Abstract
With regard to residential energy use in the European Union (EU), most studies consider potential adopters of the technology (e.g., private owners) as being the sole decision-makers in the technology selection. However, during an integrated decision-making process (e.g., a construction project) multiple stakeholders will interact, influencing each other’s judgement, thereby making it difficult to discern who is affecting the final decision, and to what extent. The goal of this study is to outline the full network of stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, along with their degree of power and interaction in the technology choice. For this purpose, empirical evidence from a multi-country survey is examined using social network analysis (SNA). The information is compared across building typologies, project types and countries (i.e., Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The results demonstrate that, in EU residential buildings, potential adopters of the technology are not the only stakeholders involved in the technology selection. They are in all instances in communication with multiple stakeholders, some of whom also hold a high level of power in the decision (i.e., key persuaders). Furthermore, their level of power and communication varies substantially across building typologies, project types and countries.
Highlights
In Europe, about 35% of the building stock is over 50 years old and more than 75% is considered to be energy inefficient [1]
We conduct a social network analysis (SNA) using the data collected from a multi-country survey
The data used in the SNA was collected from a multi-country online survey distributed in 2019 across 8 European countries: Italy (IT), Spain (ES), Germany (DE), Poland (PL), the United Kingdom (UK), France (FR), Belgium (BE) and the Netherlands (NL)
Summary
In Europe, about 35% of the building stock is over 50 years old and more than 75% is considered to be energy inefficient [1]. In view of this situation, the EU decided to upgrade the energy performance of the building stock and has appointed two main decrees to support this task: (1) the Energy Efficiency. Directive (EED) (2012/27/EU), and (2) the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) The revised EPBD demands all buildings—including residential buildings—to be nearly zero-energy (nZEB) by 2050. Technology options to decrease a building’s energy demands to nZEB standards are readily available and often economically viable.
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