| Parameters |
Tools / Mechanisms |
Examples |
| What Type of house is purchased (energy efficient or not)? |
 | Availability of energy efficient old and new housing |
|
| Targets for Energy efficiency/m2 of housing |
| R&D on energy efficient materials |
| Building standards regulations |
| Collaborative industry efforts - |
|
| Danish Building Code 1995 |
| industry codes for energy efficiency |
|
| Awareness of energy efficiency issues. |
|
| Educating houseowners, renters, building managers |
| Energy audits of housing before sale |
| Energy labelling of new housing |
|
| Since 1981 a scheme requiring home owners to audit existing buildings and identify
measures with <8-10 years pay back and implement them and gain a green certificate
before selling their home has operated. Audits are undertaken by special state authorised
energy consultants. |
Heating inspection is a subsidised option. The provision of heating inspection report
or an energy certificate has been mandatory when a building changes hands (although no
sanctions were implied.) Audits and labelling
|
| Affordability |
|
| Cheaper mortgages for energy efficient housing |
| Grants or tax breaks for insulation materials; offsets against income or property taxes;
financing against savings in bills |
| Information on cost benefit ratio between insulation costs and operational savings |
|
| Subsidies for pensioners and also for government offices in Denmark |
| More clearly itemised energy bills for households |
|
| What type of fuel or electricity is used? |
| Availability (infrastructure for renewables, district heating etc) |
|
| Targets for market share of renewables and CHP |
| Energy Company environmental policies |
| Green Electricity labelling |
|
| Policy targets set for renewables, CHP and district heating |
| Utility financing of energy efficiency measures |
| Municipal Green Accounts, Denmark |
| US and UK examples of labelling, Danish scheme |
|
| Awareness |
|
| Targets for market penetration supported by indicators |
| Investor incentives for renewables (eg tax free investment) |
| Subsidised interest rates for renewables |
| Green investment trusts |
| sustainability ratings |
| consumer organisation reports |
| Energy company environmental reporting requirements |
| Housebuilder/energy company marketing and awareness raising initiatives |
|
| Energy awareness days, Council for Sustainable Energy, Denmark |
| energy nutrition labels on electricity bills, California |
| Tax breaks for private investors in windturbines, Denmark |
| EcoFunds UK and US energy companies |
| Ecoratings, UK energy companies |
| FOE green ratings reports, UK |
| Municipalities, Denmark; reporting to regulator Holland and UK |
| FOE Climate savers programme UK aiming at these actors |
|
| Cost |
|
| Fossil fuel taxes, Carbon energy tax |
| Subsidised tariffs for green electricity |
| Government watchdog re price fixing |
| Market guarantees for market share of renewables and CHP |
|
| Carbon Energy taxes in operation or proposed across Europe |
| California Energy Commission subsidies |
| Obligations to buy at fixed prices operate in many EU Member States |
|
| Reliability of supply |
|
| Minimum Service standards |
| Certification of green electricity - labelling |
| Requirement for electricity companies to offer green electricity |
|
| Dutch Quotas and Groenlabel tradeable certificates for renewables production |
| Labelling of most energy efficient products awarded on annual basis for consumer
products, Denmark |
| Minimum quality and performance standards |
|
| Habit/Established behaviour/Inertia |
|
| Product information - provision and promotion |
| Marketing - producer and/or retailer |
| NGO campaigns/organised boycotts |
| Public environmental awareness campaigns encouraging individual responsibility and
action |
|
| Product information |
| Consumer advice |
| Marketing |
| Education |
|
| Which type of appliance to buy (low energy products)? |
| Availability |
|
| Retailer environmental policies |
| Retailer incentives to develop energy efficient products |
| Regulations: prohibition/restriction of high energy use products |
|
| Ecolabel standards becoming minimum standards over time |
| Minimum energy efficiency standards for some products (boilers, air conditioning,
freezer and fridges etc) |
|
| Cost |
|
| Incentives (green taxes, tax breaks, price subsidies etc) |
| Taxes on high energy products |
|
| Special offers (rebates for low energy products offered by Danish Government 1999) |
|
| Perceived product attributes eg value added, environmental benefits |
|
| Green marketing (producer & retailer) |
| Retail staff advice / training |
| Eco-labels, Energy labelling |
| Consumer organisation reports/product tests |
| Public environmental awareness campaigns/education |
| Green procurement |
|
| procurement policies to favour energy efficient appliances, light bulbs etc Danish
housing Associations, local authorities etc |
|
| How much energy is used? |
| Awareness and appliance information |
|
| Labelling |
| Leaflets and Articles |
| helplines |
| In-store demonstrations |
|
| Energy use labels |
|
| Opportunities for sharing facilities |
|
| Pooled appliances in apartment blocks/tenants associations etc |
|
|
| Cost |
|
| VAT on fuel, carbon energy taxes |
| rebates for energy efficient households |
|
| Carbon energy taxes |
|