Ensuring energy efficiency at the individual level: Getting psychologically informed

Concern about how energy is used and how energy use can be changed has increased over recent years in response to attempts to reduce CO2 emissions, fuel poverty and combat rising energy prices. It has become clear that simply asking people about their attitudes to saving energy does not always tally with the energy use practices subsequently engaged in. Similarly, merely offering people the chance to upgrade their homes with sustainable retrofit measures often fails to result in their acceptance. The approach to retrofitting the domestic environment and lowering household energy consumption therefore needs to become smarter. Work around encouraging energy efficiency and in the developing sustainable retrofit sector has recently taken a 'psychological turn' to ensure sufficient attention is paid to the role the individual has in the supply chain. This turn embodies the increasingly recognised need for the requirement to understand the complexity that revolves around purchasing decisions and energy consumption in order to ensure that the way in which retrofit is carried out is not only technically proficient but is also psychologically informed.