Sebastian Mayer

Sebastian is currently completing his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. During his studies, Sebastian spent two academic semesters at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) and one academic semester at the Sino-German College for Graduate Study at Tongji University in Shanghai (China).

In addition to his academic education, he gained professional experience working as an intern for a global airline in innovation management and lean management in Germany and China. Sebastian enjoys travelling and exploring new cultures, diving and playing the saxophone in his leisure time.

In his master thesis, Sebastian investigates consumer preferences and drivers for the purchase, installation and use of energy efficiency technologies in buildings by conducting a survey using preference measurement methodologies. A survey methodology - combining a conjoint experiment powered by Sawtooth Software’s Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis (ACBC) and structured questions – will help to better understand product attribute related preferences as well as demographic and personal characteristics ultimately influencing the purchasing decision.

Research Goals

In Europe, final energy consumption in households is approximately as large as the share of transport or electricity generation and a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions. Although several smart home technologies are commercially available, diffusion appears to be moderate. In a technology case study, the theoretical potential of intelligent heating control for residential households has been assessed. The research group can confirm that technology options that allow a reduction of final energy consumption and an increase in thermal comfort at the same time are theoretically viable. However, diffusion of such approaches appears to be low and consumers are locked-in into old thermostat technologies. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to shed light on the determinants and technology attributes driving the adoption of early adopters and potential later-stage end-users. Understanding early adopters is crucial to gain a fundamental knowledge of the early stages of the technology diffusion that aids the realization of a low-carbon society.