Sweden: Integrated Strategies to Overcome Market Barriers

Book chapter, 2012

The Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) has identified the built environment as a key area for Sweden’s societal energy savings (STEM, 2007). Governmental objectives for energy efficiency in the built environment are a 20 per cent reduction by 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2050 in relation to 1995. By 2020 a 40 per cent reduction of green house gas emissions should be attained, and at least 50 per cent of the total energy use should be provided from renewable sources. In 2008, almost 30 per cent of the total energy used in Sweden was attributed to housing and services (STEM, 2010). Most of the energy in the housing sector, 87 per cent, is used for heating, hot tap water, domestic purposes and technical installations. Heating and hot tap water is responsible for 60 per cent; lighting, technical installations and domestic use for the remaining 27 per cent (Lindén, 2007). However, there are differences in energy use in different parts of Sweden due to climate conditions (www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/temperatur/1.3973). The distance from south to north is 1, 572 kilometres. The mean temperature per year varies from +10°C to -8°C.