The Need for Human Factors in the Sustainability Domain

Curbing the over-harvesting of the earth's resources by the developed and developing world cannot be achieved solely by technological solutions. This paper reviews the literature on how reductions in energy consumption can be achieved through behavioral interventions. The literature shows that feedback, a consequence intervention, has been shown to be more effective than antecedent interventions in correcting erroneous heuristics and biases as well as encouraging both efficiency and curtailment behaviors. However, few feedback studies approach the feedback design problem systematically. Human Factors specialists have an opportunity to contribute their expertise in human-machine systems to help address these deficiencies and aid in shifting our societies toward sustainable resource consumption.