The social barriers towards adopting energy efficiency measures and behaviours in the home: a Manchester and Cardiff case study (original) (raw)

The Greater Manchester Urban Area and Cardiff Metropolitan Area are respectively the third and eleventh largest urban centres in the UK, together representing approximately 6% of the population. With long industrial histories, both areas now have dedicated regional development plans which seek to regenerate their historic urban centres into modern vibrant cities. Retrofitting such urban environments presents a significant opportunity to cut CO 2 emissions, reduce national energy demand, and improve building performance. To this end, this research seeks to identify some of the social barriers which may affect the adoption of domestic energy efficiency measures or behaviours in Greater Manchester and Cardiff. A range of social barriers were identified using street interviews, gathered by general population random sampling. A total of 198 interviews between both cities were gathered over the course of two bank holiday weekends during the Spring and Summer of 2011. The results from the ...