Summarising conclusions professional organisations This chapter contains a summary of the main aspects that relate to the market attractiveness according to professional organisations of Energy Performance certificates in order to be used for recommenda- tions to improve successful implementation. It is based on the responses to the questionnaires amongst professional parties from seven European countries. It is possible that respondents are not representa- tive for the European market. The results of this research are indicative and have to be interpreted with care. Some general remarks: The interest and attitude towards energy efficiency are very positive. The response to the questionnaires in the seven countries differed a lot in: ▪ type of organisations that responded (Owners of building(s), Suppliers to owners of buildings and Users) - both share in total response as share per country ▪ type of market the respondents work in (residential or non-residential) ▪ amount of response per country Taking this into account, general comparisons between countries are difficult to make and should be interpreted with care, as it will not be a comparison between “Finland” versus “The Netherlands” but between “Finnish Owners and Suppliers of residential and non residential buildings” versus “Dutch Owners of residential buildings”. Furthermore, as the number of questionnaires per country is limited and differs a lot (from 6 to 123), extreme differences are needed to find significant differences between countries. With respect to what is stated above and since hardly any major significant differences have been found between countries, the conclusions will focus on overall observations, ignoring the level of indi- vidual countries.
Summarising conclusions consumers A summary of the main aspects that correlate to the market attractiveness of Energy Performance certificates as observed from the data as gathered with the questionnaires in the consumer market is as follows. These can be used for recommendations to improve successful implementation. For the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium results can be presented. Where necessary/possible related to the different types of the respondents: - characteristics regarding interest in energy efficiency - perceived values of energy certificates and the expected/desired behaviour - perception of quality & relevant characteristics of an energy certificate Renting and buying decisions All factors investigated are important for tenants and home owners when renting or buying a house / apartment, with some exceptions. Belgian tenants assign a smaller importance to the maintenance level required to make the home comfortable and the willingness of the landlord to invest. The response to the latter by home owners seems irrelevant and is discarded. Perceived values In general tenants regard more value than owners to the factors investigated, Figure 29 and 30. Ten- ants consider the evaluation of energy costs and a transparent indication of energy the most valuable aspects. Belgium tenants assign smaller value to the comparison of energy performance between buildings. Owners especially consider the evaluation of energy costs, a transparent indication of energy use and professional advice to improve the quality of energy performance of buildings (very) valuable aspects of an energy certificate. The information on the energy certificate is considered valuable on three moments: - when working on/improving the property (renovation, replacement windows/heating system) - when buying a house - when renting a house Expected/desired behaviour Asked for the influence of the energy performance certificate and instruments, it appears that the major- ity of respondents: − see positive effect of such a certificate on willingness to pay, pricing and investments (Figure 33 and 34, 70- 80% yes or probably yes) - will pay more attention to energy quality in negotiations with landlords, Dutch tenants more than Belgian tenants (Figure 36) House-owners ascribe great importance to a balance in quality of especially indoor air quality and living comfort (Figure 39).
