Realizing Energy Savings in the Public Sector
(2008)Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Energy prices are increasing at a high rate, eating away at the municipalities’ operating budgets. With every energy efficiency investment opportunity that is bypassed, tax money is wasted. An investment in new street lighting technology presents financial, environmental and social benefits, yet few municipalities are replacing their lighting installations with more energy efficient technology. It is thereby interesting to look closer at the barriers hindering energy efficiency investments within municipalities. The overarching purpose of this thesis is to identify the most critical barriers hindering energy efficiency investments in local governments in Sweden, and provide practical solutions to the same. For this purpose, we examine... (More)
- Energy prices are increasing at a high rate, eating away at the municipalities’ operating budgets. With every energy efficiency investment opportunity that is bypassed, tax money is wasted. An investment in new street lighting technology presents financial, environmental and social benefits, yet few municipalities are replacing their lighting installations with more energy efficient technology. It is thereby interesting to look closer at the barriers hindering energy efficiency investments within municipalities. The overarching purpose of this thesis is to identify the most critical barriers hindering energy efficiency investments in local governments in Sweden, and provide practical solutions to the same. For this purpose, we examine municipal settings in order to understand the environment in which decisions are made. To identify and evaluate the barriers we exemplify an energy efficiency investment with one in public street lighting, in which we assess the latest developments within lighting technology and their benefits. Initially, a broad and explorative pre-study was conducted in order to gain more wide-ranging knowledge of the problem area. This was followed by a case study covering five different municipalities, aiming at identifying barriers to energy efficiency investments. We had an explorative view towards the problem, encouraging the use of a qualitative research strategy through open, individual interviews with municipal officers and local politicians. Energy performance contracting, together with a life cycle value approach, targets the barriers – lack of investment capital, shortsighted investment horizon, and technology ignorance. Insufficient procurement competence must be targeted by legislative authorities with clearer guidelines of how to apply functional procurement within the Swedish Public Procurement Act. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1438391
- author
- Karle, Petter
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2008
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Energy performance contracting, managed street lighting, life cycle value, energy efficiency, public sector, Management of enterprises, Företagsledning, management
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1438391
- date added to LUP
- 2008-05-15 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2012-04-02 17:05:11
@misc{1438391,
abstract = {{Energy prices are increasing at a high rate, eating away at the municipalities’ operating budgets. With every energy efficiency investment opportunity that is bypassed, tax money is wasted. An investment in new street lighting technology presents financial, environmental and social benefits, yet few municipalities are replacing their lighting installations with more energy efficient technology. It is thereby interesting to look closer at the barriers hindering energy efficiency investments within municipalities. The overarching purpose of this thesis is to identify the most critical barriers hindering energy efficiency investments in local governments in Sweden, and provide practical solutions to the same. For this purpose, we examine municipal settings in order to understand the environment in which decisions are made. To identify and evaluate the barriers we exemplify an energy efficiency investment with one in public street lighting, in which we assess the latest developments within lighting technology and their benefits. Initially, a broad and explorative pre-study was conducted in order to gain more wide-ranging knowledge of the problem area. This was followed by a case study covering five different municipalities, aiming at identifying barriers to energy efficiency investments. We had an explorative view towards the problem, encouraging the use of a qualitative research strategy through open, individual interviews with municipal officers and local politicians. Energy performance contracting, together with a life cycle value approach, targets the barriers – lack of investment capital, shortsighted investment horizon, and technology ignorance. Insufficient procurement competence must be targeted by legislative authorities with clearer guidelines of how to apply functional procurement within the Swedish Public Procurement Act.}},
author = {{Karle, Petter}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Realizing Energy Savings in the Public Sector}},
year = {{2008}},
}