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When it comes to the installations and appliances inside people’s homes, the
energy efficiency of heating and large electrical appliances has, on average, increased
by 1% and 1.5% respectively over the past decade. The market share of
A-label appliances (indicating that they are the most energy efficient) grew from
just 10% to as high as 90% between 1998 and 2008.
Decentralised renewable energy production has also grown significantly in the
private household sector. The diffusion of solar water heaters, for example,
has soared, reaching an astonishing 75% of households in Cyprus in 2000, with
Greece also making significant progress from 2000 to 2009 (35% of all dwellings
equipped with a solar water heater). In Austria, 24% of dwellings have such
heaters, falling to 11% in Malta and 6% in Germany (Odyssee/Enerdata 2011).
In Spain the Technical Building Code has, since 2006, included an obligation to
meet up to 70% of domestic demand for hot water through solar thermal energy
(for new buildings and major renovations).
Challenges to sustainable
living:
• Increasing number and
size of dwellings
• Existing, energy inefficient
buildings
• High costs, long pay-back
times and complicated
application procedures
for subsidies for building
renovations
• Lack of trustworthy
information and advice for
building renovations
• Growing number of
electricity consuming
appliances in households
• Stimulating and
supporting long-term
behaviour change
• Rebound effects
Challenges to more sustainable living
One over-arching challenge that influences our ability to live in a sustainable
way is our large stock of existing buildings and urban structures. Houses are
built to last and it may take decades before a building is substantially renovated
to reduce energy consumption, or even replaced with a new “nearly zero” or
“energy positive” building. In addition, the building sector is a conservative industry.
It takes time to educate and persuade professionals about the benefits
of new design approaches and to develop effective collaboration between architects,
building material suppliers and the construction industry to foster more
efficient housing.
One particular challenge is the increasing size and number of individual dwellings
(Odyssee/Enerdata 2011). People value comfort, which means space,
warmth and light, with large rooms, high internal temperatures and large windows.
All these factors lead to high levels of energy consumption. This also
means that investments in building renovations, such as loft insulation or new
heating systems, are not always about energy savings, but about creating more
available living space or higher indoor temperatures (Bartiaux 2011).
The energy efficiency of buildings is also challenged by high costs and long payback
times for building renovations. This is exacerbated by a tendency for homeowners
to prioritise immediate gratification over long-term benefits (Breukers
et al. 2009). Another challenge is the owner-occupier issue: who pays for building
renovation and who profits from the (financial) benefits if people do not own
the buildings in which they live? A related challenge is that energy efficiency is
not yet reflected in the market value of a building. The energy performance certificate
of buildings offers potential to influence market values, but its current
intended effect is only the informational aspect.
Promising practices
Promising practice 8: Energy efficient building shells.
Climate adaptive building shells (CABS) are designed to
reduce energy demand while maintaining comfort levels.
These buildings can repeatedly and reversibly change their
functions, features or behaviour over time in response to
changes in performance requirements and external conditions.
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SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: TODAY’S FACTS & TOMORROW’S TRENDS