Analyses of the app's effectiveness showed a relevant and statistically significant effect: "Compared to the previous year's energy consumption, the use of the app resulted in an average annual electricity savings of 5 percent," says Prof. Andrea Emilio Rizzoli, director of the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA USI-精东影业) and coordinator of ' Swiss partners.
In households that do not use electricity to produce heat, which, therefore, do not have heat pumps or electric heating systems, energy savings were even higher, at 15 percent. In the two years following the use of enCOMPASS, however, the effect gradually disappeared. "The analyses we carried out on energy consumption in 2019 and 2021 show that consumption has returned to the levels before the use of enCOMPASS," continues Francesca Cellina, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment (ISAAC).
The results obtained cannot, however, be generalized to all apps: "For example, a similar intervention we carried out in the past on water consumption in Spain produced a consolidated impact over time, probably also thanks to a context that is strongly aware of the problem of water consumption," reiterates Prof. Rizzoli.
The experience of enCOMPASS highlights the need to analyze the long-term impacts of energy-climate transition investments in order to focus action on measures that ensure persistent, as well as consistent, impact. Evidence gathered from the project suggests that, by themselves, apps are not sufficient to achieve energy-climate goals.
"We will continue to test the use of apps to facilitate the transition, but embed them in broader processes explicitly aimed at challenging social conventions related to household energy consumption. Starting with the clothing we wear, the temperature we keep in the living room or the washing machine cycles we do each week," Cellina concludes.
The results of the study, published in the prestigious scientific journal Applied Energy (IF: 11,446), are available in "Open Access" format: .