Speeding Up Energy Transitions: Gaming Towards Sustainability in The Dutch Built Environment

The paper explores the relevance and use of games for speeding up the energy transition in the Dutch built environment. Since the transition of the Dutch energy system with the current policies is much slower than required given the urgency of the foreseeable problems and the substantive system delays. There seems to be a need for experimentation with innovative policy instruments, governance mechanisms, and systemic conditions. This paper includes applied emphases upon two topics as well as illustrations of the usefulness of games as tools for getting a grip on the energy transition. In this context, a conceptual model has been developed to illustrate the possible causes of the aforementioned slow transition in the built environment. Furthermore, we discuss the potential roles of games for managing the transition in the built environment and illustrate with an interactive experimental game developed for hypothesis testing and learning purposes. Finally, based on the results of the game we explore the possibilities for future research