This thesis reports on the procedure, results and analysis of four full scale fire tests that were performed at the University of Waterloo's Live Fire Research Facility. The purpose of these tests was to investigate the thermal characteristics of one room of the Burn House structure. Comparisons were made of Burn House experimental data to previous residential fire studies undertaken by researchers from the University of Waterloo. This analysis showed similarities in growth rate characteristics, illustrating that fire behaviour in the Burn House is typical of residential structure fire behaviour. The Burn House experimental data was also compared to predictions from a fire model, CFAST. Recommendations were made for future work in relation to further investigation of the fire characteristics of the Burn House.

Remote sensing of atmospheric gases improves our understanding of the state and evolution of the Earth’s environment. At the beginning of the thesis, the basic principles for the retrieval of concentrations of atmospheric gases from spectra are presented with a focus on ground-based observations. An overview of the characteristic features of different platforms, viewing geometries, measurement sites, and Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTSs) used in the measurements are provided. The thesis covers four main projects. The first study of the global distribution of atmospheric phosgene was carried out using a total of 5614 measured profiles from the satellite-borne Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment FTS (ACE-FTS) spanning the period February 2004 through May 2006. The phosgene concentrations display a zonally symmetric pattern with the maximum concentration located approximately over the equator, at about 25 km in altitude, and the concentrations decrease towards the poles. A layer of enhanced concentration of phosgene spans the lower stratosphere at all latitudes, with volume mixing ratios of 20-60 pptv. The reasons for the formation of the phosgene distribution pattern are explained by the insolation, lifetime of phosgene and the Brewer-Dobson circulation. The ACE observations show lower phosgene concentrations in the stratosphere than were obtained from previous observations in the 1980s and 1990s due to a significant decrease in source species. The Portable Atmospheric Research Interferometric Spectrometer for the Infrared (PARIS-IR) is a copy of the ACE-FTS that was designed for ground-based and balloon-borne measurements. The first balloon flight was part of the Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen TRend Assessment (MANTRA) 2004 balloon payload. Some useful engineering information was obtained on the thermal performance of the instrument during the flight. As part of the MANTRA program, a ground-based inter-instrument comparison campaign was conducted with the objective of assessing instrument performance, and evaluating data processing routines and retrieval codes. PARIS-IR provides similar quality results for stratospheric species as does the University of Toronto FTS. An advanced study was carried out for the Carbon Cycle science by Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (CC-FTS) mission, which is a proposed future satellite mission to obtain a better understanding of the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere by monitoring total and partial columns of CO2, CH4, N2O, and CO in the near infrared together with the molecular O2 column. To evaluate the spectral regions, resolution, optical components, and spectroscopic parameters required for the mission, ground-based Fourier transform spectra, recorded at Kiruna, Kitt Peak, and Waterloo, were used. Dry air volume mixing ratios of CO2 and CH4 were retrieved from the ground-based observations. A FTS with a spectral resolution of 0.1 cm-1, operating between 2000 and 15000 cm-1, is suggested as the primary instrument for the mission. Further progress in improving the atmospheric retrievals for CO2, CH4 and O2 requires new laboratory measurements to improve the spectroscopic line parameters. Atmospheric observations were made with three FTSs at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) during spring 2006. The vertical column densities of O3, HCl, HNO3, HF, NO2, ClONO2 and NO from PARIS-IR, the Eureka DA8 FTS, and the ACE-FTS show good agreement. Chorine activation and denitrification in the Arctic atmosphere were observed in the extremely cold stratosphere near Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. The observed ozone depletion during the 2006 campaign was attributed to chemical removal.

