German Efficiency? Analysing the Policy Mix for Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings in Germany
(2019) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEN41 20192The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
- Abstract
- Energy efficiency improvements have not yet been developed to their full potential. Further improvements are necessary to tap into the full potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing energy consumption. This challenge is particularly relevant in buildings, a sector that consumes substantial amounts of energy. Despite numerous public policies to increase the energy efficiency performance of existing buildings in Germany, achieving short and mid-term objectives remains highly uncertain. The effect of multiple policies in a topic like building energy efficiency is still largely unknown. This research draws on emerging concepts of policy mix analysis to describe the design of objectives and instruments as well as interactions... (More)
- Energy efficiency improvements have not yet been developed to their full potential. Further improvements are necessary to tap into the full potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing energy consumption. This challenge is particularly relevant in buildings, a sector that consumes substantial amounts of energy. Despite numerous public policies to increase the energy efficiency performance of existing buildings in Germany, achieving short and mid-term objectives remains highly uncertain. The effect of multiple policies in a topic like building energy efficiency is still largely unknown. This research draws on emerging concepts of policy mix analysis to describe the design of objectives and instruments as well as interactions between them and assess the combination of policy instruments for existing buildings. As assessment criteria, the policy mix characteristics coherence of objectives; consistency of instruments; and comprehensiveness of solutions to market challenges are used. In document review and stakeholder interviews, design features of the policy mix and perceptions of practitioners have been collected and analysed through qualitative content analysis. The German policy mix is found to be coherent in respect to climate targets but less in respect to social policy targets. However, key problems remain. First, a mismatch between the ambition of objectives and the ability of instruments to achieve them is found. Second, stakeholders perceive it as difficult to work with the numerous funding programmes in practice. And third, market failures and barriers of energy efficiency in existing buildings remain largely unsolved. Based on the results of this case study, recommendations for policy include a stronger orientation on the objectives with less complex funding programmes and more stringent regulation. Moreover, for future research on policy, the results underline the need to consider matching ambitions between goals and instruments, as well as the context dependency of innovation functions of instruments to achieve comprehensiveness. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8996790
- author
- Steinmann, Jacob LU
- supervisor
-
- Nora Smedby LU
- organization
- course
- IMEN41 20192
- year
- 2019
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Energy efficiency, policy mix analysis, public policy, existing buildings, energy efficiency governance
- publication/series
- IIIEE Master Thesis
- report number
- 2019:36
- ISSN
- 1401-9191
- language
- English
- id
- 8996790
- date added to LUP
- 2019-10-18 14:51:53
- date last changed
- 2019-10-18 14:51:53
@misc{8996790,
abstract = {{Energy efficiency improvements have not yet been developed to their full potential. Further improvements are necessary to tap into the full potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing energy consumption. This challenge is particularly relevant in buildings, a sector that consumes substantial amounts of energy. Despite numerous public policies to increase the energy efficiency performance of existing buildings in Germany, achieving short and mid-term objectives remains highly uncertain. The effect of multiple policies in a topic like building energy efficiency is still largely unknown. This research draws on emerging concepts of policy mix analysis to describe the design of objectives and instruments as well as interactions between them and assess the combination of policy instruments for existing buildings. As assessment criteria, the policy mix characteristics coherence of objectives; consistency of instruments; and comprehensiveness of solutions to market challenges are used. In document review and stakeholder interviews, design features of the policy mix and perceptions of practitioners have been collected and analysed through qualitative content analysis. The German policy mix is found to be coherent in respect to climate targets but less in respect to social policy targets. However, key problems remain. First, a mismatch between the ambition of objectives and the ability of instruments to achieve them is found. Second, stakeholders perceive it as difficult to work with the numerous funding programmes in practice. And third, market failures and barriers of energy efficiency in existing buildings remain largely unsolved. Based on the results of this case study, recommendations for policy include a stronger orientation on the objectives with less complex funding programmes and more stringent regulation. Moreover, for future research on policy, the results underline the need to consider matching ambitions between goals and instruments, as well as the context dependency of innovation functions of instruments to achieve comprehensiveness.}},
author = {{Steinmann, Jacob}},
issn = {{1401-9191}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
title = {{German Efficiency? Analysing the Policy Mix for Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings in Germany}},
year = {{2019}},
}