CONSEED: CONSumer Energy Efficiency Decision making

The project aimed to answer the following questions through surveys and field trials among households and various economic sectors across Europe: Do European consumers pay attention to energy labels when they buy an electric appliance, a car or a house? What information are they looking for? How important is energy consumption in their decisions?

The EU has as a goal to reduce joint energy consumption by at least 27% by 2030. European consumers can save about €100 billion annually, according to the Commission’s calculations on their energy bills by 2020 if they buy more efficient appliances. However, it has been noted that the consumers do not always buy the products that would give them the largest energy savings over time. CONSEED aims to understand and explain this “energy efficiency gap”.

Our research covered households and professional consumers and the services such as agricultural and industrial sectors. The comprehensive database of empirical data enabled us to examine how different consumer groups interact with existing energy efficiency labels and certificates, and identify areas where policies can be improved.