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Factors influencing German house owners' preferences on energy retrofits

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  • Achtnicht, Martin
  • Madlener, Reinhard

Abstract

In this paper, we identify key drivers and barriers for the adoption of building energy retrofits in Germany, which is promoted by public policy as an important measure to address the future challenges of climate change and energy security. We analyze data from a 2009 survey of more than 400 owner-occupiers of single-family detached, semidetached, and row houses in Germany, that was conducted as a computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI). In the survey, respondents were asked directly for reasons for and against retrofitting their homes, but also faced a choice experiment involving different energy retrofit measures. Overall, both the descriptive and econometric results show that house owners who are able to afford it financially, for whom it is profitable, and for whom there is a favorable opportunity, are more likely to undertake energy retrofit activities. Based on an estimated mixed logit error component model, we also simulate the incentive effects of different policy options, such as public subsidies and energy tax increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Achtnicht, Martin & Madlener, Reinhard, 2012. "Factors influencing German house owners' preferences on energy retrofits," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-042, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:12042
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    Cited by:

    1. Dergiades, Theologos & Madlener, Reinhard & Christofidou, Georgia, 2012. "The Nexus between Natural Gas Spot and Futures Prices at NYMEX: Do Weather Shocks and Non-Linear Causality in Low Frequencies Matter?," FCN Working Papers 17/2012, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised Sep 2013.
    2. Collins, Matthew & Curtis, John, 2017. "An examination of the abandonment of applications for energy efficiency retrofit grants in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 260-270.
    3. Peter Heindl, 2015. "Measuring Fuel Poverty: General Considerations and Application to German Household Data," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 71(2), pages 178-215, June.
    4. Karásek, Jiří & Pavlica, Jaroslav, 2016. "Green Investment Scheme: Experience and results in the Czech Republic," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 121-130.
    5. Rohlfs, Wilko & Madlener, Reinhard, 2013. "Challenges in the Evaluation of Ultra-Long-Lived Projects: Risk Premia for Projects with Eternal Returns or Costs," FCN Working Papers 13/2013, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    6. Florian Knobloch & Hector Pollitt & Unnada Chewpreecha & Vassilis Daioglou & Jean-Francois Mercure, 2017. "Simulating the deep decarbonisation of residential heating for limiting global warming to 1.5C," Papers 1710.11019, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2018.
    7. Hecher, Maria & Hatzl, Stefanie & Knoeri, Christof & Posch, Alfred, 2017. "The trigger matters: The decision-making process for heating systems in the residential building sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 288-306.
    8. Rohlfs, Wilko & Madlener, Reinhard, 2011. "Multi-Commodity Real Options Analysis of Power Plant Investments: Discounting Endogenous Risk Structures," FCN Working Papers 22/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    9. repec:eee:ecolec:v:141:y:2017:i:c:p:53-65 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Feser, Daniel & Runst, Petrik, 2016. "Energy efficiency consultants as change agents? Examining the reasons for EECs’ limited success," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 309-317.
    11. Urs Fischbacher & Simeon Schudy & Sabrina Teyssier, 2015. "Heterogeneous Preferences and Investments in Energy Saving Measures," TWI Research Paper Series 95, Thurgauer Wirtschaftsinstitut, Universität Konstanz.
    12. Heindl, Peter & Löschel, Andreas, 2015. "Social implications of green growth policies from the perspective of energy sector reform and its impact on households," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-012, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
    13. Webber, Phil & Gouldson, Andy & Kerr, Niall, 2015. "The impacts of household retrofit and domestic energy efficiency schemes: A large scale, ex post evaluation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 35-43.
    14. van Rijnsoever, Frank J. & van Mossel, Allard & Broecks, Kevin P.F., 2015. "Public acceptance of energy technologies: The effects of labeling, time, and heterogeneity in a discrete choice experiment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 817-829.
    15. Feser, Daniel & Bizer, Kilian & Rudolph-Cleff, Annette & Schulze, Joachim, 2016. "Energy audits in a private firm environment: Energy efficiency consultants' cost calculation for innovative technologies in the housing sector," Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research Discussion Papers 275, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    16. Collins, Matthew & Curtis, John, 2017. "Identification of the information gap in residential energy efficiency: How information asymmetry can be mitigated to induce energy efficiency renovations," Papers WP558, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    17. Harmsen - van Hout, Marjolein & Ghosh, Gaurav & Madlener, Reinhard, 2013. "The Impact of Green Framing on Consumers’ Valuations of Energy-Saving Measures," FCN Working Papers 7/2013, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    18. Ringel, Marc & Schlomann, Barbara & Krail, Michael & Rohde, Clemens, 2016. "Towards a green economy in Germany? The role of energy efficiency policies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1293-1303.
    19. Harmsen - van Hout, Marjolein & Ghosh, Gaurav & Madlener, Reinhard, 2013. "An Evaluation of Attribute Anchoring Bias in a Choice Experimental Setting," FCN Working Papers 6/2013, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Building energy retrofit; Choice experiment; Energy effciency; Residential buildings;

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General

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