Targeting ‘behavers’ rather than behaviours: A ‘subject-oriented’ approach for reducing space heating rebound effects in low energy dwellings

• Published in: Energy and buildings Vol. 67; pp. 596 - 607
• Main Author: Galvin, Ray
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 01.12.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Bioclimatic building; Building technical equipments; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Energy management and energy conservation in building; Energy-efficient buildings; Environmental engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Heating consumption policy; Household energy consumption behaviour; Residential building; Thermal retrofits; Types of buildings; Europe; Germany; Thermal retrofits; Heating consumption policy; Household energy consumption behaviour; Energy-efficient buildings; Energy analysis; Energy consumption; Household; Apartment; Case study; Residential building; Low energy building; Heating; Energetic efficiency; Behavior; Rehabilitation
• ISSN: 0378-7788
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.08.065

•Space heating consumption of 60 apartments in 2 low-energy buildings is examined.•Heavy, light and medium consumers can be clearly distinguished statistically.•The heavy group (23%) consumes 52% of the energy, offering great reduction potential.•A ‘subject oriented’ approach to target heavy consumers is proposed.•This could be more effective than current psychologically based interventions. A common strategy to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions is retrofitting residential buildings to high thermal standards. But households in retrofitted homes often consume more space heating energy than expected, thus frustrating climate and energy goals. Most interventions to mitigate this focus on energy-inefficient ‘behaviours’, and assume that identifying the causes of these behaviours can deliver interventions that change consumption patterns and habits across large groups of consumers. A detailed investigation of sensor data from 60 retrofitted apartments served as a testing ground for an alternative or supplementary approach: targeting ‘behavers’ rather than ‘behaviours’. Consumption patterns supported the division of households into ‘light’, ‘medium’ and ‘heavy’ consumers, each showing a normally distributed picture of consumption. Heavy consumers (23% of households) consumed 52% of the space heating energy, medium consumers (57% of households) consumed 45% and light consumers (20% of households) consumed 3%. Among both heavy and medium cohorts the data indicates very stable patterns of consumption across time, deeply entwined with routines and with the physical fabric of the indoor environment, and therefore very difficult to change. Since the heavy cohort is a small minority of households that consumes around half the total energy, it could be cost-effective to target this group specifically rather than aim interventions at consumers in general. Other datasets of low energy homes suggest that a similar heuristic could be appropriate.