My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building
Decreasing climate impact of households is a concern for many actors. One way to address this challenge is to focus on household behaviors related to energy use and consumption. Another is to construct climate-smart houses that encourage households to utilize smart functions that reduce emissions. T...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/2/245 |
| _version_ | 1797482146347089920 |
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| author | Misse Wester |
| author_facet | Misse Wester |
| author_sort | Misse Wester |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Decreasing climate impact of households is a concern for many actors. One way to address this challenge is to focus on household behaviors related to energy use and consumption. Another is to construct climate-smart houses that encourage households to utilize smart functions that reduce emissions. This article examines the link between these two strategies and investigates how living in a climate-smart house affects household behaviors, by conducting interviews with households before and after they moved into a climate-neutral house. Results indicate that overall, emissions decrease after the move, mostly due to the features of the building itself rather than changes in behavior. Unintended effects were also observed, calling into question which strategy is most effective in reducing a household’s climate footprint. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:25:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81d2c69d5d5a4d07a00374493dbfabb8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:25:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-81d2c69d5d5a4d07a00374493dbfabb82023-11-23T19:07:14ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092022-02-0112224510.3390/buildings12020245My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart BuildingMisse Wester0Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety, Department of Building & Environmental Technology, Lund University, Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, SwedenDecreasing climate impact of households is a concern for many actors. One way to address this challenge is to focus on household behaviors related to energy use and consumption. Another is to construct climate-smart houses that encourage households to utilize smart functions that reduce emissions. This article examines the link between these two strategies and investigates how living in a climate-smart house affects household behaviors, by conducting interviews with households before and after they moved into a climate-neutral house. Results indicate that overall, emissions decrease after the move, mostly due to the features of the building itself rather than changes in behavior. Unintended effects were also observed, calling into question which strategy is most effective in reducing a household’s climate footprint.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/2/245household consumptionenergy useclimate-smartclimate emissionssustainable behavior |
| spellingShingle | Misse Wester My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building Buildings household consumption energy use climate-smart climate emissions sustainable behavior |
| title | My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building |
| title_full | My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building |
| title_fullStr | My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building |
| title_full_unstemmed | My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building |
| title_short | My Fault or Default—Household Behaviors Living in a Climate-Smart Building |
| title_sort | my fault or default household behaviors living in a climate smart building |
| topic | household consumption energy use climate-smart climate emissions sustainable behavior |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/2/245 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT missewester myfaultordefaulthouseholdbehaviorslivinginaclimatesmartbuilding |