Reducing Demand: Energy Efficiency and Behaviour Change

Abstract

The UK’s road to energy efficiency has been paved with mediocrity, and whilst Scotland has done somewhat better in terms of getting energy efficiency measures installed, it has still failed to do much about the underlying problems of the poor condition of its housing stock and the need to change occupant behaviour. This chapter discusses how the frequently cited problem of the prevalence of ‘hard-to-treat’ properties is rarely a technical barrier, and questions why the Scottish Government has not done more to learn from the failings of both UK and Scottish energy efficiency schemes. It also explores how more could be done to address the biggest problem for reducing energy demand—how to design policies that are sensitive to the fact that humans are innately human.