Isaac Tan Yun Hwee (FoS), Kwek Ee Siang (FoE), Lee Wei Jie (FASS), Li Haotian (FoS)
Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari
Our group conducted a survey on the energy consumption patterns in the student lounges at Ridge View Residential College (RVRC). The results, which polled 78 RVRC residents, showed that more than 75% of the respondents had observed lights, fans and air-conditioning left switched on when no one was using the shared spaces. Additionally, around 50% of the respondents admitted forgetting to switch off these appliances before leaving the lounge themselves. Using these results, our team demonstrated that the net electricity wastage could amount to as much as S$11000 every month. To verify our survey results and the resulting electricity waste estimation, we conducted further investigation with a two-week observational study on the student electricity consumption patterns in the Conference Room, Meeting Rooms 1 and 2 at resource@rv. This fieldwork was done anonymously and was targeted at frequent users of these shared spaces, i.e. residents who use these facilities more than once during the observation period. To follow up, these students were sent a personalized survey to investigate if their perception of their own consumption pattern was, in fact, consistent with their documented actions. These results were collectively analyzed to identify student electricity waste patterns in shared spaces, investigate possible reasons for lack of individual and collective responsibility and recommend effective improvements to the Office of Housing Services at RVRC for future implementation. Key among these recommendations is pilot testing of a matric card reader to activate electricity use, placing individual ownership of electricity consumption in shared spaces.
Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Energy, User Behaviour