Planspiel-Literaturdatenbank des ZMS

Abstract: Residential energy efficiency improvements often have a smaller
effect than expected. Although there is agreement on the existence of this effect,
called the rebound effect, there is no agreement on the size of the effect. The
objective of this study was to investigate the potential of using serious games to
assess this effect. We used a game in which participants play home owners who
manage their households in terms of energy consumption. Results of experiments
with 50 players showed signs of the rebound effect when players with a
low efficiency house reduced their energy consumption more than players with a
high efficiency house. In addition, some issues related to previous studies were
addressed, such as the possibility to perform an ex-ante assessment and to
conduct the study in a controlled environment. Calculations of the size of the
rebound effect depended on the approach used to determine the expected effect
and showed differences between appliances.