A practice-theory based analysis of energy renovations in four European countries

In the past few years social practice theories have been used, discussed and developed in the sociology of consumption, namely in the field of energy consumption. This paper examines whether and how the renovation of dwellings, including energy renovations, can be understood within this perspective. It describes and compares energy-related renovation practices and their variability in four European countries that are quite different on geographical, cultural, and housing grounds but are regulated by the common EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive): one country in Southern Europe (Portugal), one in Western Europe (Belgium), one North-Eastern European country (Latvia) and one Scandinavian country (Denmark)that was a frontrunner in issuing energy-performance certificates. The empirical material used in the paper is based on around 20 in-depth interviews on renovation and energy-saving works in the residential sector in each of these four European countries. This comparison of renovation practices across these four countries will discuss the extent to which energy renovation is the same practice in these different settings, whether practice differences should be interpreted as variations within a practice or as different practices and whether practice differences relate to differences in culture, climate, building style, in knowledge or in teleo-affective structures. This analysis hopes to feed the discussion on how a common European policy tool, like the EPBD, may be meaningful and efficient, when taking into account these variations.