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1
Australian Householders’ Attitudes Towards
Sustainability in the Home
Profs Bond & Newman
This research was supported under Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP0985410). The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not
necessarily those of the Australian Research Council.
2
Sustainability in the Built Environment
Australia produces the highest GHG emissions per unit of GDP in the world!
Buildings account for around 25-30%
Australia
3
Focus on Residential
Nearly 75% of spending on buildings over last 5 years have been on dwellings
55% = construction of new dwellings
45% = alterations & additions to existing dwellings over $10,000
Improving energy efficiency of buildings is the quickest & most cost effective way of reducing GHG emissions
5
Draft National Strategy on Energy Efficiency 2009-2020
stringency of energy efficient requirements in the Building Code of Australia from 2010
Phase in mandatory disclosure of energy efficiency in buildings
Homes: BCA 6* minimum by 2011Hot-water systems & lighting: new efficiency requirements
Incentives, rebates, grants: e.g. Green Loan program (on hold), water tanks, PV, Solar HW
6
Cost as a barrier
Common argument against “going green” is that it costs more than a comparable conventionally designed building or home
Developers look to minimise capital costs & continue to provide buildings that are cheap to build but expensive to operate
7
Literature ReviewBarriers to uptake of renewable energy in homes (Environment Victoria, 2009):
lack of consumer information when buying split incentives between builders & the
householders: builders are not motivated to improve the energy efficiency of homes as they do not re-coup the benefits
upfront capital costs of EE measures “bounded rationality” – householders may not
understand the benefits to them of energy efficiency, or may not act due to other priorities
8
Literature Review A 2007 survey of 1700 households showed:
Public consciousness is very high - 90% agree: “climate change is a major problem for the planet”
More than half have electric water heaters: criticised for contributing to GHG emissions & highest energy use in homes
Up to 20% are unwilling to undertake any sustainability improvements because of trouble or expense
35% are willing to be persuaded if the savings, cost & ease of installation are attractive enough
9
Literature Review
Survey reported by ABS (2006) showed: Adoption of environmentally friendly
behaviours is greatest where it is convenient & where it does not require a lot of time or money
43% said they considered cost to be the main factor when buying a new white good
44% said energy* rating was main reason Only 11% of households stated an
environmental factor as their main concern
10
Research Aims
Determine lifestyle choices: size of home, construction, facilities & household size
Determine householders’ motivation to reduce GHG emissions in the home
Identify & explain user behaviour in residential buildings in relation to the energy consumed
11
Methodology:
1. Survey residents in 5 largest cities by population:
Sydney Melbourne Perth Brisbane Adelaide
Survey posted to 1250 residents Response rate 6.5% (n=85)
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Survey Results
Motivation to reduce personal climate change emissions:
49 % moderately motivated 32% highly motivated
Choice of house size: 35% live in 3 bedroom home; 35% 4 bed 52% have 2 bathrooms 52% have 2 living rooms
In line with ABS data that shows that the average home has grown to 258m2.
13
Survey Results
Household size: 43.5% have 2 persons 20% have 3 persons National average: 2.6 persons/ household This trend to smaller household sizes & larger
homes presents a barrier to reducing impacts on the environmentAir Conditioning:
73% have air-con (ABS 2006 figures shows AC use has doubled in 14 years)
14
Likelihood of adopting no/low cost behaviours that reduce GHG emissions
Actions Already doing
Likely/Highly likely
Unlikely to adopt
Turn off all my appliances at the wall 40% 30% 23% Insulate hot water pipes 40% 21% 19% Avoid halogen down-lights or replace with LED/compact fluorescent globes
44% 29% 7.4%
Turn lights off when not in the room 89.4% 8% 1% Use a warmer blanket while sleeping rather than warming the whole room
88% 8.3% 1%
Dress appropriately rather than cooling/warming the whole room
86% 12% 1%
Replace 10 of the most used light bulbs with LED or CFLs
58% 31.4% 5%
Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when full
82.4% 12% 3.5%
Dry clothes on a clothesline rather than in an electric clothes dryer
85% 10.6% 1%
Install timers on appliances to turn them off when not in use
10.6% 16.5% 38%
15
No/Low Cost Actions
Over 50% of respondents were already taking many of the listed actions
The actions they were most likely to take: replacing 10 of the most used light bulbs with LED or CFLs; turning off all appliances at the wall when not in use; avoiding halogen down-lights
The actions they were least likely to take: installing timers on appliances to turn them off when not in use; insulating hot water pipes
Given listed actions are low/no cost it was surprising more people would not act