Hydroelectric reservoirs account for 59% of the installed electricity generating capacity in Canada and 26% in Ontario. Reservoirs also provide irrigation capacity, drinking water, and recreational opportunities. Further, they continue to be built in northern Canada, neighbouring boreal countries, and around the world. Yet given their socio-economic importance, they are understudied with respect to greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient and mercury cycling, and aquatic metabolism. As one of many electricity generating options, hydroelectricity is viewed as well-tested because of its long history and diverse applications in mega-projects, run-of-the-river dams, and small, local applications. It is also considered renewable from a fuel stand-point because an adequate long-term supply of water is assumed. One of several significant criticisms of hydroelectric development is that reservoirs may be a significant source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere relative to the amount of electricity produced due to flooding the landscape. As a result of the dearth of information on reservoir development and both greenhouse gases and aquatic metabolism, a pair of whole-ecosystem reservoir experiments were conducted staring in 1991. Three upland boreal forest reservoirs with differing amounts of pre-flood stored organic carbon were built in northwestern Ontario and flooded for five years. The rates of net greenhouse gas production in these reservoirs were determined by calculating mass budgets for carbon dioxide and methane. Additionally, rates of biological processes were determined by combining the mass budgets with measurements of the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen. Assembling mass and isotope-mass budgets required three related projects on gas exchange, methane oxidation, and oxygen isotopes. To estimate the gas exchange coefficient for each of the upland reservoirs, a comparative-methods study was undertaken. Methane oxidation enrichment factors were determined in upland and wetland boreal reservoirs so that the importance of methane oxidation in these ecosystems could be assessed. In order to interpret the diel changes in both oxygen concentrations and their isotopic ratios, a dynamic model was developed. This model, PoRGy, was successfully applied to the upland boreal reservoirs as well as prairie rivers and ponds. Further, PoRGy was used to understand the interplay between the key parameters that control oxygen concentrations, to compare aquatic ecosystems, to make quantitative estimates of ecosystem metabolism, and to assess the vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems under various environmental stressors. Carbon isotope-mass budgets were used to conclude that community respiration rates declined quickly in the upland reservoirs and had declined by half over five years. This suggested that the most labile organic carbon is quickly consumed but decomposition continued for the five-year life of the project. Net primary production rates were similar for three years, with a small peak in the second or third year, before declining by half by the fifth year. Together, these results indicated that aquatic metabolism slowed over five years while the reservoirs remained a source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere each year. Net methane production was greatest in the third year of flooding then decreasing by about half by the fifth year. Methane ebullition also peaked in the third year and declined by two-thirds by the fifth year. Together, these results indicated that methanogenesis was greatest in the third year of flooding. The flux of methane to the atmosphere grew in importance relative to that of carbon dioxide over the five years of the experiment. Community respiration and primary production could not be estimated directly from the oxygen isotope-mass budgets since the oxygen respiration enrichment factor remains poorly constrained. Instead, three estimates were made, each based on a different assumption. In general, these estimates suggested that rates of community respiration and primary production decreased slightly for three years and most rapidly in the final two years. The oxygen isotope-mass budgets provided a new method for assessing and constraining community metabolism and greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere. One of the major hypotheses of the whole-ecosystem reservoir experiments was that pre-flood organic carbon stores less tree boles were positively related to greenhouse gas fluxes. Within the three upland boreal forest reservoirs, this hypothesis did not hold true. Over five years, community respiration in the three reservoirs was within 5% of each other. When methane is included, to assess total greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere, the reservoirs were within 1% of each other. Organic carbon stores were therefore poor short-term predictors of carbon lability and greenhouse gas fluxes. This research presented two methods for determining biological rates at the whole-ecosystem scale: one using carbon isotopes and one using oxygen isotopes. Temporal evolution of greenhouse gas cycling within the upland reservoirs was different than in the wetland reservoir and should inform how reservoir development is done vis-à-vis the amount of flooded land of each type versus electricity production. Medium-term estimates of greenhouse gas fluxes suggest that upland reservoirs do not have adequate pre-flood organic carbon stores to sustain elevated levels of decomposition the way wetlands do. The strong evidence of continued production of dissolved organic carbon in the upland reservoirs should concern operators of municipal drinking water reservoirs since elevated dissolved organic carbon can make disinfection difficult.

Appraisers receive feedback from a variety of sources such as other appraisers, clients and the real estate market. Previous studies find client feedback to introduce an upward bias into commercial and residential appraisal judgments. Hansz and Diaz (2001) find that the provision of transaction price (market) feedback for a previously valued property biases commercial appraisers upwardly in subsequent valuations. The authors provide market optimism, client feedback and a reduced conservatism bias as explanations for their findings. However, previous client and market feedback studies were conducted in upward-trending or booming real estate markets. The identified upward bias in valuation judgments may have been the result of positive real estate market conditions. This study investigates the impact of transaction price feedback on residential appraisal judgment in a changed appraisal task environment, characterized by a depressed housing market, market pessimism, conservative lenders and a changed residential appraisal industry. As Hansz and Diaz (2001) find an upward appraisal bias in an upward-trending market, I expect market feedback to introduce a downward bias into residential appraisal judgments in a depressed market. Compared to a “no feedback” control group, residential appraisers receiving the feedback that their previous value estimates were too high, compared to the realized transaction price, are expected to make significantly lower subsequent value judgments for an unrelated property. The “too low” feedback is not expected to have an impact on subsequent value judgments. I test the hypotheses with a controlled experiment using a pre-posttest design. The experimental design has one factor (transaction price feedback) fixed at three different levels (“too low”, “too high”, “no feedback”). A posttest-only validity control group is added to test for a potential testing bias in the pre-posttest design. This study uses residential expert appraisers, defined as active Oregon State certified residential appraisers, from the Portland metropolitan statistical area (MSA) as subjects. Experimental subjects are randomly selected from a list of all certified residential appraisers in the Portland MSA. Experimental subjects are randomly assigned to the control and treatment groups (10 subjects per group; N=40). Subjects in the treatment groups and pre-posttest “no feedback” control group are asked to value a lot of vacant residential land in the geographically unfamiliar Roswell, Georgia. After they provide their value estimates for this first valuation case, subjects in the treatment groups are given a note from a seller’s broker stating the transaction price for the previously valued property. Subjects in the “too high” feedback group receive a transaction price that is 15% below their estimates and subjects in the “too low” feedback group receive a transaction price that is 15% above their value estimates. The control group receives no feedback. All treatment and control groups are then given a second (unrelated) valuation case of vacant residential land in Newnan, Georgia and asked for their value estimate. The experiment is concluded with an exit questionnaire containing demographic and professional questions as well as manipulation checks. The experimental data are analyzed using the parametric independent samples t-test. The assumptions of normality and equal variances are not violated by the dataset. A one-way ANOVA and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test are used as robustness checks. All statistical tests conclude that neither the mean of the “too high” feedback group nor the mean of the “too low” feedback group are statistically different at the 5% level from the mean of the “no feedback” control group. Thus, no evidence is found that transaction price feedback biases residential appraisal judgments in a depressed market. The insignificant results are further analyzed to assess whether they are due to a non-reception of the treatment by subjects, low statistical power or a non-existing relationship: The explanation that subjects did not read the treatment note can be excluded. A power analysis reveals low statistical power and very small effect sizes for both treatments. An alternative explanation for the insignificant results is the absence of the hypothesized relationship. The main client group of experimental subjects is appraisal management companies, which due to legislation passed after 2007, work with appraisers on behalf of lenders. As a consequence, residential appraisers do not receive direct client feedback anymore (compared to Hansz and Diaz, 2001) and may not respond subconsciously to the “too high” feedback.

This master thesis deals with experimental data that were collected through a crash avoidance experiment (which was lead by Professor Lennart Strandberg) in February and March 1990. Fifty-two ordinary drivers were instructed to perform two different kinds of manoeuvres on ice to determine the effectiveness of antilock brakes and of four tyre configurations. Results were reported at the 1991 ESV Conference. The first aim of this master thesis is to check and revise the measured data (used by Prof. Strandberg in courses at Linköping University). Checking out many hours of video recordings from onboard cameras reveals various protocol inconsistencies and errors, which in some cases it is not possible to correct. This work might increase the reliability of any further analysis of these data. The second aim is to elaborate on the revised data and to test the hypothesis that quick steering is a key factor to not lose control of the car during a crash avoidance manoeuvre. Different variables are introduced and used to estimate the steering wheel velocity and lateral friction use. The results show linear (positive) correlations between lateral friction use and steering wheel velocity. The greatest steering wheel velocities appear in the tests with loss-of-control and reach values up to 1180 degrees per second. However, the 1990 experimental layout was not intended for this type of research questions and it seems difficult to determine the causal relationship between quick steering and control of the car. Some cases of excessive steering input might have occurred. The results indicate that quick steering by itself is not enough to guarantee the total control of the car. An early reaction to the skid might be necessary too. Evidently, further research is needed.

