IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v46y2012icp4-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of energy performance certificates: A survey of German home owners

Author

Listed:
  • Amecke, Hermann

Abstract

The building sector accounts for about 40% of the final energy consumption in Germany. At the same time, the sector is regarded as one of the most cost-effective options for saving CO2 emissions. To target this potential, the European Union introduced energy performance certificates (EPC). EPCs should provide clear information about the energy performance of buildings to building purchasers, owners and tenants. This study analyses, in how far EPCs have helped purchasers of owner-occupied dwellings in Germany to incorporate energy efficiency in their purchasing decisions. The results suggest that the effectiveness of EPCs is limited. Main reasons are first, that the certificates are not helpful for understanding the financial implications of energy efficiency. Second, EPCs are not viewed for most buildings due to their legal status. Third, energy efficiency is only a minor purchasing criterion for dwelling purchases. The results of the study however also point to the potential of EPCs, as these barriers can be removed. From 2013 onwards the use of the EPC will be increased due to the new EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Changes to the design of the EPC could further increase the importance of energy performance certificates and of energy efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Amecke, Hermann, 2012. "The impact of energy performance certificates: A survey of German home owners," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 4-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:46:y:2012:i:c:p:4-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.01.064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512000924
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.01.064?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sanstad, Alan H. & Howarth, Richard B., 1994. "`Normal' markets, market imperfections and energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 811-818, October.
    2. Banerjee, Abhijit & Solomon, Barry D., 2003. "Eco-labeling for energy efficiency and sustainability: a meta-evaluation of US programs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 109-123, January.
    3. Clinch, J. Peter & Healy, John D., 2000. "Domestic energy efficiency in Ireland: correcting market failure," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-8, January.
    4. Vine, Edward & Hamrin, Jan, 2008. "Energy savings certificates: A market-based tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 467-476, January.
    5. Bhattacharya, Tanushree & Kapoor, Richa, 2012. "Energy saving instrument – ESCerts in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 1311-1316.
    6. Saidur, R. & Masjuki, H. H. & Mahlia, T. M. I., 2005. "Labeling design effort for household refrigerator-freezers in Malaysia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 611-618, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amecke, Hermann, 2011. "The Effectiveness of Energy Performance Certificates - Evidence from Germany," EconStor Research Reports 65874, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Huh, Sung-Yoon & Jo, Manseok & Shin, Jungwoo & Yoo, Seung-Hoon, 2019. "Impact of rebate program for energy-efficient household appliances on consumer purchasing decisions: The case of electric rice cookers in South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1394-1403.
    3. Mahlia, T.M.I. & Tohno, S. & Tezuka, T., 2012. "History and current status of the motor vehicle energy labeling and its implementation possibilities in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 1828-1844.
    4. Kumar, Rajesh & Agarwala, Arun, 2013. "Renewable Energy Certificate and Perform, Achieve, Trade mechanisms to enhance the energy security for India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 669-676.
    5. Sahoo, Nihar R. & Mohapatra, Pratap K.J. & Sahoo, Biresh K. & Mahanty, Biswajit, 2017. "Rationality of energy efficiency improvement targets under the PAT scheme in India – A case of thermal power plants," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 279-289.
    6. Ramos, A. & Gago, A. & Labandeira, X. & Linares, P., 2015. "The role of information for energy efficiency in the residential sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 17-29.
    7. Kumar, Rajesh & Agarwala, Arun, 2013. "Energy certificates REC and PAT sustenance to energy model for India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 315-323.
    8. Fischbacher, Urs & Schudy, Simeon & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2021. "Heterogeneous preferences and investments in energy saving measures," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    9. Hyunjoo Lee & Misuk Lee & Sesil Lim, 2018. "Do Consumers Care about the Energy Efficiency of Buildings? Understanding Residential Choice Based on Energy Performance Certificates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    10. Gholam Reza Zandi & Nadeem Khalid & Dewan Md. Zahurul Islam, 2019. "Nexus of Knowledge Transfer, Green Innovation and Environmental Performance: Impact of Environmental Management Accounting," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(5), pages 387-393.
    11. Yokessa, Maïmouna & Marette, Stéphan, 2019. "A Review of Eco-labels and their Economic Impact," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 119-163, April.
    12. Joana Costa, 2021. "Carrots or Sticks: Which Policies Matter the Most in Sustainable Resource Management?," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    13. Schleich, Joachim & Gassmann, Xavier & Faure, Corinne & Meissner, Thomas, 2016. "Making the implicit explicit: A look inside the implicit discount rate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 321-331.
    14. Pedro Linares & Xavier Labandeira, 2010. "Energy Efficiency: Economics And Policy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 573-592, July.
    15. Xue, Jian & Guo, Na & Zhao, Laijun & Zhu, Di & Ji, Xiaoqin, 2020. "A cooperative inter-provincial model for energy conservation based on futures trading," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    16. Galarraga, Ibon & González-Eguino, Mikel & Markandya, Anil, 2011. "Willingness to pay and price elasticities of demand for energy-efficient appliances: Combining the hedonic approach and demand systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 66-74.
    17. Weyant, John P, 1996. "The IPCC energy assessment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(10-11), pages 1005-1008.
    18. Erik Verhoef & Peter Nijkamp, 1997. "The Adoption of Energy Efficiency Enhancing Technologies," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 97-077/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. Herbes, Carsten & Ramme, Iris, 2014. "Online marketing of green electricity in Germany—A content analysis of providers’ websites," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 257-266.
    20. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte & Durand, Antoine & Faure, Corinne, 2023. "Beyond energy efficiency: Do consumers care about life-cycle properties of household appliances?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:46:y:2012:i:c:p:4-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.