Case Story
Showering Smartly in Tourism Accomodations
Aguardio’s innovative Shower Sensor and persuasive messages reduce hotel guests’ shower time by 21% across multiple countries
Overview
This academic case study involved a behavioural intervention that was implemented in six tourism accommodations across Denmark, Spain, the UK, and the US. The goal of the intervention was to reduce shower duration among guests in order to achieve water and energy savings and reduce the carbon footprint of the accommodations.
Challenge
Tourism accommodations are significant contributors to water and energy consumption, and showering is one of the primary drivers of this consumption. Showers are highly hot water-intensive behaviours, increasing energy use and carbon emissions. As such, fostering pro-environmental shower behaviour can contribute to tourism businesses’ environmental, social, and corporate governance. However, traditional methods of encouraging behaviour change (such as posters or signs) may not be effective and behavioural interventions are hardly applied in tourism.
The behavioural intervention was designed by combining Aguardio’s innovative Shower Sensor that provided real-time information on shower length with messages that reflected pro-environmental values (e.g., “Water is essential for life! A typical shower here has water running for 3:30 mins. Will you beat the clock? Water conservation starts with you. Make a difference!”). The intervention was developed in real-life contexts in 2019-2020 by installing Aguardio units in six tourism accommodations. The accommodations varied in location and included different types of destinations, comfort levels, types of stay, and types of business.
How Aguardio Helped
Results
Aguardio’s hospitality solution, real-time information from Aguardio’s shower sensor along with nudging pro-environmental text, reduced guests’ shower duration by 21.27% compared to the control.
These results make the intervention one of the most successful interventions in shower behaviour in any setting. The success of this intervention demonstrates the potential for tourism businesses to implement similar interventions to achieve water and energy savings, reduce their carbon footprint, and contribute to pro-environmental behaviour.
21.27%
reduction in shower duration with Aguardio interactive sensors & data + pro-environment messaging
Impact
4.44 m3 or 4440 litres
of water savings per room/year
0.19 MWh of energy + 33 Kg of CO2
savings per room/year
