Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Energy-Efficient Clothing, Interior Architecture And Furnishing Designs: Consumer Attitudes, Acceptability Levels And Preferences, Barbara Parks

Home Economics and Family Living Theses

Energy-efficient designs in clothing, interior architecture and furnishings were evaluated (a) to assess consumers’ attitudes toward the designs, (b) to compare acceptability levels of participants who were knowledgeable in the home energy field with those who were less knowledgeable and (c) to determine if consumers had a preference for using housing, clothing or furnishings in meeting their thermal comfort needs. Four designs generated by the University of Tennessee-Energy Design competition were evaluated: a leisure outfit, a lounging dress, a water-storage collector (room divider and coffee tables) and a solar waterbed. Rogers and Shoemaker’s perceived attributes of innovations model (relative advantage, …