Climate Change & The Home

In this section report we focus on 'the home' and the issues involved in improving energy-efficiency, reducing emissions, and 'green' household behaviour. It is closely tied to our section report which addresses green energy companies and hydrogen fuel-cells (3.d).

In early 2009, governments from the 3 countries surveyed in this study are implementing programs to reduce emissions from residential buildings. The choices people make in heating, cooling and insulating their houses has a large impact on the total carbon emissions they are responsible for - as well as choices regarding how they do their laundry, and buy groceries.

Yet, how concerned and motivated are people to act? Indeed, making changes to your home can be a very involved process - especially considering the large variety of housing types, varying fuel options available, and plethora of advice provided.

This report considers these issues & provides vital data for any company or organisation involved in, or with an interest in, the household energy sector. Questions addressed include:

• What is the profile of those responsible for deciding on major household improvements, groceries and laundry?
• How do choices vary by size of household?
• How many houses do people own?
• What attitudes do people have towards different low-carbon options?
• How involved are tenants in making improvements to their houses?
• What proportion of people think they need air-conditioning?
• Which energy efficiency measures or products are more popular, and more likely to be adopted?
• What proportion of people are passionate about improving the energy efficiency of their homes?
• What is the profile of these ""micro-energy leaders""?
• Could these leaders be used to encourage others to upgrade their houses?

As with other section reports, the analysis builds on the core three-fold attitudinal segmentation described in the first report (1.a) - between 'Climate Citizens', 'Mild Greens' and 'Sceptics & Uninvolved'.The Environmental Choices syndicated survey was conducted from 25th September to 3rd October 2008. Fieldwork for the study was conducted online in native language by Research Now plc, amongst nationally representative samples of a minimum of 1,000 people in each of Canada, England and the USA - 3,156 respondents in all. 14 section reports will be published over the coming three months, with a full final report due for release at the end of February 2009. The section reports can either be treated as separate entities or as a group from which a gestalt understanding of the subject matter will emerge: the full final report will draw from each section to produce a highly comprehensive analysis which focuses on all aspects of this fundamentally important subject in a holistic manner.