Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Building retrofits

The energy efficiency gap in citizens’ own words

Nature Energy volume 8, pages 915–916 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Understanding drivers of home energy efficiency efforts is important for slowing climate change and managing energy costs. A study now combines open-ended survey questions with natural language processing to find that renovations are typically motivated by factors like comfort and environmental concerns, and that energy efficiency investments are often delayed until renovations are needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Pathak, M. et al. IPCC: Technical summary. In Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (eds Skea, J. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2022).

  2. Jaffe, A. B. & Stavins, R. N. Energy Policy 22, 804–810 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Grubb, M., Hourcade, J.-C. & Neuhoff, K. Technol. Forecast. Soc. 98, 290–302 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Stoneman, P., Sturgis, P. & Allum, N. Public Underst. Sci. 22, 850–868 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Tvinnereim, E., Lægreid, O. M. & Fløttum, K. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 62, 101357 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Krosnick, J. A. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 50, 537–567 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Roberts, M. E. et al. Am. J. Polit. Sci. 58, 1064–1082 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Tvinnereim, E. & Fløttum, K. Nat. Clim. Change 5, 744–748 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wekhof, T. & Houde, S. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01303-x (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Holbrook, A. L. & Krosnick, J. A. Public Opin. Quart. 74, 37–67 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Grimmer, J. & Stewart, B. M. Polit. Anal. 21, 267–297 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Endre Tvinnereim

Authors
  1. Endre Tvinnereim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Endre Tvinnereim.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tvinnereim, E. The energy efficiency gap in citizens’ own words. Nat Energy 8, 915–916 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01328-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01328-2

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing