ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT: DETERMINANTS OF BEHAVIOR OF WORKERS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF IMPROVEMENT.
energy efficiency; energy saving; theory of planned behavior; structural equations modeling
Application of energy efficiency measures is one of the most hopeful solutions to face global environmental challenges, to minimize natural resources consumption and the greenhouse effect. However, the level of implementation in the industrial sector is far below of what theoretically could be achieved due to several barriers, one of which is the behavior of industrial workers. This paper presents a new structural model with variables that predict individuals’ behavior, and analyses a framework proposal to improve the energy efficiency implementation In the first study, a survey was carried out to identify the factors that determine the intention of the workers to adopt actions to improve energy efficiency, based on the theory of planned behavior (TCP). A survey gathered the data to assess the model and a structural equation modeling (SEM) was fitted. The results showed that the attitude and the perceived behavioral control were the latent variables that had significance to anticipate the individual's intention to act. The inclusion of new variables - (i) personal norms and (ii) performance shaping factors increased the the predictive relevance. In the second study, the behavioral intervention protocol allowed to adopt a new procedure to shut down a reactor, that reduced energy losses in the process, as well as to decreased the contaminants’ concentration in the effluent. The results showed that the protocol can be used to influence the behavior of the workers. Finally, it can be assumed that the behavioral intervention protocol can be adopted with real results in other industrial units to improve energy efficiency.