The transformative effect of the introduction of water volumetric billing in a disadvantaged housing area in Sweden

Abstract

Domestic water payment schemes are often a product of their time, place and what is perceived to be customary. Aspects that payment schemes can take into account include resource conservation, equity, maintainability, and profitability. In contemporary Sweden profitable environmentally sustainable solutions are promoted, such as the introduction of volumetric billing of water in rental apartments. This paper describes the detailed consequences of this change in the payment structure for domestic water in terms of reduced resource consumption, direct impact on household economies and perceptions of the system's change process. By combining high-resolution quantitative data on water usage and socio-economic household characteristics with qualitative data from semistandardized interviews with residents, it is possible to identify the different impacts of the system's change and how the process was experienced. It was shown that while water usage decreased by 30%, 63% of the households had increased monthly costs, and unemployed residents were further disadvantaged and closer to social exclusion. Focusing on making environmental sustainability profitable, as posited in ecological modernization theory, may shadow negative impacts on social sustainability.

Building Ownership, Renovation Investments, and Energy Performance—A Study of Multi-Family Dwellings in Gothenburg

“…In Sweden, the real estate owner pays the heating cost. In the past decades, individual volumetric metering billing of electricity and water have been increasingly installed in rental apartments in Gothenburg [40].…”

“…Most of the heat exits the building in the waste water [41]. Excluding heating for water usage from energy performance, which is most strongly predicted by living area per person [33,40], is one manner of separating the impact of user behavior. When excluding energy for heating domestic hot water, no significant association between energy performance and building ownership could be made.…”

Renovating on Unequal Premises: A Normative Framework for a Just Renovation Wave in Swedish Multifamily Housing

“…The potential for reduced energy use through behavioural change has been estimated at 10-25% [83]. Regarding energy use for domestic hot water, individualisation of metering and billing has shown promising yet varying results [84]; however, it has also been found that low-income households experience significant cost increases from this measure as household size, i.e., the number of residents in the household that use hot water for e.g., showering, tends to be greater among low-income earners [85]. More so, increased time at home due to e.g., unemployment or illness will further increase water use among the worst-off [85].…”

Handling data uncertainties when using Swedish energy performance certificate data to describe energy usage in the building stock

“…This observation further reinforces the recommendation [9] to make a plausibility check and remove outliers. Water usage can vary greatly between dwellings with fewer residents [33], but in larger buildings a more constant water usage, best predicted by the number of residents, can be assumed [34]. The author recommends values below 10 kWh/m 2 year for hot water heating to be removed as outliers for multi-familydwellings.…”