Taranu, V; Verbeeck, G and Nuyts, E (2020) Upgrading the energy label for dwellings in Flanders: An example of a behaviourally informed policy tool. Building Research & Information, 48(1), pp. 18-33. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
The energy performance certificate (EPC) is mandatory in the EU, aiming to enable prospective buyers and renters to compare dwellings in terms of energy performance. Flanders intends to improve its current EPC, by adding a label to the existing coloured scale and EPC score. Our research aimed to inform the Flemish Energy Agency by testing before releasing the new version of the certificate, thus being an example of behaviourally informed policies. A literature review of experiments on information framing in similar contexts established the background to the research. Given the evidence of the importance of information framing, we tested 10 versions of the new label on 224 respondents (N = 224). We verified two main hypotheses–the 'normal distribution illusion' and the 'energy efficiency fallacy'. The former tested whether respondents assess too optimistically the dwellings in the red spectrum of the scale. The latter verified whether respondents focused exclusively on energy efficiency, ignoring the dwelling size or total energy consumption. Nudges tested to overcome these biases included social norm, anchoring and rescaling. Based on these results the label was rescaled, from the initial G-A to F-A+. Rescaling corrects the overoptimistic assessment of the energy performance of label F.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | energy efficiency; energy label; energy renovation; laboratory experiments; nudges; social norm |
| Index terms: | evidence, literature review, framing, energy performance certificate, energy renovation, laboratory, energy performance, energy efficiency, testing, agency, upgrading, bias, experiment, Flanders, energy consumption |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, renovation and retrofit, energy systems, sustainability and energy, conceptual models, physical geography and landforms, research management, probability and distributions, sociology, strategic management, data analysis and analytics, professional practice, evaluation and assessment methods |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Design Practice, Sustainability, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here