Designing Better Energy Efficiency
Policies/Initiatives: A Science of
Improvement Perspective
Kah-Hin Chai, Yuli Samantha
Industrial Systems Engineering & Management Department
National University of Singapore
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Motivation and Objective
• The presence of barriers to energy efficiency
improvement is well documented.
• How can we better overcome them with
better policies/initiatives (in industries)?
2
Literature Review – Energy Efficiency
Barriers
• Energy efficiency gap: ‘paradox’ of very gradual diffusion of
apparently cost-effective energy conservation technologies to
explain the improvement potential in energy efficiency (Jaffe and
Stavins, 1994)
• Various barrier frameworks:
• In the early years, market failures used to explain the gap such
as information problems, unpriced energy costs and the spill
over nature of R&D (Brown, 2001; Gillingham et al., 2009)
• Technology and operational (Thollander and Palm, 2015)
• Economic, information-related, organizational, behavioural,
competence-related, technology-related and awareness (Trianni
et al., 2013)
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(Chai and Yeo 2012)
4
5
Classifying barriers according to the MCIR framework
(Chai and Yeo 2012)
“As strong as the weakest link”
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How can the barriers be over come?
(Chai and Yeo 2012)
What else? …
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Science of Improvement - Background
• Science of Improvement is an applied science that emphasises innovation,
rapid-cycle testing in the field, and spread in order to generate learning
about what changes, in which contexts, produce improvements (Institute
for Healthcare Improvement).
• Built on W. Edward Deming’s work in Plan-Do-Check-Action and systems
perspective.
• First implemented in health care industry by Institute for Healthcare
Improvement (IHI), Cambridge, MA, founded by Don Berwick and has led
to many success stories and strong global community around the world.
• Adopted in the education industry by Carnegie Foundation (CF) for the
Advancement of Teaching, Stanford, CA, led by Anthony Bryk.
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Science of Improvement – Six Design Principles
1.
•
2.
•
3.
•
4.
•
5.
•
6.
•
Make the problem work specific
Engage key participants as problem definers and problem solvers from the
earliest phases of development through large-scale implementation.
Focus on variation in performance
Learn what works, for whom, and under what set of conditions. No onesize-fits-all solution. (i.e. context is important).
See the system that produces the current outcomes
Learn carefully when benchmarking across businesses/ practices. Seek to
understand better how local conditions shape work processes and resulting
outcomes.
We cannot improve at a scale what we cannot measure
For all initiatives, it is necessary to measure outcomes, key drivers and
change ideas so we can continuously test the working theory and learn
whether specific changes actually represent an improvement
Use disciplined inquiry to drive improvement
Engage in systematic tests of change to learn fast, fail fast, and improve fast.
PDCA cycle.
Accelerate learning through networked communities
Form communities of practice to serve as driver for innovation
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Science of Improvement in Education
• Incorporated in the Community College Pathways initiative
by the Carnegie Foundation.
• Since its inception in 2011, the Pathways initiative has
provided provide post-secondary students with accelerated
means to complete developmental mathematics sequences
and attain college-level mathematics credit.
• It successfully sustained the remarkable results seen in the
Pathways’ first three years of implementation such as the
successful course completion rates of approximately 50
percent while serving over three times as many students as
in its first year (Huang et al., 2016).
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How SOI is applied in education (e.g.)
Principle
Application
1. Make the problem
work specific
Engage teachers in designing improvement efforts and focus on
the factors that shape how their work is carried out. Learn more
about actual teacher needs and the contexts in which these needs
occur. This will increase their motivation when a new change is
introduced.
2. Focus on variation
in performance
In the case of instructional coaching program, schools districts
varied considerably in how they specified the goals for coaching
and how they defined the coaches’ roles. Consequently, coaches
varied greatly in how they carried out the work. The initiative has
to accommodate this variability.
(Bryk et al 2015)
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Principle
3. See the system that
produces the current
outcomes
Application
When Los Angeles Unified School District leaders sought to
use coaching to improve the quality of instruction for better
student learning experience, they consider the complexity of
the schooling system. Several key components deemed
essential to quality teaching were identified. The district also
sees that instructional coaching is a solution system
consisting of several interrelated new processes, tools and
work relationships. Hence, the solution they came up with
addresses this complexity of the system.
In the case of the Community College Pathways NIC, all
colleges use the same measure: the percentage of students
assigned to developmental math who officially enroll in the
4. We cannot improve at a year-long program and who proceed to pass both semesters
scale what we cannot
with a C or better. NICs also set measures for the major
measure.
mechanisms hypothesized to promote this improvement.
