Everyday Ecology, Energy, Consumption
Results
qualitative survey on 44 home owners
Project:
Motivating and Enabling Private Home Owners for Energy Efficient Refurbishment of Single and Double Occupancy Houses [ENEF_H]
Project consortium head:
Prof. Dr. Stefan Zundel, FH Lausitz
Project head in ISOE:
Project team in ISOE
Dr. Immanuel Stieß
Dr. Jutta Deffner
Victoria van der Land
Dr. Doris Hayn (till Febr. 2009)
Practice and research parnters
Duration :
04/2008-09/2010
Funding:
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
funding
programme Social Ecological Research
Motivating and Enabling Private Home Owners for Energy Efficient Refurbishment of Single and Double Occupancy Houses [ENEF_H]
More than a quarter of the German energy consumption is required for space heating and the provision of warm water in private households. With an energy efficient refurbishment of the building stock the use of energy and CO2-emissions could be reduced by up to 80%. Yet, until now annually only 1% of the building stock is being modernised in spite of numerous subsidies available and advisory services at hand. A goal of 3% seems to be technically and financially feasible. In order to achieve the ambitious political goal, the annual rehabilitation rate must be increased considerably.
In particular, the 14.5 million single and double occupancy houses in Germany are holding a considerable potential to save energy and cut down CO2-emissions. But until now many private home owners appear to be reluctant to energy efficient refurbishment. Besides insufficient market transparency the lack of information and inadequate incentives for investments constitute major obstacles in this respect.
To tackle with these obstacles the transdisciplinary research project proposes to develop an integrated policy and advisory approach aiming to activate and motivate private home owners to carry out energy efficient measures to modernise their houses.
According to social-ecological consumption research, energy efficient refurbishment of the building stock is considered a strategic consumption decision which is marked by a complex interplay of economic, social and symbolic factors. The consideration of available options for taking action does not only depend on objective economic criteria but is also strongly framed by subjective perceptions being defined by the social situation, the values of the respective life style group, the personal willingness to take risks and negotiations within households and social networks.
In order to explore the interplay of inhibitory and supporting motivational alliances and situational factors shaping the refurbishment decision an empirical survey among private home owners will be carried out. Based on a segmentation of particular target groups an integrative policy and advisory approach will be developed which addresses the complex decision situation of home owners’ linking advisory services, policy instruments and marketing in an innovative way.
On the one hand, the project will provide recommendations for an advancement of existing policy instruments, with which the different needs of the particular target groups can be addressed more efficiently. On the other hand, a toolkit will be developed enabling professional advisors, modernisation services, and campaigners to achieve a target group orientated creation of advisory offers, services and social marketing. In this process best practice experiences from selected EU states will be considered.
The research project will be carried out in a transdiciplinary process, enrolling practitioners from the fields of energy advisory services, consumer information, campaigning and energy policy. Cooperation partners are: Bremer Energie-Konsens GmbH, dena (Deutsche Energie Agentur) GmbH, GIH (Bundesverband Gebäudeenergieberater Ingenieure Handwerker), Haus und Grund (Bundesverband), Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen and ZAB (Zukunftsagentur Brandenburg).
| Research partner | |
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Fachhochschule Lausitz (Projektkoordination) Contact Person: Prof. Dr. Stefan Zundel |
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Institut für ökologische WirtschaftsResearch gGmbH, Berlin Contact Person: Dr. Julika Weiß |
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Institute for Social-Ecological Research GmbH, ISOE Contact Person: Dr. Immanuel Stieß |
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| Practice partners | |
| Bremer Energie-Konsens GmbH |  |
| dena - Deutsche Energieagentur GmbH |  |
| GIH - Bundesverband der Gebäudeenergieberater im Handwerk |  |
| Haus und Grund - Bundesverband |  |
| Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen |  |
| ZAB - Zukunftsagentur Brandenburg |  |
| International Partners | |
| Österrreichisches Öko-Institut |  |
| Alto Adige / Ökoinstitut Südtirol |  |
| Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut (Danish Building Research Institute) |  |