Are visits of Dutch energy coach volunteers associated with a reduction in gas and electricity consumption?

Abstract

In a number of European countries, local municipalities, housing cooperatives, and citizen-based initiatives have been training energy coaches to help citizens improve the sustainability of their homes. These local volunteers offer an analysis of a citizen’s home to advise on how to make it more sustainable, comparing citizens’ consumption patterns with similar others’. While energy coaches are widely employed, evidence on the effectiveness of energy coaches and their approach is lacking. We collaborated with a housing cooperation that trains and provides tools for energy coaches in the Netherlands, comparing the electricity and gas consumption of households before the visit of a local energy coach and their consumption 1 year later. Our results suggest that the visit of an energy coach was associated with a reduction in energy consumption, but only for those who were told by the energy coach that they were consuming more energy than comparable others.