Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia
Low-income housing plays an important, but frequently overlooked, role in energy use reduction. Barriers persist for low-income households to participate in energy efficiency programs and adopt efficient lifestyles. However, there has been only limited research into energy efficiency barriers faced...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/4/954 |
| _version_ | 1797606117080039424 |
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| author | Samaneh Azimi Carol K. H. Hon Tanja Tyvimaa Martin Skitmore |
| author_facet | Samaneh Azimi Carol K. H. Hon Tanja Tyvimaa Martin Skitmore |
| author_sort | Samaneh Azimi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Low-income housing plays an important, but frequently overlooked, role in energy use reduction. Barriers persist for low-income households to participate in energy efficiency programs and adopt efficient lifestyles. However, there has been only limited research into energy efficiency barriers faced by low-income households. Existing energy research studies primarily focus on homeowners whose demographic and socio-economic profiles are likely to be very different from low-income households or renters—limiting the applicability of previous findings to low-income households. This study aims to identify and evaluate the importance of the energy efficiency barriers faced by low-income households. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 212 low-income households in Australia. After randomly dividing the data into calibration and validation samples, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the calibration sample identifies four energy efficiency barrier factors of financial, decision-making, information, and split incentives. These four factors are then validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the validation sample in terms of goodness-of-fit, reliability, and validity to confirm financial as the most highly rated energy efficiency barrier. This research contributes to bridging the knowledge gap of the energy efficiency barriers of low-income households and providing a validated CFA model as a tool for assessment. The results provide a better understanding of the barriers involved and research evidence to facilitate the formulation of policies to overcome them. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:10:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e6138c2364248eabd18068d33744a59 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:10:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e6138c2364248eabd18068d33744a592023-11-17T18:35:29ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092023-04-0113495410.3390/buildings13040954Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in AustraliaSamaneh Azimi0Carol K. H. Hon1Tanja Tyvimaa2Martin Skitmore3School of Architecture and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD 4001, AustraliaSchool of Architecture and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD 4001, AustraliaCity of Tampere, Real Estate and Housing, Sustainable Housing and Construction, PL 487, 33101 Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, AustraliaLow-income housing plays an important, but frequently overlooked, role in energy use reduction. Barriers persist for low-income households to participate in energy efficiency programs and adopt efficient lifestyles. However, there has been only limited research into energy efficiency barriers faced by low-income households. Existing energy research studies primarily focus on homeowners whose demographic and socio-economic profiles are likely to be very different from low-income households or renters—limiting the applicability of previous findings to low-income households. This study aims to identify and evaluate the importance of the energy efficiency barriers faced by low-income households. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 212 low-income households in Australia. After randomly dividing the data into calibration and validation samples, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the calibration sample identifies four energy efficiency barrier factors of financial, decision-making, information, and split incentives. These four factors are then validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the validation sample in terms of goodness-of-fit, reliability, and validity to confirm financial as the most highly rated energy efficiency barrier. This research contributes to bridging the knowledge gap of the energy efficiency barriers of low-income households and providing a validated CFA model as a tool for assessment. The results provide a better understanding of the barriers involved and research evidence to facilitate the formulation of policies to overcome them.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/4/954Australiaenergy efficiencybarrierslow-income households |
| spellingShingle | Samaneh Azimi Carol K. H. Hon Tanja Tyvimaa Martin Skitmore Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia Buildings Australia energy efficiency barriers low-income households |
| title | Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia |
| title_full | Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia |
| title_fullStr | Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia |
| title_short | Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Low-Income Households in Australia |
| title_sort | barriers to energy efficiency low income households in australia |
| topic | Australia energy efficiency barriers low-income households |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/4/954 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT samanehazimi barrierstoenergyefficiencylowincomehouseholdsinaustralia AT carolkhhon barrierstoenergyefficiencylowincomehouseholdsinaustralia AT tanjatyvimaa barrierstoenergyefficiencylowincomehouseholdsinaustralia AT martinskitmore barrierstoenergyefficiencylowincomehouseholdsinaustralia |