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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Behavioral Perspectives On Home Energy Audits: The Role Of Auditors, Labels, Reports, And Audit Tools On Homeowner Decision-Making, Aaron Ingle, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser, Zachary Lawrence Hathaway, Susan Lutzenhiser, Joe Van Clock, Jane Peters, Rebecca Smith, David Heslam, Richard Diamond
Behavioral Perspectives On Home Energy Audits: The Role Of Auditors, Labels, Reports, And Audit Tools On Homeowner Decision-Making, Aaron Ingle, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser, Zachary Lawrence Hathaway, Susan Lutzenhiser, Joe Van Clock, Jane Peters, Rebecca Smith, David Heslam, Richard Diamond
Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports
Our study focused on the perspective of homeowner decision-making in response to home energy audits, combined with attention to the quality of the recommendations that homeowners receive, as well as the perspectives of some key industry actors on auditing and home energy labels. Unlike a program evaluation, the research was not designed to answer detailed questions about program effectiveness in terms of costs, savings, or process, nor was it designed to provide direct answers to questions of how to get people to do more audits or more retrofits. Rather it “steps back” toward a better understanding of more basic questions …
How Well Do Home Energy Audits Serve The Homeowner?, Aaron Ingle, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser, Richard Diamond
How Well Do Home Energy Audits Serve The Homeowner?, Aaron Ingle, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser, Richard Diamond
Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports
Home energy audits administered by utilities and government typically provide homeowners with lists of technical upgrade recommendations intended to increase the technical energy efficiency of the house. Audits proceed with assessment of physical characteristics, subsequently processed with a computational model and transformed into a report, sometimes customized by the auditor. While the design of an energy audit reflects program and policy points of view – balancing program cost with expected program savings, educating people about the value of energy efficiency, etc. – it is crucial to consider the criteria for a good home energy audit and recommendations from homeowners’ points …
Lifestyles, Buildings And Technologies: What Matters Most?, Loren Lutzenhiser, Huafen Hu, Mithra Moezzi, Anthony Michael Levenda, James Woods
Lifestyles, Buildings And Technologies: What Matters Most?, Loren Lutzenhiser, Huafen Hu, Mithra Moezzi, Anthony Michael Levenda, James Woods
Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports
There is considerable variation across households in energy use, even within similar climates and housing styles. There is also considerable variation in energy savings following upgrades of housing and appliances. We combine empirical data on household consumption with advanced simulation modeling techniques to investigate just how much behavior matters in determining consumption levels. compared to weather, technology and building characteristics. We explore several new concepts, including the BETA (building, environment, technology, activity) Model of household energy use, a habitation zone approach that can be used to differentiate BETA effects, and a hybrid (simulation/ statistical) end-use consumption analysis approach. For illustrative …
Sticky Points In Modeling Household Energy Consumption, Loren Lutzenhiser, Mithra Moezzi, David Hungerford, Rafael Friedmann
Sticky Points In Modeling Household Energy Consumption, Loren Lutzenhiser, Mithra Moezzi, David Hungerford, Rafael Friedmann
Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports
A variety of approaches have been proposed to explaining individual household energy consumption, its variation, and its potential reduction. Some focus on technology, some on costs, and some on a combination of behaviors, attitudes, intentions, and norms. All try to make sense of a problem that, from a modeling perspective, involves hundreds of potentially important factors, yet is supported by highly inadequate or at best selective data. While there is value in "doing the best one can" with the resources at hand, building a defensible science requires a cold hard look at the quality of theory, research and data. This …
What’S Missing In Theories Of The Residential Energy User, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser
What’S Missing In Theories Of The Residential Energy User, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser
Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports
Residential energy use has been envisioned in varied ways, each highlighting different factors and capturing a partial truth. This paper outlines assumptions of core theories about household energy use. It gives an abbreviated list of major empirical findings framed by these theories. It then identifies a new set of "blind spots" created by overly-simple reliance on models and by data shortcomings that in combination may block development of a more sophisticated understanding of energy use. Policies and program strategies, in turn, can become oriented toward simplistic approaches to change. We point to the need for improved interpretation and elaboration of …