a payback period of 2.5
to 4 years depending the roof area and white paint
characteristics [14]. This can help reduce the overall
electricity requirement, especially for low income
communities and enhance the resilience of these
communities through reducing financial costs and
adverse health impacts associated that may be
concentrated on the these communities through
Climate Change coupled with Mumbai’s rapid growth
[2].
Conclusion
Mumbai faces challenges due to its rising population
and economic growth to provide an affordable and
clean energy supply in the face of Climate Change.
Energy efficiency policies which are designed
keeping in mind the social and behavioural sciences
can make existing policies more effective and
accelerate positive change. Using a combination of
Information Provision, Choice Editing, Nudges, and
Continuous Feedback, the engagement and
participation can be improved. By having better
building codes specifically for Green and White roofs
along with better Windows, the efficiency of the
cooling system can be improved by reducing the
demand.
To test which measures are best in the given
situation, there might be a need for extensively
studies, research, and pilot projects with different
mixes of the above policies. Sometimes interventions
may result in conflicting results which may reflect the
differing values of consumers [15]. Different groups
may have different responses to interventions. Thus,
there may be a need to understand the decision of
consumers [16]. Studies and pilots will help in
enhancing the understanding of consumer behaviour
and identifying effective policies. It will help improve
the adoption and eventual uptake of these measures.
Through a combination of the various measures,
Fig. 2. Difference in Temperature and Heat flow between a
White roof and black roof. Source: Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory

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ongoing Energy Efficiency efforts can be augmented
and made more effective.
References
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America, 111(14), 5067–8.
http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1403169111
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Author contact:
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