IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v93y2015ip1p1199-1209.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of energy audits on energy efficiency investment of public owners. Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Barbetta, Gian Paolo
  • Canino, Paolo
  • Cima, Stefano

Abstract

Buildings are a promising area of energy savings, but a difference exists between actual and optimal investment in this field. The so called ‘information gap’ about the costs and benefits of energy-saving activities could explain the difference. Audit programs have been undertaken to overcome the ‘information gap’ but, surprisingly, most papers analyzing the impact of audits on the adoption of energy-saving measures use faulty methods that could provide biased results.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbetta, Gian Paolo & Canino, Paolo & Cima, Stefano, 2015. "The impact of energy audits on energy efficiency investment of public owners. Evidence from Italy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 1199-1209.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:93:y:2015:i:p1:p:1199-1209
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2015.09.117
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544215013407
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2015.09.117?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. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    2. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 772-793, September.
    3. Pedro Linares & Xavier Labandeira, 2010. "Energy Efficiency: Economics And Policy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 573-592, July.
    4. Murphy, Lorraine, 2014. "The influence of energy audits on the energy efficiency investments of private owner-occupied households in the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 398-407.
    5. Burman, Esfand & Mumovic, Dejan & Kimpian, Judit, 2014. "Towards measurement and verification of energy performance under the framework of the European directive for energy performance of buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 153-163.
    6. Annunziata, Eleonora & Rizzi, Francesco & Frey, Marco, 2014. "Enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings: The role of local energy audit programmes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 364-373.
    7. Hunt Allcott & Michael Greenstone, 2012. "Is There an Energy Efficiency Gap?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 3-28, Winter.
    8. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    9. Ryghaug, Marianne & Sørensen, Knut H., 2009. "How energy efficiency fails in the building industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 984-991, March.
    10. Harris, Jane & Anderson, Jane & Shafron, Walter, 2000. "Investment in energy efficiency: a survey of Australian firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 867-876, October.
    11. Gary Burtless, 1995. "The Case for Randomized Field Trials in Economic and Policy Research," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 63-84, Spring.
    12. Hoppe, T. & Bressers, J.Th.A. & Lulofs, K.R.D., 2011. "Local government influence on energy conservation ambitions in existing housing sites--Plucking the low-hanging fruit?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 916-925, February.
    13. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    14. Trianni, A. & Cagno, E., 2012. "Dealing with barriers to energy efficiency and SMEs: Some empirical evidences," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 494-504.
    15. Hirst, Eric & Tyler, Robert & Eastes, Christopher & Dumagan, Jess, 1980. "Engineering audits at state-owned buildings in Minnesota," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 271-283.
    16. Anderson, Soren T. & Newell, Richard G., 2004. "Information programs for technology adoption: the case of energy-efficiency audits," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 27-50, March.
    17. Herring, Horace, 2006. "Energy efficiency—a critical view," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 10-20.
    18. Backlund, Sandra & Thollander, Patrik, 2015. "Impact after three years of the Swedish energy audit program," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 54-60.
    19. Tobias Fleitera & Joachim Schleich & Ployplearn Ravivanpong, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data," Post-Print hal-00805748, HAL.
    20. White, Howard, 2006. "Impact evaluation: the experience of the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank," MPRA Paper 1111, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Tonn, Bruce & Martin, Michaela, 2000. "Industrial energy efficiency decision making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 831-843, October.
    22. Nässén, Jonas & Sprei, Frances & Holmberg, John, 2008. "Stagnating energy efficiency in the Swedish building sector--Economic and organisational explanations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3814-3822, October.
    23. Blass, Vered & Corbett, Charles J. & Delmas, Magali A. & Muthulingam, Suresh, 2014. "Top management and the adoption of energy efficiency practices: Evidence from small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in the US," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 560-571.
    24. Henryson, Jessica & Hakansson, Teresa & Pyrko, Jurek, 2000. "Energy efficiency in buildings through information - Swedish perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 169-180, March.
    25. Karkanias, C. & Boemi, S.N. & Papadopoulos, A.M. & Tsoutsos, T.D. & Karagiannidis, A., 2010. "Energy efficiency in the Hellenic building sector: An assessment of the restrictions and perspectives of the market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2776-2784, June.
    26. Jennings, Mark & Fisk, David & Shah, Nilay, 2014. "Modelling and optimization of retrofitting residential energy systems at the urban scale," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 220-233.
    27. AfDB AfDB, . "Annual Report 2012," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 461.
    28. Beckel, Christian & Sadamori, Leyna & Staake, Thorsten & Santini, Silvia, 2014. "Revealing household characteristics from smart meter data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 397-410.
    29. Saidur, R. & Hasanuzzaman, M. & Yogeswaran, S. & Mohammed, H.A. & Hossain, M.S., 2010. "An end-use energy analysis in a Malaysian public hospital," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 4780-4785.
    30. Joachim Schleich, 2004. "Do energy audits help reduce barriers to energy efficiency? An empirical analysis for Germany," International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(3), pages 226-239.
    31. Fleiter, Tobias & Schleich, Joachim & Ravivanpong, Ployplearn, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs—An empirical analysis based on energy audit data from Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 863-875.
    32. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    33. Rezessy, Silvia & Dimitrov, Konstantin & Urge-Vorsatz, Diana & Baruch, Seth, 2006. "Municipalities and energy efficiency in countries in transition: Review of factors that determine municipal involvement in the markets for energy services and energy efficient equipment, or how to aug," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 223-237, January.
    34. Beccali, Marco & Bonomolo, Marina & Ciulla, Giuseppina & Galatioto, Alessandra & Lo Brano, Valerio, 2015. "Improvement of energy efficiency and quality of street lighting in South Italy as an action of Sustainable Energy Action Plans. The case study of Comiso (RG)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 394-408.
    35. Friedman, Chanoch & Becker, Nir & Erell, Evyatar, 2014. "Energy retrofit of residential building envelopes in Israel: A cost-benefit analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 183-193.
    36. Buonomano, Annamaria & Calise, Francesco & Ferruzzi, Gabriele & Palombo, Adolfo, 2014. "Dynamic energy performance analysis: Case study for energy efficiency retrofits of hospital buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 555-572.
    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. Brutscher, Philipp-Bastian & Ravillard, Pauline, 2019. "Promoting energy audits: Results from an experiment," EIB Working Papers 2019/06, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    2. Weigert, Andreas & Hopf, Konstantin & Günther, Sebastian A. & Staake, Thorsten, 2022. "Heat pump inspections result in large energy savings when a pre-selection of households is performed: A promising use case of smart meter data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet, 2018. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to building energy savings," Policy Papers 2018.04, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    4. Safarzadeh, Soroush & Rasti-Barzoki, Morteza & Hejazi, Seyed Reza, 2020. "A review of optimal energy policy instruments on industrial energy efficiency programs, rebound effects, and government policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan, 2020. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to energy savings in the building sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Andersen, Kristoffer Steen & Wiese, Catharina & Petrovic, Stefan & McKenna, Russell, 2020. "Exploring the role of households’ hurdle rates and demand elasticities in meeting Danish energy-savings target," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Mehdi Bensouda & Mimoun Benali & Ghada Moufdi & Taoufik El Bouzekri El Idrissi & Abdelhamid El Bouhadi, 2023. "Energy Audit as an Instrument to Tackle Internal Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Lessons from Moroccan Industrial Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-19, July.
    8. Hua, Jian & Shiu, Hong-Gwo, 2018. "Sustainable development of renewable energy on Wangan Island, Taiwan," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 200-208.
    9. Xiaoyu Li & Jiawei Tang & Chao Feng & Yexiao Chen, 2023. "Can Government Environmental Auditing Help to Improve Environmental Quality? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-21, February.

