Domestic energy consumption—What role do comfort, habit, and knowledge about the heating system play?

Huebner, Gesche M.; Cooper, Justine; Jones, Keith

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.07.043

Cited by 128 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This may make it particularly appropriate for use in social housing, where tenants' specific status means they are likely to have low levels of ownership of the retrofit process, and may consequently lack engagement or interest in maximising energy efficiency. This is supported by several studies on pro-environmental attitude or lack of it, such as the theory of planned behavior described by Huebner et al [38]. With regard to promoting the uptake of energy saving measures, it may be significant that improvements in quality of life and comfort were considered more important than money saving, even for low-income households.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

External Wall Insulation (EWI): Engaging Social Tenants in Energy Efficiency Retrofitting in the North East of England

2017

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Abstract:The question of how best to tackle the problem of energy inefficient older housing in the UK is considerable, and is further complicated by the question of tenure. Social landlords are working to update and improve their properties, which make up around 15% of the total UK housing stock (4 million properties). The success of such efficiency improvements depends in part on the cooperation of tenants, and their ability and willingness to engage with the process of change. This paper describes the experiences of eleven social housing tenant households whose properties were fitted with External Wall Insulation (EWI), based on pre-and post-installation interviews and data collection. It includes discussion of tenants' knowledge, attitudes, and expectations prior to and following installation; household thermal comfort and energy spending before installation; tenant experiences of having EWI installed; tenant perceptions regarding the effects of EWI on thermal comfort, energy spending, and housing attractiveness; impacts of EWI on internal temperatures and heat loss (measured via thermal imaging); energy bill comparisons. Households experienced an average saving of 33% on energy bills following EWI installation, and the majority of tenants reported benefits including improved thermal comfort and related positive impacts on health and wellbeing. The paper concludes by highlighting potential learning points for engaging tenants in the process of enhancing energy efficiency in UK social rented housing.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

External Wall Insulation (EWI): Engaging Social Tenants in Energy Efficiency Retrofitting in the North East of England

2017

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“…Such implications have been discussed in previous studies, particularly those surrounding the feasibility of achieving the UK carbon reduction targets and the level of impact that policy might have on users' behaviour to support achieving these targets [23][24][25]. Other studies [26][27][28] found that lifestyles, habits, and social-demographic characteristics have a direct influence on pat-terns of domestic energy consumption. Some of these implications are explored in the present study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These are a few factors that dictate the demand for heating, cooling, and appliance use. However, it has been reported that full accounts of energy consumption determinants still do not exist [28].…”

Section: Research Context and Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrofitting social housing in the UK: Home energy use and performance in a pre-Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP)

Elsharkawy

Rutherford

2015

Energy and Buildings

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Improving household energy efficiency is regarded as key to significantly curtailing domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Various policy instruments have been introduced to retrofit the existing domestic building stock in the UK; however, many fail to acknowledge the significant role that occupants' lifestyle play in energy use. The research discusses the results of a survey questionnaire administered to the residents of one of the pilot CESP schemes in Aspley, Nottingham. Factors affecting domestic energy consumption are explored, some of which relate to the building design, while others are under the direct control of the occupants. Significant findings related to home performance, home energy use, and tenants' lifestyle are investigated in the first phase of the research. The total number of responses to the survey represents 10% of around 900 properties eligible for the CESP scheme that have not been approached for the scheme uptake. It is evident from the survey results that the majority of the sample is aware of the basic energy-saving actions in everyday life but are not likely to take up the more difficult actions. In summary, retrofit programmes will reduce carbon emissions to some degree, whereas the bigger challenge is addressing habitual household energy consumption.

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“…In Oxera's 2006 report "Policies for energy efficiency in the UK householder section" [27], the key finding was that future energy savings had little importance in the householder's decision process, and that other non-energy factors had a greater influence. It must also be noted that in each of these core motivations there can be a large difference in what the terms mean to each householder, for example Huebner et al [28] explored the meaning of comfort to householders, and found a whole range of meaning: warmth, space, light and cleanliness. Likewise, in evaluating the drivers that motivate householders there must be a key distinction between which drivers are intrinsic or extrinsic motivators: 1) Intrinsic -"the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequence" 2) Extrinsic -"the doing of an activity in order to attain some separable outcome" [29] The two types of motivation have been explored in a number of studies looking for energy reduction through behaviour change, but less attention has been applied to their impact on retrofitting.…”

Section: B Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation into the slow adoption of retrofitting - What are the barriers and drivers to retrofitting, and how can ICT help

Weeks¹,

Delalonde²,

Preist³

2015

Advances in Computer Science Research

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Abstract-In this paper we explore a number of reasons for the slow adoption of energy efficiency measures by householders. We use primary research collected over a two month longitudinal trial to define a number of the core barriers and drivers to retrofitting. The trial logged participants who were interested in energy efficiency measures but were still undecided about whether to install them or not. We conclude the paper by supplying a number of recommendations about how ICT can be used to help remove the barriers and enhance the drivers during this critical decision period.

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Domestic energy consumption—What role do comfort, habit, and knowledge about the heating system play?

Cited by 128 publications

References 44 publications

External Wall Insulation (EWI): Engaging Social Tenants in Energy Efficiency Retrofitting in the North East of England

External Wall Insulation (EWI): Engaging Social Tenants in Energy Efficiency Retrofitting in the North East of England

Retrofitting social housing in the UK: Home energy use and performance in a pre-Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP)

Investigation into the slow adoption of retrofitting - What are the barriers and drivers to retrofitting, and how can ICT help

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