Building something better together

Efforts to persuade homeowners and landlords to make their homes more energy efficient are still struggling to make an impact. Researchers teamed up with local councils to understand how people make decisions about upgrading their homes.

We were interested in why people would take on that scale of project, without energy efficiency measures being part of the discussion. That was our starting point.

—Professor Mark Davis

Impact

• Knowledge discovery: understanding how the public makes sustainability decisions
• Local and national policy impact: worked with local councils to evaluate communication around sustainability

Key information

• Major funders: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
• Partners and collaborators: Leeds City Council, Glasgow City Council, Brighton City Council
• Disciplines: Sustainability, public policy, decarbonisation
• Investigators: Professor Mark Davis, Professor Lucie Middlemiss, Dr Anne Owen, Dr Ruth Bookbinder

Keywords: insulation, retrofitting, social inequalities, energy efficiency, energy policy, climate change, energy demand