Implementing energy efficiency in Sweden’s existing housing stock

Anna Joelsson and Leif Gustavsson, Mid Sweden University

Keywords

residential, heating system, energy conservation, policy, energy efficiency, heat pump, district heating, pellet boiler, biomass, supply system, scale effects, subsidies, consumer vs. national perspective

Abstract

There is a potential for increased energy efficiency in the existing Swedish housing stock. We analysed changes to building envelopes and to energy supply systems (including power generation and end-use systems as district heating, bedrock heat pumps, wood pellet boilers and electric resistance heaters) and evaluated the impacts on cost, CO2 emission and primary energy use. We used a system analysis approach and analysed the whole energy system chains, from natural resource to useful domestic heat. The studied houses were from the 1970s and had different size and energy standard, to evaluate how those parameters affect the potential of analysed measures in the building stock. We found that energy conservation and conversion of technology and fuel could reduce the CO2 emission by 95 % and at least halve the primary energy use, and be cost-efficient from a national economic perspective. We showed that the ranking of the heating systems and the energy conservation measures did not change with house size or energy standard. But the heating systems that had about the same investment cost independently of the heat demand it should cover, were less competitive for the smaller houses. A successful implementation of changes requires them to be attractive for consumers to adopt. Hence, we analysed the economic conditions for Swedish house-owners to implement national economic cost efficient measures, and also what other factors that affect house owners’ decisions to adopt new heating systems. We discussed whether policy instruments, in the form of investment subsidies and customer electricity tax, encourage house-owners to implement changes in accordance with the goals of decisionmakers. We conclude that the tax and the currently used investment subsidies in Sweden give relevant incentives to the customers to act according to national policy.