The appeal of the green deal: Empirical evidence for the influence of energy efficiency policy on renovating homeowners

Abstract

Examines the impact of a major new energy policy, the Green Deal, on intentions towards energy efficiency. 502 households questioned four months prior to, and seven months after the launch. Renovating itself is mechanism through which households engage with the Green Deal. Strengthening beliefs in energy savings accelerates intentions to renovate energy efficiently. a b s t r a c tThe Green Deal is a major new energy policy designed to support the diffusion of energy efficiency measures in UK homes. This paper provides one of the first empirical examinations of the Green Deal′s success in influencing homeowners' renovation decisions. Using a repeated measures design in which households were questioned before and after the Green Deal′s launch in January 2013, we assess the policy′s success in raising awareness of energy efficiency. In particular, we test the effectiveness of the Green Deal′s positioning to overcome barriers to renovation among homeowners already interested in or considering energy efficiency measures. Using the innovation decision process (Rogers, 2003) as a conceptual framing of the renovation decision process, we examine whether new information on energy efficiency provided by the Green Deal strengthened intentions and its antecedents. We find that (1) energy efficiency is of potential appeal to all renovators regardless of their attitudes about energy efficiency, (2) energy efficiency opportunities need to be identified in the early stages of renovation when homeowners are thinking about ways to improve their home, and (3) homeowners' intentions towards energy efficiency are weakened by uncertainty about financial benefits, helping to explain the relatively slow uptake of the Green Deal to-date.

Outside influence – Some effects of retrofit installers and advisors on energy behaviours in households

“…Where analysis has been directed at energy retrofit specifically, the householder remains the focus with households thinking about renovation, deciding to renovate, planning the detail of renovation and then experiencing renovation [10]. The background section above has highlighted that this householder focus overlooks the role of the intermediary adviser or installer.…”

“…[8][9][10] with extensive research on inhabitant behaviours that change energy consumption, exploring the effects of individual values [e.g. 11,12], the household's social practices and habits [13,14], and lifestyle stages and choices [15].…”

Holistic narratives of the renovation experience: Using Q-methodology to improve understanding of domestic energy retrofits in the United Kingdom

“…Both forms of renovation are ultimately considered to stem from similar influences, and can be seen as 'adaptive responses to misalignment within certain conditions of domestic life' [19]. Many authors rightly observe that both amenity and energy renovations should not be conceived of as one-off events, but rather as processes or as a "continuous activity" [54,53,9,55,19]. It is argued that connecting energy renovation with amenity renovation could be an effective means of increasing retrofit activity [56,17].…”

“…While a wide variety of policy interventions promoting its uptake have been introduced, household demand for retrofit has been viewed as remaining stubbornly low in the face of these advances [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Many countries exhibit a housing stock that is majority owner occupied [12], with this form of tenure resulting in particular challenges when it comes to retrofit advocacy [13].…”

Pre-installation challenges: classifying barriers to the introduction of smart home technology

“…Refurbishment of properties will be supported by the scheme via a loan, and the debt will be added to (hopefully reduced) gas and electricity bills. Studies show that households are often uncertain about future financial benefits [45], predicted savings can be overestimated, and hard-to-treat dwellings and residences in fuel poverty are unlikely to be included [8].…”