Walking with energy: Increasing energy visibility through research participation

© 2019 European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. All rights reserved. Our contemporary relationship with energy is characterised by complete dependency and almost complete ignorance. The Walking with Energy project draws on oral history and walking interviews to offer an innovative method of (re)engaging the public in debates and decisions regarding energy production and consumption. This paper makes the case for this new approach and discusses the results of a pilot of the method undertaken in the UK in 2018 involving 15 members of the public

Understanding the user in low energy housing: a comparison of positivist and phenomenological approaches

This paper, based on UK practice, sets out a series of examples of previous studies of low energy housing and housing modernisation which illustrate the main approaches to studying housing and energy issues. The four approaches exemplified are technical assessments, building oriented research, people oriented research and in-depth qualitative studies, each of which sit at different points along a spectrum running from positivism to phenomenology, with the former two examples sitting further towards the positivist end and the latter two further towards phenomenology. Through an assessment of examples of each approach, we explore the argument that qualitative and discursive research methodologies have a useful role to play, complementing more quantitative approaches in the field of domestic energy. The paper supports this view, underlines the importance of triangulation and recognises the continuing relevance of studies of building performance. It goes further, however, by questioning which of these approaches should take priority. It is concluded that open-ended qualitative research, exemplified by phenomenological and hermeneutic traditions, are better equipped to investigate the home, as experienced and, in doing so, to identify the range of factors that influence domestic energy consumption

The contemporary landscape of fuel poverty research

A key aim of this special issue has been to showcase the breadth of approaches to fuel poverty research emanating from a growing international community of fuel poverty researchers and in doing so, to promote awareness of the range of disciplinary areas influencing contemporary fuel poverty research. Overcoming established disciplinary and methodological siloes represents a considerable challenge for the future of the field and may be key to offering those in policy and practice the clarity and comprehensive insights that they need to fully understand and respond effectively to the problem

Understanding tenants’ responses to energy efficiency renovations in public housing in Sweden: From the resigned to the demanding

This study focuses on the experiences of tenants in renovation projects of public housing rental apartments in Sweden. Tenants’ perspectives are under-researched in the context of energy efficiency renovation projects, which is a considerable oversight given the many ways in which such projects impact their lives. The aim of the paper is to reveal rare qualitative insights into tenants’ experiences of, and attitudes towards, energy efficiency renovations in a public housing context and the extent to which they feel motivated and able to influence the renovation project. Participatory observations at tenant meetings were conducted as well as semi-structured phone interviews. An empirically driven typology is developed indicating that tenants have different interests and attitudes regarding energy efficiency renovations. Six different types are identified: the satisfied; the demanding, the conservative, the resigned, the sceptical and the resistant