Australian Householders’ Attitudes Towards Sustainability in the Home

1. Australian Householders’ Attitudes Towards Sustainability in the Home Profs Bond & Newman This research was supported under Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP0985410). The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Australian Research Council.

2. Sustainability in the Built Environment Australia produces the highest GHG emissions per unit of GDP in the world! Buildings account for around 25-30% Australia 2

3. Focus on Residential Nearly 75% of spending on buildings over last 5 years have been on dwellings 55% = construction of new dwellings 45% = alterations & additions to existing dwellings over $10,000 Improving energy efficiency of buildings is the quickest & most cost effective way of reducing GHG emissions 3

4. GHG emissions & energy use in homes Source: Australian Greenhouse Office 2008

5. Draft National Strategy on Energy Efficiency 2009-2020  stringency of energy efficient requirements in the Building Code of Australia from 2010 Phase in mandatory disclosure of energy efficiency in buildings 5

6. Cost as a barrier • Common argument against “going green” is that it costs more than a comparable conventionally designed building or home • Developers look to minimise capital costs & continue to provide buildings that are cheap to buildbutexpensive to operate

7. Literature Review Barriers to uptake of renewable energy in homes (Environment Victoria, 2009): lack of consumer information when buying split incentives between builders & the householders: builders are not motivated to improve the energy efficiency of homes as they do not re-coup the benefits upfront capital costs of EE measures “bounded rationality” – householders may not understand the benefits to them of energy efficiency, or may not act due to other priorities 7

8. Literature Review A 2007 survey of 1700 households showed: Public consciousness is very high - 90% agree:“climate change is a major problem for the planet” More than half have electric water heaters: criticised for contributing to GHG emissions & highest energy use in homes Up to 20% are unwilling to undertake any sustainability improvements because of trouble or expense 35% are willing to be persuaded if the savings, cost & ease of installation are attractive enough 8

9. Literature Review Survey reported by ABS (2006) showed: Adoption of environmentally friendly behaviours is greatest where it is convenient & where it does not require a lot of time or money 43% said they considered cost to be the main factor when buying a new white good 44% said energy* rating was main reason Only 11% of households stated an environmental factor as their main concern 9

10. Research Aims 10 Determine lifestyle choices: size of home, construction, facilities & household size Determine householders’ motivation to reduce GHG emissions in the home Identify & explain user behaviour in residential buildings in relation to the energy consumed

11. Methodology: • Survey residents in 5 largest cities by population: • Sydney • Melbourne • Perth • Brisbane • Adelaide • Survey posted to 1250 residents • Response rate 6.5% (n=85)

12. Survey Results Motivation to reduce personal climate change emissions: • 49 % moderately motivated • 32% highly motivated Choice of house size: • 35% live in 3 bedroom home; 35% 4 bed • 52% have 2 bathrooms • 52% have 2 living rooms In line with ABS data that shows that the average home has grown to 258m2.

13. Survey Results 13 Household size: 43.5% have 2 persons 20% have 3 persons National average: 2.6 persons/ household This trend to smaller household sizes & larger homes presents a barrier to reducing impacts on the environment Air Conditioning: 73% have air-con (ABS 2006 figures shows AC use has doubled in 14 years)

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15. No/Low Cost Actions • Over 50% of respondents were already taking many of the listed actions • The actions they were most likely to take: replacing 10 of the most used light bulbs with LED or CFLs; turning off all appliances at the wall when not in use; avoiding halogen down-lights • The actions they wereleast likely to take:installing timers on appliances to turn them off when not in use; insulating hot water pipes • Given listed actions are low/no cost it was surprising more people would not act

16. Reasons for not taking action • Inconvenience • They forgot • Too lazy • This information can provide useful clues of what is needed to encourage people to act, for example: • automating actions where possible • making actions mandatory or part of the BCA (dual flush WCs; low flow taps; etc)

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18. Low/medium Cost Actions 18 Over 50% of respondents were taking action on only 5 out of 17 listed actions The most common actions already taken: replacing single flush toilet with dual flush; installing or topping-up ceiling insulation & externally shading any exposed western or eastern windows Given that 42% of heat escapes through the roof & that heating /cooling consumes the most amount of energy, installing insulation is one of the more cost-effective ways of reducing energy consumption

19. Low/medium Cost Actions 19 It is surprising with rebates available for installing insulation that the take up of these has not been higher Similarly, water heating uses 25% of energy in homes but creates the most GHG emissions Only 38% had installed instantaneous gas or solar hot water heater yet this is another cost-effective way of reducing both energy consumption and GHG emissions while saving money & rebates are available

20. Low/medium Cost Actions 20 The actions they wereleast likely to take: • installing double glazing • installing a photovoltaic system • switching to “Green Power” • installing a smart meter • more information is needed about these • Help consumers see where, how & when they use energy = better informed how to adjust their consumption habits in order to save $ on power bills

21. Reasons for not taking action 21 • Cost was the major reason not to act • Given that there are rebates available in many States it would seem that: • Either the respondents were not aware of the rebates, or • They are not informed about the benefits of many of these actions particularly in terms of overall savings in energy costs, where payback periods can be quite short

22. Benefits & motivations for acting 22 1.Cost savings > $1000 p.a. were considered the most important • “doing the right thing” • achieving healthy indoor air quality • increased property value • decreased obsolescence • Cost savings benefits are reported most widely in the media in relation to acting environmentally

23. Respondent Demographics 23 Age & Gender: 62% were male 61% were over 60 years of age (much higher than National average >65 years is 13.5%, ABS 2009) Thus, survey responses are not likely to be representative of the population as a whole Common issue with postal surveys: those with more time tend to respond (older, retirees)

24. Respondent Demographics 24 Location: 28% were from South Australia 24% from Western Australia 20% from New South Wales 15.5% from Victoria 13% from Queensland

25. Ongoing Issues • There is limited information available to consumers about the costs & benefits of retrofitting to make homes more sustainable • This has been identified as a barrier to the uptake of sustainability in homes • Generally consumers want to know: • the cost of installing a feature • the cost savings from having it • the associated payback period = better able to make informed decisions 25

26. Ongoing Issues Type of information required, an example: • The cost to install a 1kWh photovoltaic system is ≈ $12,000 • With the available rebate of $8,000 it would take 15 years to payback this feature • The consumer would save, on average: • $250p.a. in energy costs • 1.83 tonnes of GHG emissions 26

27. Ongoing Issues Other little known facts: Appliances draw electrical power (3% of a home’s energy use) if turned off (but not off at the wall) or on stand by Some of the largest drawers of energy are: • audio-visual equipment, • VCRs, • printers, • computer notebooks 27

28. Summary & Conclusions A 2009 survey of householder’s attitudes towards willingness to act environmentally • Barriers to energy efficiency in homes are: • larger homes & smaller households • costs & long payback periods of sustainable features • lack of consumer information about benefits & savings from incorporating sustainable behaviours & features 28

29. Summary & Conclusions Common reasons people are not acting in more sustainable ways: • inconvenience • laziness • Given that water heating & heating & cooling of homes use the most energy & produce the most GHG emissions these areas should be focused on • According to IEA: a total global switch to compact fluorescent bulbs would deliver CO2 savings slightly over half of the Kyoto reductions! 29