    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. Backlund, Sandra & Thollander, Patrik, 2015. "Impact after three years of the Swedish energy audit program," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 54-60.
    2. Schleich, Joachim & Fleiter, Tobias, 2019. "Effectiveness of energy audits in small business organizations," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 59-70.
    3. Kalantzis, Fotios & Revoltella, Debora, 2019. "How energy audits promote SMEs' energy efficiency investment," EIB Working Papers 2019/02, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    4. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Farné, Stefano, 2016. "Barriers, drivers and decision-making process for industrial energy efficiency: A broad study among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1537-1551.
    5. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    6. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Hirzel, Simon, 2017. "Adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures for Non-residential Buildings: Technological and Organizational Heterogeneity in the Trade, Commerce and Services Sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 240-254.
    7. Fleiter, Tobias & Schleich, Joachim & Ravivanpong, Ployplearn, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs—An empirical analysis based on energy audit data from Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 863-875.
    8. Jose García-Quevedo & Xavier Massa-Camps, 2019. "Why firms invest (or not) in energy efficiency? A review of the econometric evidence," Working Papers 2019/07, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    9. Christian Dienes, 2015. "Energy and Material Efficiency Improvements, Compliance Strategies, and Investments in Resource Efficiency: A Cross-Country Study," Schumpeter Discussion Papers SDP15004, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    10. Tobias Fleitera & Joachim Schleich & Ployplearn Ravivanpong, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data," Post-Print hal-00805748, HAL.
    11. Herrera, Bernardo & Amell, Andrés & Chejne, Farid & Cacua, Karen & Manrique, Raiza & Henao, Wilson & Vallejo, Gabriel, 2017. "Use of thermal energy and analysis of barriers to the implementation of thermal efficiency measures in cement production: Exploratory study in Colombia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 1047-1058.
    12. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan, 2020. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to energy savings in the building sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Annunziata, Eleonora & Rizzi, Francesco & Frey, Marco, 2014. "Enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings: The role of local energy audit programmes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 364-373.
    14. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet, 2018. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to building energy savings," Working Papers 2018.07, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    15. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Cristiana Donati & Nicola Spagnolo, 2022. "Small and Medium Sized European Firms and Energy Efficiency Measures: A Probit Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 10066, CESifo.
    16. Apriani Soepardi & Pratikto Pratikto & Purnomo Budi Santoso & Ishardita Pambudi Tama & Patrik Thollander, 2018. "Linking of Barriers to Energy Efficiency Improvement in Indonesia’s Steel Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    17. Schlomann, Barbara & Schleich, Joachim, 2015. "Adoption of low-cost energy efficiency measures in the tertiary sector—An empirical analysis based on energy survey data," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1127-1133.
    18. Runst, Petrik & Bettendorf, Axel, 2017. "Energieeffizienz in Klein- und Kleinstunternehmen des Handwerks," Göttinger Beiträge zur Handwerksforschung 16, Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen (ifh).
    19. Mauricio Villamizar‐Villegas & Freddy A. Pinzon‐Puerto & Maria Alejandra Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2022. "A comprehensive history of regression discontinuity designs: An empirical survey of the last 60 years," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1130-1178, September.
    20. Zhang, Dayong & Li, Jun & Ji, Qiang, 2020. "Does better access to credit help reduce energy intensity in China? Evidence from manufacturing firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).

    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:energy:v:93:y:2015:i:p1:p:1199-1209. 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.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    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.