Residential energy efficiency improvements often have a smaller effect than expected. Although there is agreement on the existence of this effect, called the rebound effect, there is no agreement on the size of the effect. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of using serious games to assess this effect. We used a game in which participants play home owners who manage their households in terms of energy consumption. Results of experiments with 50 players showed signs of the rebound effect when players with a low efficiency house reduced their energy consumption more than players with a high efficiency house. In addition, some issues related to previous studies were addressed, such as the possibility to perform an ex-ante assessment and to conduct the study in a controlled environment. Calculations of the size of the rebound effect depended on the approach used to determine the expected effect and showed differences between appliances.

This paper presents the results of both a qualitative and a quantitative study on
the possibilities for peak shaving the energy demand of ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at container terminals. The objective is to present an energy consumption model that visualizes the energy demand of STS cranes and to show the possibilities for reducing the peak demand of STS cranes by implementing rules of operation (i.e. changes to the business operational procedures). The results show that the peak demand (and peak-related costs) can be reduced by 50%, with an increase in the handling time of containerships of less than half a minute per hour handling time.
This can be achieved by reducing the maximum energy demand of all operating
STS cranes or by limiting the maximum number of simultaneously lifting STS
cranes. If (one of) these rules of operation is implemented, an intermediate container terminal with six to eight STS cranes can save up to €250,000 per year, which is about 48% of total peak-related energy costs.