Linking Energy Poverty with Thermal Building Regulations and Energy Efficiency Policies in Portugal

Energy-poverty (EP) must be considered an energy-related issue since buildings are a central part of people’s daily lives. Thus, it has an important role in energy-related policy implementation. Even though the European Union (EU) has endorsed general energy efficiency through the Energy Efficiency Directive and Energy Performance of Buildings Directive recast, it was the Clean Energy Package for all Europeans that clearly highlighted EP. The growing concerns with EP have also been emphasised in subsequent directives and initiatives. Despite some regulatory framework and the milder climate situation, the proportion of the population experiencing thermal discomfort in southern and eastern European countries, namely in the winter season, is relatively high, reflecting the poor thermal performance of building stock, low family incomes and high energy prices, among others. The current work analysed the EP evolution in Portugal in the EU context, and the Thermal Building Regulations and Energy Efficiency Policies developed, aiming to add insight into the effectiveness of those policies concerning EP mitigation in Portugal as an EU Member state. Moreover, a critical debate on the potential to lower the EP Portuguese situation was also an objective to pursue. It is plausible to admit that reducing EP by acting on residential building stock, namely through the increase of energy efficiency and comfort, plays a key role in improving the living conditions, namely of vulnerable households and deprived areas. This will also decrease energy consumption and dependence while further promoting a smarter, sustainable and inclusive society, contributing to economic growth.

Transaction Cost and Agency Perspectives on Eco-Certification of Existing Buildings: A Study of Hong Kong

Eco-certification schemes are usually launched with various incentives provided by local governments to facilitate green building development and building energy retrofits. A number of barriers to building energy retrofitting have been identified in previous literature, while the barriers to the eco-certification of existing buildings are under-researched. Drawing on a set of building data retrievable from the BEAM Society and other sources, we carried out an analysis and found the building energy retrofitting, as well as the certification process, were unwelcomed in multi-owned residential buildings. The identified shortfall is put forward from the perspectives of transaction cost theory and agency theory. The findings reveal that high transaction costs incurred during negotiations and coordination among a large number of co-owners within a typical apartment building can outweigh the benefits of retrofitting and eco-certification. Besides, the remuneration structure of third-party property management agents discourages agents from facilitating co-owners to initiate retrofitting. This study provides significant implications for policymakers to understand the concerns of building owners and managers over the decisions and the processes of both the building energy retrofits and eco-certification. The problems and barriers unveiled in this study will facilitate the refining of current energy efficiency policies and related incentives designs.

A Proposal for the Optimisation of Algorithms for the Calculation of the Energy Demands of Residential Housing

In response to increased energy consumption and CO2 emissions, various energy efficiency policies, standards and housing certifications have emerged around the world. These aim to measure and quantify energy efficiency and endorse homes for meeting certain standards according to consistent categories that vary by continent or country. These energy rating systems correspond to a series of criteria and formulations that, through the calculation and combination of multiple variables, establish the classification values. In Chile, there is the Energy Rating System for Housing (CEV), which performs energy efficiency calculations using dynamic heat balance spreadsheets in Microsoft® Excel. When applied for everyday use and at a large scale, this system has the disadvantage of requiring a great deal of processing time for each simulation. This research proposes an improvement to the CEV energy demand calculation mechanism by generating a solution that takes advantage of the use of multiprocessors and implements the various algorithms in the C programming language. The results show that the CEV values obtained with the proposed calculation engine are equal to those of the current system but demonstrate a 76.5% improvement in their processing time.

The Evaluation of Energy Efficiency Policies in the Building Sector: A Regional Analysis Based on the Stochastic Frontier Approach and on the Energy Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and Policy Implications

The promotion of the Energy Efficiency is one of the priorities of EU energy policy to fight the Climate Change and make Europe climate neutral by 2050 (EC 2020). The civil sector offers high potential for energy efficiency improvement and the buildings are responsible for about 40% of the EU's energy consumption, and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions (EC 2020). In Italy the civil sector (residential and tertiary together), are responsible for approximately 45% of final energy consumption and 17.5% of Italy's CO2 emissions, has a potential in reducing energy consumption of approximately 5,7 Mtoe compared to the base scenario in 2030. The core research question is: “Are national and local energy efficiency policies effective in reducing aggregate energy consumption at regional level in the civil sector?” From the policy maker’s point of view, it is important to understand the effectiveness of the policy instruments introduced to promote energy efficiency. The research framework is based on the frontier analysis and its main objective is to econometrically estimate for the period 2010 to 2017 the energy efficiency level for the civil sector in the Italy regions. The estimates confirm the effectiveness of policy instruments, represented by tax deductions and economic incentives, in creating high potential for energy savings from reduced inefficiency in the civil sector.

An Institutional-Based Governance Framework for Energy Efficiency Promotion in Small Island Developing States

Energy efficiency and conservation policy continues to take the proverbial “backseat” to energy access and renewable energy policy discourses in small island developing states (SIDS). In this study, we intend to motivate the energy efficiency policy agenda to encourage more action. To do so, we review the current energy challenges in SIDS and the role of energy efficiency in addressing those challenges, discuss the trends in the rate of improvement in energy efficiency in SIDS, exhibit an updated list of energy efficiency programs and initiatives being implemented in SIDS, consider barriers to energy efficiency implementation and set forth a policy-focused plan to accelerate action. Barriers for the adoption of energy efficiency policies continue to be institutional and policy- and governance-oriented; economic and financial; informational; and technical. A four-pronged policy advancement approach tackling initiation, incentivization, information and investment is recommended to tap the potential gains from energy efficiency. We attempt here, based on our findings, to offer a more practically executable plan of action, focusing squarely on combining institutional arrangements, policy requirements and current energy efficiency affairs in SIDS.