16
Reasons for not taking action
Inconvenience They forgot Too lazy This information can provide useful clues
of what is needed to encourage people to act, for example: automating actions where possible making actions mandatory or part of the BCA
(dual flush WCs; low flow taps; etc)
17
Likelihood of adopting low/medium cost behaviours
Actions Already doing
Likely/Highly likely
Unlikely to adopt
Have an energy audit/ assessment completed on my home
13% 11% 48%
Install ceiling fans to reduce use of or need for air conditioning
51% 8% 31%
Install a 1kW or larger PV system on the roof
12% 11% 57%
Install a 5 Star instant gas; heat pump; or solar hot water heater
38% 13% 32%
Install or top up insulation in ceilings
63% 18% 11%
Replace single flush toilet with water-saving dual system
82% 11% 5%
Externally shade any exposed western or eastern windows
62% 13% 11%
Install double glazing to windows 2% 5% 69% Switch household power supply to “Green Power” (100% renewable energy)
11% 18% 53%
Install a “Smart Meter” 10% 13% 53%
18
Low/medium Cost Actions
Over 50% of respondents were taking action on only 5 out of 17 listed actions
The most common actions already taken: replacing single flush toilet with dual flush; installing or topping-up ceiling insulation & externally shading any exposed western or eastern windows
Given that 42% of heat escapes through the roof & that heating /cooling consumes the most amount of energy, installing insulation is one of the more cost-effective ways of reducing energy consumption
19
Low/medium Cost Actions
It is surprising with rebates available for installing insulation that the take up of these has not been higher
Similarly, water heating uses 25% of energy in homes but creates the most GHG emissions
Only 38% had installed instantaneous gas or solar hot water heater yet this is another cost-effective way of reducing both energy consumption and GHG emissions while saving money & rebates are available
20
Low/medium Cost Actions
The actions they were least likely to take: installing double glazing installing a photovoltaic system switching to “Green Power” installing a smart meter
more information is needed about these Help consumers see where, how & when they
use energy = better informed how to adjust their consumption habits in order to save $ on power bills
21
Reasons for not taking action
Cost was the major reason not to act Given that there are rebates available in many
States it would seem that: Either the respondents were not aware of the
rebates, or They are not informed about the benefits of
many of these actions particularly in terms of overall savings in energy costs, where payback periods can be quite short
22
Benefits & motivations for acting
1. Cost savings > $1000 p.a. were considered the most important
2. “doing the right thing”
3. achieving healthy indoor air quality
4. increased property value
5. decreased obsolescence Cost savings benefits are reported most
widely in the media in relation to acting environmentally
23
Respondent Demographics
Age & Gender: 62% were male 61% were over 60 years of age (much higher
than National average >65 years is 13.5%, ABS 2009)
Thus, survey responses are not likely to be representative of the population as a whole
Common issue with postal surveys: those with more time tend to respond (older, retirees)
24
Respondent Demographics
Location: 28% were from South Australia 24% from Western Australia 20% from New South Wales 15.5% from Victoria 13% from Queensland
25
Ongoing Issues There is limited information available to
consumers about the costs & benefits of retrofitting to make homes more sustainable
This has been identified as a barrier to the uptake of sustainability in homes
Generally consumers want to know:
the cost of installing a feature
the cost savings from having it
the associated payback period
= better able to make informed decisions
26
Ongoing Issues
Type of information required, an example:
The cost to install a 1kWh photovoltaic system is ≈ $12,000
With the available rebate of $8,000 it would take 15 years to payback this feature
The consumer would save, on average:
$250p.a. in energy costs
1.83 tonnes of GHG emissions
27
Ongoing Issues
Other little known facts:
Appliances draw electrical power (3% of a home’s energy use) if turned off (but not off at the wall) or on stand by
Some of the largest drawers of energy are:
audio-visual equipment,
VCRs,
printers,
computer notebooks
28
Summary & Conclusions
A 2009 survey of householder’s attitudes towards willingness to act environmentally
Barriers to energy efficiency in homes are:
larger homes & smaller households
costs & long payback periods of sustainable features
lack of consumer information about benefits & savings from incorporating sustainable behaviours & features
29
Summary & ConclusionsCommon reasons people are not acting in more sustainable ways:
inconvenience
laziness
Given that water heating & heating & cooling of homes use the most energy & produce the most GHG emissions these areas should be focused on
According to IEA: a total global switch to compact fluorescent bulbs would deliver CO2 savings slightly over half of the Kyoto reductions!