What does energy mean for people? Perspectives on renovation and energy retrofit among Swedish tenants

Paper in proceeding, 2020

The study reports from an on-going study of tenants’ view on energy retrofit. The first results, which are based on 27 qualitative interviews show a generally positive attitude to energy saving and environmental protection. However, many tenants are not familiar with the link between energy use and energy retrofit, and the idea of energy saving might oppose to the actual willingness to contribute. One important lesson from these preliminary results is that the project owners have overlooked the importance of informing the tenants about the energy retrofit and what measures that are implemented. This leaves the tenants to their own interpretation of the matter and in some examples a negative image is created. In order to transition from the idea of personal benefit from energy retrofit to a larger responsibility and willingness to participate to society at large, we suggest that tenants are invited to discuss energy retrofit and that they are properly informed about implemented energy saving measures.