Housing performance evaluation: challenges for international knowledge exchange

Developing effective building performance evaluation and feedback processes is a vital part of global efforts to reduce building energy use and gain insight into the actual performance of buildings and technologies. Although attempts have been made to introduce internationally agreed models for these processes, it is clear that various countries are producing different approaches according to their cultural, institutional and policy differences. Knowledge exchange is potentially a key means of developing a shared understanding of values, meanings and practices in relation to building performance evaluation. This paper identifies cultural and institutional barriers in the European Union for international building performance communities of practice utilizing knowledge exchange, from an experiential ‘real-world’ perspective. The preparation of a 30-month research project to help develop building performance evaluation in Poland and an associated bilateral symposium is closely evaluated through an action research case study in terms of the stakeholders, the national contexts in which they operated and the key challenges they faced. Recommendations are then made in terms of the support needed to develop more responsive research programmes in relation to developing international knowledge exchange, and the capacity-building elements required for these international communities of practice

Money Matters: Mitigating Risk to Spark Private Investments in Energy Efficiency: Mitigating Risk to Spark Private Investments in Energy Efficiency

Scaling-up investment in energy efficiency is essential to achieving a sustainable energy future. Despite energy efficiency’s recognised advantages as a bankable investment with immense climate change mitigation benefits, most of the energy efficiency potential remains untapped and the investment gap to achieve climate goals is tremendous. This report seeks to improve understanding as to why this is so, and what can be done about it.

Innovative Policy Schemes to Promote Renovation of Multi-Flat Residential Buildings and Address the Problems of Energy Poverty of Aging Societies in Former Socialist Countries

In former socialist countries, urban districts having the lowest building and insulation quality and the highest district heat consumption overlap with low-income and older households, creating a problem of energy poverty and a significant barrier to renovation of multi-flat buildings. Thus, the main challenge centers on fuel poverty in an aging society. This paper analyzes the main barriers to renovation of multi-flat buildings and assesses policies and measures to promote renovation of multi-flat buildings in terms of overcoming these barriers in former socialist countries which are currently EU Member States. Furthermore, it presents a new conceptual framework for developing innovative policies and schemes to promote renovation of multi-flat buildings in the face of the renovation barriers outlined above. The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) model or on-bill financing models can be modified and applied to renovation of multi-flat buildings, based on the UK example. Higher payments for utility bills can be shared among households living in multi-flat buildings that require renovation. As in the case of subsidies for communal services, life-line tariffs can be applied to pay for Energy Company Obligation services. This enables sharing the costs of renovation among apartment owners having different incomes and addresses the principle of social justice

Beyond economics : understanding the decision-making of German small private landlords in terms of energy efficiency investment

The German government aims to achieve virtually climate-neutral building stock by 2050 to tackle climate change. To realise this goal, comprehensive policy packages based on neoclassical economic theory are in place to foster energy efficiency investment. However, in the building sector, there is increasingly a gap between this aspiration and the reality. It is claimed that one of the main reasons for this is that the existing policy framework fails to address the specific characteristics and needs of different groups of building owners. This is a particular challenge in Germany, where 80% of all dwellings are owned privately and 37% are rented out by small private landlords (SPL). Despite the significant numbers of SPL, they often follow black box decision-making processes when considering energy renovations. In this study, the author uses an explanatory model to understand the decision-making processes of SPL, combining theoretical aspects from different research disciplines. This model was applied to a low-demand housing market in a neighbourhood in the Ruhr area. Eighteen semi-structured interviews (each lasting between 37 and 115 min) were conducted, demonstrating that in addition to economic factors, the values, beliefs, norms and routines of SPL - as well as their personal capabilities and contextual factors - play an important role in their decision-making. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for enhancing the effectiveness of existing energy efficiency policies and other supporting instruments (e.g. tenancy law and social legislation), tailored to the specific needs of SPL