IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v126y2019icp287-294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy sufficiency through social innovation in housing

Author

Listed:
  • Lorek, Sylvia
  • Spangenberg, Joachim H.

Abstract

Experience shows that energy savings through energy efficiency measures are partly compensated by income growth, and partly by rebound effects. Therefore to be effective, efficiency measures have to be embedded in a concept of sufficiency which strives for limits and absolute reduction of energy consumption. While the sufficiency concept is not new, it only recently gained attention in the field of housing. This paper provides a basis for broader and more informed debates in policy and research on the potential of sufficiency considerations to contribute to the overall reduction of energy consumption in the residential sector. It recommends shifting the attention from energy consumption of buildings towards a concept of sustainable homes in which e.g. the size of the living area plays a crucial role. A further important aspect is the possibility to fulfil other basic needs like the provision with food, recreation and social contacts in the nearby environment. The paper describes first examples of housing projects guided by sufficiency criteria, depicts the potential roles of different actor groups and points towards some general policy recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorek, Sylvia & Spangenberg, Joachim H., 2019. "Energy sufficiency through social innovation in housing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 287-294.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:126:y:2019:i:c:p:287-294
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.11.026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518307493
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.11.026?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steinberger, Julia K. & Roberts, J. Timmons, 2010. "From constraint to sufficiency: The decoupling of energy and carbon from human needs, 1975-2005," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 425-433, December.
    2. Johan Rockström & Will Steffen & Kevin Noone & Åsa Persson & F. Stuart Chapin & Eric F. Lambin & Timothy M. Lenton & Marten Scheffer & Carl Folke & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Björn Nykvist & Cynthia , 2009. "A safe operating space for humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7263), pages 472-475, September.
    3. Sylvia Lorek, Joachim H. Spangenberg, 2001. "Indicators for environmentally sustainable household consumption," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(1), pages 101-120.
    4. A. Greening, Lorna & Greene, David L. & Difiglio, Carmen, 2000. "Energy efficiency and consumption -- the rebound effect -- a survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 389-401, June.
    5. Spangenberg, Joachim H. & Lorek, Sylvia, 2002. "Environmentally sustainable household consumption: from aggregate environmental pressures to priority fields of action," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 127-140, December.
    6. Karen Blincoe & Alastair Fuad-Luke & Joachim H. Spangenberg & Michael Thomson & Dag Holmgren & Karin Jaschke & Tom Ainsworth & Karolina Tylka, 2009. "DEEDS: a teaching and learning resource to help mainstream sustainability into everyday design teaching and professional practice," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(1), pages 1-23.
    7. Esmaeil Zarghami & Dorsa Fatourehchi & Mohammad Karamloo, 2017. "Impact of Daylighting Design Strategies on Social Sustainability Through the Built Environment," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6), pages 504-527, November.
    8. Deschermeier, Philipp & Henger, Ralph, 2015. "Die Bedeutung des zukünftigen Kohorteneffekts auf den Wohnflächenkonsum," IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, vol. 42(3), pages 23-39.
    9. Sanne, Christer, 2002. "Willing consumers--or locked-in? Policies for a sustainable consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 273-287, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Löffler, Konstantin & Burandt, Thorsten & Hainsch, Karlo & Oei, Pao-Yu & Seehaus, Frederik & Wejda, Felix, 2022. "Chances and barriers for Germany's low carbon transition - Quantifying uncertainties in key influential factors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    2. Rosaria E.C. Amaral & Joel Brito & Matt Buckman & Elicia Drake & Esther Ilatova & Paige Rice & Carlos Sabbagh & Sergei Voronkin & Yewande S. Abraham, 2020. "Waste Management and Operational Energy for Sustainable Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Cordroch, Luisa & Hilpert, Simon & Wiese, Frauke, 2022. "Why renewables and energy efficiency are not enough - the relevance of sufficiency in the heating sector for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Florence Ziesemer & Alexandra Hüttel & Ingo Balderjahn, 2019. "Pioneers’ Insights into Governing Social Innovation for Sustainable Anti-Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-16, November.
    5. M. Kanerva, 2022. "Consumption Corridors and the Case of Meat," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 619-653, December.
    6. Amy Isham & Caroline Verfuerth & Alison Armstrong & Patrick Elf & Birgitta Gatersleben & Tim Jackson, 2022. "The Problematic Role of Materialistic Values in the Pursuit of Sustainable Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    7. Viktorija Bobinaite & Inga Konstantinaviciute & Arvydas Galinis & Mária Bartek-Lesi & Viktor Rácz & Bettina Dézsi, 2022. "Energy Sufficiency in the Household Sector of Lithuania and Hungary: The Case of Heated Floor Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    8. Nick Van Loy & Griet Verbeeck & Elke Knapen, 2021. "Personal Heating in Dwellings as an Innovative, Energy-Sufficient Heating Practice: A Case Study Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-27, June.