These are the primary drivers that represent key and
immediate targets en route to achieving the desired main
outcome.
(Bryk et al 2015)
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Principle
Application
A case example: improving feedback for new teachers.
1. Start with very small tests of change inside the initiating
school.
2. Test in multiple contexts with diverse individuals, choose 5
schools to test the feedback protocol.
3. Detail the robust process and decide that a complete cycle of
5. Use disciplined inquiry
this process should occur every two weeks for each new
to drive improvement.
teacher.
4. Identifying district infrastructure to be developed and spread
the process to 13 schools.
5. As the scale of testing increases, gathering common data
across sites becomes key to learning how to achieve quality
reliably and under more diverse circumstances.
6. Accelerate learning
through networked
communities.
In the network communities, different groups are working on
different improvement projects such as engaging in research
protocol to create and improve particular lessons, testing an
online platform for student homework and assessments, using
PDSA cycles to improve attendance, homework completion and
student participation in class.
(Bryk et al 2015)
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Applying SOI to Energy Efficiency Policies/initiatives
1.
Make the problem work specific
•
Engage users in developing, evaluating and refining changes in prototypes of initiatives
based on users’ experiences with them.
2.
Focus on variation in performance
•
There have to be tailored made initiatives for different industries and companies, as each
have different characteristics and energy efficiency maturity. we have to learn "what works,
for whom, and under what set of conditions". There is no "one size fits all" policy.
3.
See the system that produces the current outcomes
•
Learn carefully when benchmarking results across countries or industries. It is important to
understand better how local conditions shape work processes and resulting outcomes. Best
practice in another country or another industry may not work
4.
We cannot improve at a scale what we cannot measure
•
For all the initiatives introduced to overcome barriers in energy efficiency, it is necessary to
measure outcomes, key drivers and change ideas so we can continuously test the working
theory and learn whether specific changes actually represent an improvement.
5.
Use disciplined inquiry to drive improvement
•
Try out possible solutions on a small scale and then ramp up quickly, in different context
6.
Accelerate learning through networked communities
•
Established communities of practice to share best practices in various settings.
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Linking SOI Principles to MCIR Barriers
Make the problem
user- and workspecific
Understand the
See the system that We cannot improve at Use disciplined
sources of variation produces the
scale what we cannot inquiry to drive
in outcomes
current outcomes
measure
improvement
Accelerate
learning through
networked
communities
Motivation
Engage users and
Understand how the
Sharing of
related barriers stakeholders in
various contextual
experience and
designing and
factors collectively
success stories
implementing the
affect a company's
may lead to
policies/initiatives to
motivation to adopt
greater
increase buy-in.
EE measures.
motivation to
pursue energy
efficiency.
CapabilityIdentify all the
Different industries Understand how the There is a need to
Develop the
Sharing of
related barriers. capability-related
and companies
various factors
measure the capability abiity to analyze knowledge and
barriers faced by the have different
collectively affect a of the users in order to problem, and
technical ability
users specific to
abilities to
firm’s capability.
improve at scale.
ramp up quickly, will help to
their context.
overcome barriers.
in other contexts. overcome
This variation will
technical barriers.
affect the outcome
of energy efficiency
initiatives.
Implementation- Understand the
.
Understand the
.
Sharing of
related barriers. implementation
context that lead to
implementation
barriers specific to
the presence of
problems faced in
different users
implementation
the local settings
barriers.
and devise
solutions
together.
Results-related Undersand the
Be able to measure
barriers.
results-related
outcome so that the
barriers (e.g.
scaling up, sustain
measurement
investment, etc, can
issues,
be made.
demonstrability) to
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the specific users.
Mapping of Selected Energy Initiatives in Singapore to SOI
Make it user- and
problem- centered.
Singapore Certified
Energy Manager
(SCEM) Programme
and Training Grant
Understand the
See the system that
sources of variation in produces the current
outcomes
outcomes.
Energy managers work
for their companies
and focus their efforts
in improving energy
efficiency within the
company.
Train manager to
understand the
systems effect on
problems
We cannot improve at
scale what we cannot
measure
Use disciplined
inquiry to drive
improvement
Emphasize measurement
in energy management
Energy manager is
equipped energy
management system
knowledge
Companies report their The report allows
problems and solutions policy makers to get
insights into
companies and
challenges they face
Energy Efficiency
National Partnership
Emphasize measurement
in energy management
Emphasize measurement
in energy management
Energy Efficiency
Improvement
Assistance Scheme
(EASe) to help fund
energy audit
Financial assistance
programmes for
Energy Efficiency
Investments in
technology and
measures
Students share and
exchange
experiences
Build technical
capability and
acquire structured
problem solving
approach
ESCO accreditation
scheme.
