The role of individual preferences in explaining the energy performance gap

The aim of this research is to understand the role of socioeconomic characteristics and individual preferences in explaining the energy performance gap in the residential sector. This gap reflects the difference between the theoretical energy consumption of homes assessed by engineering models and real energy consumption. Using the ratio of the two consumption amounts to measure the gap, we perform a quantile regression to tease out the effects of preferences on the entire distribution of the energy performance gap spectrum instead of focusing on the conditional average. As a result, this research provides an original contribution: depending on the direction of the gap, our findings suggest that significant drivers include individual preferences for comfort over economy, which explain up to 12% of the gap variability, and poverty. This context should serve as a reminder to public authorities regarding the issues of rebound effect and household welfare.

Automated summary

This research aims to understand the role of socioeconomic characteristics and individual preferences in explaining the energy performance gap in the residential sector. Through quantile regression, it reveals that individual preferences for comfort over economy and poverty are significant drivers behind this gap.