    9. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    10. Matschoss, Kaisa & Mikkonen, Irmeli & Gynther, Lea & Koukoufikis, Giorgos & Uihlein, Andreas & Murauskaite-Bull, Ingrida, 2022. "Drawing policy insights from social innovation cases in the energy field," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    11. Spangenberg, Joachim H. & Lorek, Sylvia, 2019. "Sufficiency and consumer behaviour: From theory to policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1070-1079.
    12. Pramit Verma & Justyna Chodkowska‐Miszczuk & Agata Lewandowska & Łukasz Wiśniewski, 2023. "Local resilience for low‐carbon transition in Poland: Frameworks, conditions and opportunities for Central European countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1278-1295, June.
    13. Marcin Sitek & Manuela Tvaronavičienė, 2021. "Innovation Management in Polish Real Estate Developers in the Renewable Energy Sources Context," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    14. Stieß, Immanuel & Umbach-Daniel, Anja & Fischer, Corinna, 2019. "Smart small living? Social innovations for saving energy in senior citizens’ households by reducing living space," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Zell-Ziegler, Carina & Thema, Johannes & Best, Benjamin & Wiese, Frauke & Lage, Jonas & Schmidt, Annika & Toulouse, Edouard & Stagl, Sigrid, 2021. "Enough? The role of sufficiency in European energy and climate plans," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    16. Jungell-Michelsson, Jessica & Heikkurinen, Pasi, 2022. "Sufficiency: A systematic literature review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alcott, Blake, 2008. "The sufficiency strategy: Would rich-world frugality lower environmental impact," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 770-786, February.
    2. Spangenberg, Joachim H. & Lorek, Sylvia, 2019. "Sufficiency and consumer behaviour: From theory to policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1070-1079.
    3. Halme, Minna & Jasch, Christine & Scharp, Michael, 2004. "Sustainable homeservices? Toward household services that enhance ecological, social and economic sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 125-138, November.
    4. Rostami-Tabar, Bahman & Ali, Mohammad M. & Hong, Tao & Hyndman, Rob J. & Porter, Michael D. & Syntetos, Aris, 2022. "Forecasting for social good," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1245-1257.
    5. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Virág, Doris & Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Baumgart, André & Matej, Sarah & Krausmann, Fridolin & Min, Jihoon & Rao, Narasimha D. & Haberl, Helmut, 2022. "How much infrastructure is required to support decent mobility for all? An exploratory assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    7. Panzone, Luca A. & Wossink, Ada & Southerton, Dale, 2013. "The design of an environmental index of sustainable food consumption: A pilot study using supermarket data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 44-55.
    8. Young, William & Middlemiss, Lucie, 2012. "A rethink of how policy and social science approach changing individuals' actions on greenhouse gas emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 742-747.
    9. Alcott, Blake, 2005. "Jevons' paradox," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 9-21, July.
    10. Ribas, Aline & Lucena, André F.P. & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2017. "Bridging the energy divide and securing higher collective well-being in a climate-constrained world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 435-450.
    11. Burgess, Jacquelin & Nye, Michael, 2008. "Re-materialising energy use through transparent monitoring systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4454-4459, December.
    12. Spangenberg, Joachim H., 2007. "Biodiversity pressure and the driving forces behind," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 146-158, February.
    13. Stefano Di Bucchianico & Federica Cappelli, 2021. "Exploring the theoretical link between profitability and luxury emissions," Working Papers PKWP2114, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    14. Arvesen, Anders & Bright, Ryan M. & Hertwich, Edgar G., 2011. "Considering only first-order effects? How simplifications lead to unrealistic technology optimism in climate change mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7448-7454.
    15. van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2008. "Environmental regulation of households: An empirical review of economic and psychological factors," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 559-574, July.
    16. Karasoy, Alper, 2022. "Is innovative technology a solution to Japan's long-run energy insecurity? Dynamic evidence from the linear and nonlinear methods," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Shigemi Kagawa & Yuriko Goto & Sangwon Suh & Keisuke Nansai & Yuki Kudoh, 2012. "Accounting for Changes in Automobile Gasoline Consumption in Japan: 2000–2007," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 1(1), pages 1-27, December.
    18. Hache, Emmanuel & Leboullenger, Déborah & Mignon, Valérie, 2017. "Beyond average energy consumption in the French residential housing market: A household classification approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 82-95.
    19. Nelson, Ewan & Warren, Peter, 2020. "UK transport decoupling: On track for clean growth in transport?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 39-51.
    20. Kaika, Dimitra & Zervas, Efthimios, 2013. "The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory. Part B: Critical issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1403-1411.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:126:y:2019:i:c:p:287-294. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.