Identification of key parameters determining Danish homeowners’ willingness and motivation for energy renovations

In Denmark, around Europe and in the rest of the world there is a challenge of motivating homeowners to conduct private energy renovations despite a number of benefits. A particular great energy saving potential is present in the Danish single-family houses erected in 1960–1979, but the potential is not utilized for various reasons. However, survey results show that improvements in comfort, indoor environment and architecture combined with a reasonable project economy can motivate the average homeowner of these buildings. The objective of this paper is to further process the survey data from 883 homeowners and determine if all homeowners can be assumed as one homogeneous group in terms of motivation factors or if significant differences occur, what causes the differences and how does this affect the future motivation strategy. The conclusion is that the homeowners cannot be assumed as one group, but must be addressed as individuals. The key parameters for determining the motivation factors are related to the homeowner’s current position in life: age, presence and age of children, time of ownership, occupation and income. Most likely to be motivated to perform energy renovation is the younger generation of homeowners The older generation is hard to motivate, but results nonetheless show that it is possible with the right instruments.