Using narratives to infer preferences in understanding the energy efficiency gap

This paper investigates the low rate of energy efficiency retrofits among homeowners, despite the existence of subsidy programs. Using narratives from an open-ended survey of single-family homeowners in Zurich, Switzerland, and natural language processing (NLP), the study identifies barriers and determinants of renovation decisions. While financial considerations are a significant barrier, homeowners' primary motivations for renovation are not energy savings. Retrofits are often opportunistic, driven by the need to replace malfunctioning building technologies. Co-benefits like environmental concerns and comfort improvements are equally or more important than financial incentives. Many homeowners lack awareness of existing policies and desire simpler retrofit processes. Subsidies, though popular, may be mistargeted. Effective policies should address institutional factors such as bureaucratic burden and information accessibility.

Tobias Wekhof, Sébastien Houde