Rapporten redovisar utredning, skisser och det slutliga förslaget för en ombyggnation av en skollokal till ett science center. Bakgrund Framtidsmuseet i Dalarna har under en längre tid varit i behov av en större lokal för att kunna expandera. En lämplig lokal i närheten av köpcentret Kupolen finns, då den har använts för undervisning och inte har genomgått någon större förändring sedan den byggdes i slutet av 70-talet, behövs en omfattande exteriör och interiör ombyggnation för att passa Framtidsmuseets behov. Genomförande Lokal- och byggprogram har framtagits genom att sammanställa beställarens krav och ambitioner med egen införskaffad information om lämplig innemiljö, med tanke på barns inlärning och gällande praxis för att göra byggnader tillgängliga och användbara för alla. Dessa har sedan omvandlats via olika skisser och utkast till ett färdigt förslag på ombyggnation av byggnaden till Framtidsmuseets nya lokaler. Resultat Förslaget innefattar Framtidsmuseets alla olika verksamheter, men även en sammanslagning med Kulturcentrum Asken inryms i förslaget. Förslaget är anpassat efter barns behov av att ha ett ljust och stillsamt inneklimat för att lättare kunna lära sig de kunskaper som Framtidsmuseet och Kulturcentrum Asken förmedlar. Museet har även utformats med tillräckliga passagebredder och minimala nivåskillnader etcetera för att kunna användas till fullo av alla besökare. Det slutgiltiga förslaget resulterar i relativt stora förändringar på den befintliga byggnaden för att ge en spektakulär och uppseendeväckande byggnad som ska locka fler besökare och göra Framtidsmuseet till ett självklart besöksmål för Dalarnas samtliga skolungdomar. Diskussion Slutligen har förslaget jämförts med en yrkesverksam arkitekts förslag, för att kunna studera olika infallsvinklar och lösningar på samma problem. / This report shows the inquiry, sketches and the final result of our suggestion for a reconstruction of an existing school building to a science center. Background The science center, Framtidsmuseet i Dalarna, has during a long period of time been in the need of a bigger local, in order to expand. A suitable local not far from the mall Kupolen is available. The local is in present day used as a school for higher education, and has not seen any major changes since it was built in the late seventies. Therefore the house needs a great exterior and interior reconstruction to suite the museums needs. Implementation By compiling the future proprietors demands and ambitions, with the information we gathered about suitable interior environment to stimulate children’s learning and how to make buildings accessible and usable to everyone regardless of there physical limitations, has a building- and a local program been completed. These programs have then been transformed via sketches into a complete proposal for the new local. Results The proposal includes all of the museums activities, but also a union with Kulturcentrum Asken and room for The University of Dalarna. The proposal is adjusted to fit children’s needs for a light and tranquil indoor climate, which makes it easier for them to learn the knowledges that the different activates offer. The museum has also been designed with proper passages and minimal level differences etcetera to suit all visitors. In order to make a sensational and spectacular building, the final proposal includes relatively big changes of the existing building, which will draw more visitors and at the same time make the museum an obvious target for all pupils in Dalarna. Discussions Finally to be able to study different angles of approach and solutions, the proposal has been compared with an architects proposal.

This thesis reports on the procedure, results and analysis of four full scale fire tests that were performed at the University of Waterloo's Live Fire Research Facility. The purpose of these tests was to investigate the thermal characteristics of one room of the Burn House structure. Comparisons were made of Burn House experimental data to previous residential fire studies undertaken by researchers from the University of Waterloo. This analysis showed similarities in growth rate characteristics, illustrating that fire behaviour in the Burn House is typical of residential structure fire behaviour. The Burn House experimental data was also compared to predictions from a fire model, CFAST. Recommendations were made for future work in relation to further investigation of the fire characteristics of the Burn House.