Monitor & report
energy use & GHG
emissions under
Energy Act
Accelerate learning
through networked
communities
Establish baseline for
improvement
Company proposes
technology that they
want to implement and
require assistance
EENP learning
network offers
thought leadership,
knowledge
resources, learning
events on best
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practices
Mapping of Selected Energy Initiatives in Indonesia to SOI
Make it user- and
problem- centered.
Government–Private
Sector Partnership
Program for Energy
Conservation which
grants free energy
auditing services to
companies.
Appointing, training and
certification of energy
manager. Establishment
of association of energy
conservation experts to
train and certify energy
manager and energy
auditor (HAKE)
Planning and reporting
of implementation of
energy conservation
program
Financial assistance for
energy users ≥ 6000
TOE/ year
Establishment of
Indonesia ESCO
Association (Apkenindo)
Develop Clearing House
as an information and
consulting center
Understand the
See the system that
sources of variation in produces the current
outcomes
outcomes.
Energy managers
work for their
companies and focus
their efforts in
improving energy
efficiency within the
company.
Companies report
their problems and
solutions
Train manager to
understand the
systems effect on
problems
The report allows
policy makers to get
insights into
companies and
challenges they face
We cannot improve at
scale what we cannot
measure
Use disciplined
inquiry to drive
improvement
Emphasize measurement
in energy management
Measurement
establish the baseline
for improvement.
Emphasize measurement
in energy management
Energy manager is
equipped energy
management system
knowledge
Accelerate learning
through networked
communities
Students share and
exchange
experiences
Emphasize measurement
in energy management
Users apply if they
need financial
assistance
Build technical
capability and
acquire structured
problem solving
approach
Help information
exchange
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Discussion
• Some of the SOI principles such as “involve stakeholders” and
“see the systems” are not new, and can be seen in Singapore
and Indonesia’s initiatives.
• Nonetheless the Science of Improvement approach offers a
structured set of guidelines to energy efficiency initiatives
formulation.
• Have parallels in Design Thinking, IDEO’s Rough Rapid Right
approach, Lean Start-up’s Minimum Viable product (MVP) to
problem solving:
– Hard to do it right the first time
– Improvement is from many small cycles that happens quickly
– Improvement is a habit
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Conclusion
• How can we design better energy efficiency
policies/initiatives?
• Our analysis suggest Science of
Improvement perspective may be of
interest.
• Nonetheless a lot of work needs to be done
to ascertain the principles.
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Thank You.
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Discussion
•
•
•
Motivational barriers (eg. perceived high cost of investment, priorities of senior management
and company values) vary greatly across industries or businesses.
 important to take the users’ perspective and understand the characteristics of the
company deeply and tune the efforts such that they will address these hurdles.
Capability-related barriers are often a significant obstacle in many companies.
• Some companies may not have the expertise or capital.
• For policy makers  focusing on understanding how the process produces the current
outcomes will allow them to identify the level of capabilities that a company or a
particular industry needs and put in place necessary measures that will make up the
gaps.
• For adopters the disciplined inquiry will allow them to systematically develop an
action plan and analyse the capability gaps that need to be filled in order to achieve
their target.
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Discussion
• Implementation problems  Understanding these with respect to the
industry or company will encourage the customisation of solutions.
– Having a networked learning group such as the Energy Efficiency Network
Partnership in Singapore will allow practitioners to learn about the common
implementation problems that companies of similar characteristics face and
tap on the vast pool of expertise to devise solutions together.
• Science of improvement encourages the rigorous use of measurements in
the form of energy audit.
• Collect accurate data of their initial situation to set baseline targets as well as
monitoring the changes.
• Measuring results or progress will allow companies to assess whether a
change introduced actually results in an improvement and identify new energy
saving opportunities.
• Seeing the results after implementing energy efficiency improvement will help
the energy manager to gain recognition and support from the superiors or
industry counterpart.
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Agenda
• Energy efficiency barriers
• Science of Improvement
– Origin
– Principles
– Adoption in Education
• Linking Science of Improvement with energy efficiency
barriers
• Linking Science of improvements with selected energy
efficiency policies in Singapore and Indonesia
• Discussion and Conclusion
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