Abstract
Energy efficiency upgrades of privately owned homes like adding to the insulation layers in the walls, roof or floor, or replacing windows with more efficiently insulated versions can contribute significantly to reducing the energy impact of the building sector and thus also the CO2 footprint of a household. However, even in countries like Norway that have a rather high rate of renovation, energy upgrades are not always integrated into such a refurbishment project. This study tests which structural and internal psychological barriers hinder and which drivers foster decision-making to implement such measures, once a renovation project is planned. With a theoretical background in stage-based models of decision-making 24 barriers and drivers were tested for their specific effect in the stages of decision-making. The four stages of decision-making assumed in this study were (1) “not being in a decision mode,” (2) “deciding what to do,” (3) “deciding how to do it,” and (4) “planning implementation.” Based on an online survey of 3787 Norwegian households, it was found that the most important barriers toward deciding to implement energy efficiency upgrades were not owning the dwelling and feeling the right time had not come yet. The most important drivers of starting to decide were higher expected comfort levels, better expected living conditions, and an expected reduction of energy costs. For the transition from deciding what to do to how to do it, not managing to make a decision and feeling the right point in time has not come yet were the strongest barriers, easily accessible information and an expected reduction of energy costs were the most important drivers. The final transition from deciding how to do the upgrades to planning implementation was driven by expecting a payoff within a reasonable time frame and higher expected comfort levels; the most important barriers were time demands for supervising contractors and—again—a feeling that the right point in time has not come yet. Implications for policy-making and marketing are discussed.
Highlights
Providing shelter, which means construction, maintenance, heating and cooling of buildings, is one of the main contributors to the CO2 footprint in most countries of the world (Hertwich and Peters, 2009)
Sample In January-March 2014, TNS Gallup Norway recruited 3787 members of their online panel to answer a questionnaire on refurbishment, energy efficiency upgrades, and their determinants. 2605 of these participants were recruited as a representative household sample, and an additional 1182 were recruited who were either just in the process of considering and planning a refurbishment of their private home or had just undergone such a project
We considered a barrier or a driver relevant for progression through decision-making when the variable significantly moderated the strength of the relation between an earlier stage statement and a later stage statement
Summary
Providing shelter, which means construction, maintenance, heating and cooling of buildings, is one of the main contributors to the CO2 footprint in most countries of the world (Hertwich and Peters, 2009). In the Norwegian context, where the data of this study was collected, housing and the energy used to sustain a comfortable indoor climate are the second most impactful category. Most of the housing-related energy use in Norway is connected to heating. In recent years, electricity prices and electricity demand have increased in Norway which at times leads to import of electricity from nuclear or fossil sources. This development combined with the high demand for valuable Norwegian waterpower in the European electricity market has put the energy efficiency of the old Norwegian building stock on the policy agenda
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