Remote sensing of atmospheric gases improves our understanding of the state and evolution of the Earth’s environment. At the beginning of the thesis, the basic principles for the retrieval of concentrations of atmospheric gases from spectra are presented with a focus on ground-based observations. An overview of the characteristic features of different platforms, viewing geometries, measurement sites, and Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTSs) used in the measurements are provided. The thesis covers four main projects. The first study of the global distribution of atmospheric phosgene was carried out using a total of 5614 measured profiles from the satellite-borne Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment FTS (ACE-FTS) spanning the period February 2004 through May 2006. The phosgene concentrations display a zonally symmetric pattern with the maximum concentration located approximately over the equator, at about 25 km in altitude, and the concentrations decrease towards the poles. A layer of enhanced concentration of phosgene spans the lower stratosphere at all latitudes, with volume mixing ratios of 20-60 pptv. The reasons for the formation of the phosgene distribution pattern are explained by the insolation, lifetime of phosgene and the Brewer-Dobson circulation. The ACE observations show lower phosgene concentrations in the stratosphere than were obtained from previous observations in the 1980s and 1990s due to a significant decrease in source species. The Portable Atmospheric Research Interferometric Spectrometer for the Infrared (PARIS-IR) is a copy of the ACE-FTS that was designed for ground-based and balloon-borne measurements. The first balloon flight was part of the Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen TRend Assessment (MANTRA) 2004 balloon payload. Some useful engineering information was obtained on the thermal performance of the instrument during the flight. As part of the MANTRA program, a ground-based inter-instrument comparison campaign was conducted with the objective of assessing instrument performance, and evaluating data processing routines and retrieval codes. PARIS-IR provides similar quality results for stratospheric species as does the University of Toronto FTS. An advanced study was carried out for the Carbon Cycle science by Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (CC-FTS) mission, which is a proposed future satellite mission to obtain a better understanding of the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere by monitoring total and partial columns of CO2, CH4, N2O, and CO in the near infrared together with the molecular O2 column. To evaluate the spectral regions, resolution, optical components, and spectroscopic parameters required for the mission, ground-based Fourier transform spectra, recorded at Kiruna, Kitt Peak, and Waterloo, were used. Dry air volume mixing ratios of CO2 and CH4 were retrieved from the ground-based observations. A FTS with a spectral resolution of 0.1 cm-1, operating between 2000 and 15000 cm-1, is suggested as the primary instrument for the mission. Further progress in improving the atmospheric retrievals for CO2, CH4 and O2 requires new laboratory measurements to improve the spectroscopic line parameters. Atmospheric observations were made with three FTSs at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) during spring 2006. The vertical column densities of O3, HCl, HNO3, HF, NO2, ClONO2 and NO from PARIS-IR, the Eureka DA8 FTS, and the ACE-FTS show good agreement. Chorine activation and denitrification in the Arctic atmosphere were observed in the extremely cold stratosphere near Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. The observed ozone depletion during the 2006 campaign was attributed to chemical removal.

Hydroelectric reservoirs account for 59% of the installed electricity generating capacity in Canada and 26% in Ontario. Reservoirs also provide irrigation capacity, drinking water, and recreational opportunities. Further, they continue to be built in northern Canada, neighbouring boreal countries, and around the world. Yet given their socio-economic importance, they are understudied with respect to greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient and mercury cycling, and aquatic metabolism. As one of many electricity generating options, hydroelectricity is viewed as well-tested because of its long history and diverse applications in mega-projects, run-of-the-river dams, and small, local applications. It is also considered renewable from a fuel stand-point because an adequate long-term supply of water is assumed. One of several significant criticisms of hydroelectric development is that reservoirs may be a significant source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere relative to the amount of electricity produced due to flooding the landscape. As a result of the dearth of information on reservoir development and both greenhouse gases and aquatic metabolism, a pair of whole-ecosystem reservoir experiments were conducted staring in 1991. Three upland boreal forest reservoirs with differing amounts of pre-flood stored organic carbon were built in northwestern Ontario and flooded for five years. The rates of net greenhouse gas production in these reservoirs were determined by calculating mass budgets for carbon dioxide and methane. Additionally, rates of biological processes were determined by combining the mass budgets with measurements of the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen. Assembling mass and isotope-mass budgets required three related projects on gas exchange, methane oxidation, and oxygen isotopes. To estimate the gas exchange coefficient for each of the upland reservoirs, a comparative-methods study was undertaken. Methane oxidation enrichment factors were determined in upland and wetland boreal reservoirs so that the importance of methane oxidation in these ecosystems could be assessed. In order to interpret the diel changes in both oxygen concentrations and their isotopic ratios, a dynamic