Air conditioning and electricity expenditure: The role of climate in temperate countries

This paper investigates how households adopt and use air conditioning to adapt to climate change and increasingly high temperatures, which pose a threat to the health of vulnerable populations. The analysis examines conditions in eight temperate, industrialized countries (Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland). The identification strategy exploits cross-country and cross-household variations by matching geocoded households with climate data. Our findings suggest that households respond to excess heat by purchasing and using air conditioners, leading to increased electricity consumption. Households on average spend 35%–42% more on electricity when they adopt air conditioning. Through an illustrative analysis, we show that climate change and the growing demand for air conditioning are likely to exacerbate energy poverty. The number of energy poor who spend a high share of income on electricity increases, and households in the lowest income quantile are the most negatively affected

‘City‐wide or City‐blind’? An analysis of retrofit practices in the UK commercial property sector

Commercial property produces about 10% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions and consumes 7% of UK energy. It is estimated that UK business is overlooking a potential cost‐saving of £1.6b through under‐investment in energy efficiency, with the UK's commercial retrofit market potential estimated at £9.7b (or US$16b). Using the multi‐level perspective (MLP) as a conceptual lens this chapter examines the nature and characteristics of the commercial property retrofit regime in the UK. Based on 37 face‐to‐face interviews conducted during 2012–2013 (as part of the EPSRC Retrofit 2050 programme) the chapter examines the trends in commercial property retrofitting at a ‘regime’ level to address the following key questions: (i) ‘Who’? by identifying the main stakeholders in the commercial property retrofit regime and its key features; (ii) ‘What’? by defining what is meant by ‘retrofit’ in the regime and examining the key retrofit technologies being used; (iii) ‘Why’? by examining the key drivers and barriers for commercial property retrofit; and (iv) ‘How’? by examining the institutional frameworks, legislation and monitoring/standards behind commercial property retrofit (including financing, assessment methods, and monitoring and verification systems). The chapter suggests that although there is evidence of niche experiments, the regime is hampered by complexity, fragmentation and conservatism. This is not helped by a lack of consensus over the meaning of the term ‘retrofit’. Moreover the commercial property sector does not necessarily take a ‘city‐wide’ view of retrofit projects: in this sense it is ‘city‐blind’ with the focus more likely to be on individual building or property portfolio level. The chapter examines issues of scale, particularly at city level (and also summarises the key challenges to retrofitting at city scale in the regime), and finally sets out insights for the future, including policy and practice implications