This report explores the need for new engagement strategies with homeowners to encourage uptake of energy efficiency measures.
While Scotland’s housing has improved in terms of energy performance, progress is slowing, as many of the easy measures have already been done. And the research suggests that communications that concentrate on small changes can send people into a ‘cul-de-sac’, where they believe they have ‘done their bit’.
The report concludes that framing home energy efficiency as a moral issue may present a way to avoid the ‘cul-de-sac’ and reduce barriers to carrying out the energy efficiency measures we need to meet more ambitous climate targets. This is not to say that appeals to ‘comfort’ or ‘saving money’ should be abandoned, but that they perhaps should be made after a clear moral case for change has first been set out.
