HabitEnergie. Success factors in the construction of very low-energy housing: the weight of stakeholder relationships and of household practices – a survey in three European countries

Véronique Beillan, EDF Recherche & Développement – ICAME Department, France
Emmanuelle Cayre, EDF Recherche & Développement – ENERBAT Department, France
André Pouget, POUGET Consultants, France
Daniela Sanna, Alphéeis – Energy & Environment Consulting, France
Dusan Novakov, Novasystem En+, Switzerland
Ulrich Rochard, Ebök, Germany
Régine Trotignon, ADEME, France

Keywords

energy efficient building, single-family house, decision-making process, behaviour, on-site survey, Passivhaus, Minergie

Abstract

In addition to technical factors, widespread development of energy efficient buildings depends on various factors including the strong willingness of the actors, favourable regulation and economic mechanisms, all of which influence the decision-making process.

In the design and construction stage, the most important factors are the relationship between different professional actors involved in the choice and implementation of energy efficient solutions for the envelope and the HVAC systems.

In the operation stage, the maintenance of the building, and the behaviour and practices of final users are the main factors for reaching energy efficiency objectives.

The HabitEnergie project aims to analyse, through a qualitative (on-site survey of several buildings and actors, among final users, decision makers and professionals) and geographical approach (France, Switzerland and Germany), the weight of these factors in determining the success of operations which aim to achieve very-low energy consumption.

The partnership brings together energy and services providers, and public and private energy and environment experts in the three EU countries involved in the survey.

For ensuring relevance of the survey results, the HabitEnergie project focuses on the single-family house sector where the final users are generally also the decision-makers.

This partnership will allow comparison of practices and analysis of results in order to:

Weigh the differences between the 3 countries involved.
Share knowledge about support and follow-up actions that enhance the influence of the different actors throughout all stages of the project process.

HabitEnergie will run from July 2006 for 18 months.