Perception and decision-making in residential energy efficiency retrofit

Abstract

Energy consumption in residential buildings is a significant contributor to global climate change. In the United Kingdom, it contributes 14% of national greenhouse gas emissions, and is well behind in the progress needed to achieve climate change targets. To accelerate this progress, a step change in the retrofit of residential buildings and in the uptake of energy efficiency measures is required, and the barriers and drivers to this uptake have been the subject of significant research efforts. This research has highlighted stakeholders’ perceptions of energy efficiency as a central driver of their retrofit decision-making behaviour, and seeks to provide a deeper understanding of these perceptions and behaviours, to accelerate energy efficiency retrofit. However, existing research on residential retrofit decision-making continues to face challenges, including methodological issues and difficulties in translating research findings into practice, such as policymaking and energy systems modelling. This thesis aims to overcome some of these challenges and contributes to the field of retrofit research in several ways, focusing on the United Kingdom. Firstly, it presents 6 original studies which investigate how different stakeholders make retrofit decisions, using 5 distinct methodologies and comparing the usability of the findings for policymaking and energy systems modelling. Secondly, it produces new insights on the retrofit behaviour of various stakeholders, including a little-researched stakeholder group (British private landlords), and highlights the central role of perception in driving this behaviour. Thirdly, where possible it assesses the uptake of specific energy-saving technologies, outlining the differences in perception and behaviour depending on the measure being retrofitted. Fourthly, it empirically grounds qualitative and quantitative research methods in real data, increasing the robustness of the findings generated. Finally, it seeks to close the translational gap between academic research and non-academic stakeholders, such as policymakers, by actively involving these stakeholders in the research design, where possible.