Summary

This topic focuses on investment decision-making by ‘decentralised actors’, by which we generally mean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), individuals and households. It builds on earlier UKERC work (e.g. Rosenow and Eyre 2013) amongst other research, and takes an inter-disciplinary and socio-technical approach to understanding decisions.

SMEs

Our work on SMEs aims to deliver new insights into the energy use patterns, investment decisions, behaviours and practices of this very diverse population of firms. We are also investigating the relationship between personal and business values and decision-making, in the collaborative Growing Greener project.

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Households

The work on households covers a range of topics related to policy, and how it structures choices around investments in energy efficiency. Some of the research activity builds on research on personal carbon trading and energy and equity concerns first explored in UKERC Phase 1.

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Further information

The work in this research theme primarily considers decisions about energy efficiency. For further information please see the links below. The first is a short defence of the value of energy efficiency, following a critical paper by another academic, the second focuses on the importance of energy efficiency in housing retrofits.