11 SUSTAINABLE ENERGY CoNSUMPTIoN AND ENERGY PoVERTY …
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country. Consequently, there were untapped reserves for electricity
savings, which the competition managed to activate. on the other hand,
opportunities for heating savings were much more restricted, due to the
unfavourable state of Bulgarian building stock and limited financial ability of residents to invest in retrofitting. Hence, heat energy could often
be saved only at the expense of thermal comfort (Julius 2012).
The winner of the Bulgarian ECCC was a family from a small town in
Western Bulgaria, living in a detached two-storey building constructed in
the 1980s with no energy efficiency measures. During the campaign, the
family invested 1665 EUR into retrofitting their home (efficient lighting,
new appliances like refrigerator, cooker and washing machine, and a solar
panel on the roof). These measures decreased their energy consumption
by 54%, with additional 14% achieved through behavioural changes.
ConCLusion
of 45 SECIs in Bulgaria, examined and described in the frame of the
ENERGISE project (Table 11.2), 14 have been classified as ‘Changes in
Technology,’ 19 as ‘Changes in Individual Behaviour,’ 6 as ‘Changes in
Everyday Life Situations’ and 6 as ‘Changes in Complex Interactions.’
The objectives of the majority of initiatives implemented in Bulgaria are
therefore to influence attitudes and choices related to energy efficiency
and potentially change the energy consuming behaviour of individual
households or household members, or to achieve energy savings through
introduction of energy efficient technical measures. only a minority of
initiatives target more complex solutions that necessitate active involvement of a community of people who do not necessarily know each other
and are willing to act and interact for the common good, and not only to
reduce the energy costs of their own household.
Another curious feature of Bulgarian SECIs is that most of them (32)
are implemented as part of international projects—mostly EU funded.
only a few initiatives are true grass-root projects developed and implemented by the household residents themselves. An interesting observation
from the analysis on international projects is that Bulgarian householders are often very eager and active participants in top-down initiatives (in
many projects, especially the ones involving a competitive dimension of
energy saving, Bulgaria archived higher than average levels of participation and some of the best results), but are very reserved when it comes to
self-organisation and cooperation with their neighbours and co-citizens.
123
country. Consequently, there were untapped reserves for electricity
savings, which the competition managed to activate. on the other hand,
opportunities for heating savings were much more restricted, due to the
unfavourable state of Bulgarian building stock and limited financial ability of residents to invest in retrofitting. Hence, heat energy could often
be saved only at the expense of thermal comfort (Julius 2012).
The winner of the Bulgarian ECCC was a family from a small town in
Western Bulgaria, living in a detached two-storey building constructed in
the 1980s with no energy efficiency measures. During the campaign, the
family invested 1665 EUR into retrofitting their home (efficient lighting,
new appliances like refrigerator, cooker and washing machine, and a solar
panel on the roof). These measures decreased their energy consumption
by 54%, with additional 14% achieved through behavioural changes.
ConCLusion
of 45 SECIs in Bulgaria, examined and described in the frame of the
ENERGISE project (Table 11.2), 14 have been classified as ‘Changes in
Technology,’ 19 as ‘Changes in Individual Behaviour,’ 6 as ‘Changes in
Everyday Life Situations’ and 6 as ‘Changes in Complex Interactions.’
The objectives of the majority of initiatives implemented in Bulgaria are
therefore to influence attitudes and choices related to energy efficiency
and potentially change the energy consuming behaviour of individual
households or household members, or to achieve energy savings through
introduction of energy efficient technical measures. only a minority of
initiatives target more complex solutions that necessitate active involvement of a community of people who do not necessarily know each other
and are willing to act and interact for the common good, and not only to
reduce the energy costs of their own household.
Another curious feature of Bulgarian SECIs is that most of them (32)
are implemented as part of international projects—mostly EU funded.
only a few initiatives are true grass-root projects developed and implemented by the household residents themselves. An interesting observation
from the analysis on international projects is that Bulgarian householders are often very eager and active participants in top-down initiatives (in
many projects, especially the ones involving a competitive dimension of
energy saving, Bulgaria archived higher than average levels of participation and some of the best results), but are very reserved when it comes to
self-organisation and cooperation with their neighbours and co-citizens.