2013 Articles

Independent Study on Changing Student Behaviour to Increase Energy Sustainability and Efficiency at the Macdonald Campus of McGill University

Wu, Andrew; Singh, Jaaved; Tikasz, Peter

This paper explores social perception towards energy consumption on Macdonald campus, as seen by different subsections of the Macdonald community: undergraduate, graduate, faculty and staff. A total of 118 community members were randomly surveyed via a semi-structured questionnaire. Main findings of our research suggested that, as a whole, community members believe Macdonald Campus to be a relatively energy-efficient place. However, results indicated a discrepancy between students and faculty/staff in terms of their perception of energy efficiency on campus. Furthermore, there was broad agreement regarding the inaccessibility of information on energy use on campus, suggesting that this was a primary leverage point to enact social change. Various initiatives are presented, aimed towards increasing information accessibility. With a planned implementation date of Fall 2012, these initiatives are expected to have a significant impact on environmental awareness, ultimately decreasing energy use on campus and reducing its’ environmental impact.