Author: Ge Bella Song Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 134
Book Description
Researchers are in broad agreement that energy-conserving actions produce economic as well as energy savings. Household energy rating systems (HERS) have been established in many countries to inform households of their house's current energy performance and to help reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In Canada, the national EnerGuide for Houses (EGH) program is delivered by many local delivery agents, including non-profit green community organizations. Waterloo Region Green Solutions is the local non-profit that offers the EGH residential energy evaluation service to local households. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the determinants of household's participation in the residential energy efficiency program (REEP) in Waterloo Region, to explain the relationship between the explanatory variables and REEP participation, and to propose ways to improve this kind of program. A spatial (trend) analysis was conducted within a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the spatial patterns of the REEP participation in Waterloo Region from 1999 to 2006. The impact of sources of information on participation and relationships between participation rates and explanatory variables were identified. GIS proved successful in presenting a visual interpretation of spatial patterns of the REEP participation. In general, the participating households tend to be clustered in urban areas and scattered in rural areas. Different sources of information played significant roles in reaching participants in different years. Moreover, there was a relationship between each explanatory variable and the REEP participation rates. Statistical analysis was applied to obtain a quantitative assessment of relationships between hypothesized explanatory variables and participation in the REEP. The Poisson regression model was used to determine the relationship between hypothesized explanatory variables and REEP participation at the CDA level. The results show that all of the independent variables have a statistically significant positive relationship with REEP participation. These variables include level of education, average household income, employment rate, home ownership, population aged 65 and over, age of home, and number of eligible dwellings. The logistic regression model was used to assess the ability of the hypothesized explanatory variables to predict whether or not households would participate in a second follow-up evaluation after completing upgrades to their home. The results show all the explanatory variables have significant relationships with the dependent variable. The increased rating score, average household income, aged population, and age of home are positively related to the dependent variable. While the dwelling size and education has negative relationships with the dependent variable. In general, the contribution of this work provides a practical understanding of how the energy efficiency program operates, and insight into the type of variables that may be successful in bringing about changes in performance in the energy efficiency project in Waterloo Region. Secondly, with the completion of this research, future residential energy efficiency programs can use the information from this research and emulate or expand upon the efforts and lessons learned from the Residential Energy Efficiency Project in Waterloo Region case study. Thirdly, this research also contributes to practical experience on how to integrate different datasets using GIS.
Author: Andrea Bale Publisher: ISBN: Category : Dwellings Languages : en Pages : 208
Book Description
The uptake of energy-efficiency investments in the residential sector is relatively low, despite evidence of short payback periods and numerous co-benefits, including increased home comfort and reduced negative environmental impacts. Common barriers facing homeowners include financial and time constraints, competing priorities, and a lack of adequate information. Home energy audits are an established approach to encourage energy-efficiency investments, with the intention of overcoming the informational barrier by providing personalized energy-efficiency recommendations to homeowners. However, literature suggests that the impacts of these audits are mixed, due to a lack of guidance, procedural information and support from social networks. To fill this gap, the Home Energy Coach program was piloted in Waterloo Region, Ontario, involving government, non-profit, industry and academic stakeholders. Upon receiving an EnerGuide home energy evaluation, homeowners were eligible to participate in free consultation sessions with an Energy Coach to help develop and execute a renovation plan. This thesis documented the coach interactions and renovation progress of 21 program participants through a series of online surveys, with added insight from follow-up interviews with five of these participants. The results indicated that the Energy Coach was helpful in the development of renovation plans of many participants by clarifying the audit recommendations, helping to evaluate options based on each household's circumstances and guiding participants to additional resources. At the end of the program, 17 out of 18 exit survey respondents had made progress on or completed at least one-energy efficiency measure, with an overall conversion rate of 29 percent from audit recommendation to completed action. The most frequently completed measures were basement/crawl space insulation, draftproofing and window/door replacement, which were also the most frequently recommended measures. This thesis adds to the literature on motivations and barriers to energy-efficiency investments in the residential sector and on the potential role of a coaching service to guide and support homeowners in overcoming these barriers. Future research is needed to determine the impacts of this program on a larger scale and over a longer timeframe, with the potential for added insight from utility consumption data or the presence of a control group.
Author: Doug McKenzie-Mohr Publisher: New Society Publishers ISBN: 1550924621 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
The highly acclaimed manual for changing everyday habits-now in an all-newthird edition! We are consuming resources and polluting our environment at a rate that is outstripping our planet's ability to support us. To create a sustainable future, we must not only change our own actions, we must educate and encourage those around us to change theirs. If one individual recycles his plastic containers, the impact is minimal. But if an entire community recycles, enormous amounts of resources are saved. How then do we go about transforming people's good intentions into action? Fostering Sustainable Behavior explains how the field of community-based social marketing has emerged as an effective tool for encouraging positive social change. This completely revised and updated third edition contains a wealth of new research, behavior change tools, and case studies. Learn how to: target unsustainable behaviors, and identify the barriers to change understand various commitment strategies communicate effective messages enhance motivation and invite participation. The strategies introduced in this ground-breaking manual are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in promoting sustainable behavior, including environmental conservation, recycling and waste reduction, water and energyefficiency and alternative transportation.
Author: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1139468642 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 33
Book Description
The Climate Change 2007 volumes of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provide the most comprehensive and balanced assessment of climate change available. This IPCC Working Group III volume provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art and worldwide overview of scientific knowledge related to the mitigation of climate change. It includes a detailed assessment of costs and potentials of mitigation technologies and practices, implementation barriers, and policy options for the sectors: energy supply, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste management. It links sustainable development policies with climate change practices. This volume will again be the standard reference for all those concerned with climate change, including students and researchers, analysts and decision-makers in governments and the private sector.
Author: Ge Bella Song
Author: 
Author: 
Author: Andrea Bale
Author: Doug McKenzie-Mohr
Author: 
Author: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Author: 
Author: 
Author: