Interest in energy efficiency has grown in recent years as a result of increasing energy prices and greater concern for the externalities generated by fossil fuel combustion. Although energy efficiency measures have the potential to generate win-win situations whereby households gain financial benefits from reduced energy costs and society benefits from the generation of fewer energy consumption related externalities, energy efficiency appears to suffer from underinvestment. One potential explanation for this underinvestment is the lack of information that households and landlords have regarding the savings associated with energy efficiency measures. In this paper we test three types of energy efficiency strategies in an experimental design that utilizes institutionally owned homes that are rented to college students. Using data on actual natural gas consumption during the heating season, our results indicate modest energy savings associated with the installation of attic insulation and the provision of financial incentives for conservation. These results are supported by observations of ambient temperature data, which show that households receiving incentives, on average, reduced the ambient air temperature by 1.5 degrees F.

近年来，由于能源价格上涨和对矿物燃料燃烧所产生的外部影响的更大关注，对能源效率的兴趣有所增加。虽然能源效率措施有可能产生双赢的局面，即家庭从降低能源成本中获得财政利益，社会从产生较少的与能源消费有关的外部性中获得利益，但能源效率似乎受到投资不足的影响。对这种投资不足的一个可能解释是，家庭和房东缺乏关于与能源效率措施相关的节约的信息。在本文中，我们在一个实验设计中测试了三种类型的能源效率策略，该实验设计利用了租给大学生的机构拥有的房屋。利用供暖季节天然气的实际消耗数据，我们的研究结果表明，安装阁楼隔热层和为节能提供财政激励措施，可以实现适度的节能。对环境温度数据的观察支持了这些结果，这些数据显示，获得奖励的家庭平均能将环境空气温度降低华氏1.5度。