model was developed. This model, PoRGy, was successfully applied to the upland boreal reservoirs as well as prairie rivers and ponds. Further, PoRGy was used to understand the interplay between the key parameters that control oxygen concentrations, to compare aquatic ecosystems, to make quantitative estimates of ecosystem metabolism, and to assess the vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems under various environmental stressors. Carbon isotope-mass budgets were used to conclude that community respiration rates declined quickly in the upland reservoirs and had declined by half over five years. This suggested that the most labile organic carbon is quickly consumed but decomposition continued for the five-year life of the project. Net primary production rates were similar for three years, with a small peak in the second or third year, before declining by half by the fifth year. Together, these results indicated that aquatic metabolism slowed over five years while the reservoirs remained a source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere each year. Net methane production was greatest in the third year of flooding then decreasing by about half by the fifth year. Methane ebullition also peaked in the third year and declined by two-thirds by the fifth year. Together, these results indicated that methanogenesis was greatest in the third year of flooding. The flux of methane to the atmosphere grew in importance relative to that of carbon dioxide over the five years of the experiment. Community respiration and primary production could not be estimated directly from the oxygen isotope-mass budgets since the oxygen respiration enrichment factor remains poorly constrained. Instead, three estimates were made, each based on a different assumption. In general, these estimates suggested that rates of community respiration and primary production decreased slightly for three years and most rapidly in the final two years. The oxygen isotope-mass budgets provided a new method for assessing and constraining community metabolism and greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere. One of the major hypotheses of the whole-ecosystem reservoir experiments was that pre-flood organic carbon stores less tree boles were positively related to greenhouse gas fluxes. Within the three upland boreal forest reservoirs, this hypothesis did not hold true. Over five years, community respiration in the three reservoirs was within 5% of each other. When methane is included, to assess total greenhouse gas fluxes to the atmosphere, the reservoirs were within 1% of each other. Organic carbon stores were therefore poor short-term predictors of carbon lability and greenhouse gas fluxes. This research presented two methods for determining biological rates at the whole-ecosystem scale: one using carbon isotopes and one using oxygen isotopes. Temporal evolution of greenhouse gas cycling within the upland reservoirs was different than in the wetland reservoir and should inform how reservoir development is done vis-à-vis the amount of flooded land of each type versus electricity production. Medium-term estimates of greenhouse gas fluxes suggest that upland reservoirs do not have adequate pre-flood organic carbon stores to sustain elevated levels of decomposition the way wetlands do. The strong evidence of continued production of dissolved organic carbon in the upland reservoirs should concern operators of municipal drinking water reservoirs since elevated dissolved organic carbon can make disinfection difficult.

Abstract This study used an exploratory research focus to investigate if making electricity consumption public and subject to social norms and networks resulted in consumption decreases for households in Milton, Ontario. In the first phase, Milton Hydro identified customers who fell within an average annual electricity consumption category and these customers were invited to participate by mail. Due to lack of participant uptake, cold-calling, targeting of service and faith groups and commuters, and snowball sampling were employed to obtain a total participant size of 17. The second phase saw participants grouped according to social network type (occupational, faith group, etc) and exposed to approval or disapproval indicators within their group about their daily electricity consumption rates via an on-line ‘energy pool’. There were five main groups: one of neighbours, one of members of a faith group, one of members of a company, one of strangers and one of a control group. Group members saw other members’ indicators with the exception of the control group, whose indicators were privately delivered. All group’s electricity consumption was tracked through daily smart meter readings. Participants also had the option of commenting on each other’s electricity use via an online ‘comment box’. In the third phase participants were asked to participate in a questionnaire to assess: 1) the perceived efficacy of the intervention; 2) perceptions of electricity consumption; and 3) the influence of the group on these perceptions. This sequential methodology was chosen for its ability to “...explain significant (or non-significant) results, outlier results, or surprising results” (Cresswell, 2006, p. 72). The findings of this exploratory research seem to suggest the following: 1) that publicity or group type does not seem to affect electricity consumption in comparative electricity consumption feedback for this study; 2) that participants used injunctive norms to comment on their electricity consumption but directed these comments solely at themselves; and 3) that the stronger the relationships in the group, the more likely participants were to engage with the website through checking it and commenting on it. This study may be useful to those in the fields of: 1) electricity conservation who wish to leverage feedback technologies; 2) social networks who wish to better understand how tie strength interacts with social norms and; 3) those in social marketing who wish to develop norm-based campaigns.