The prebound effect

Many homes with poor energy efficiency are actually consuming far less energy than predicted, new research has found. The study has implications for national energy-saving policies and the economic viability of thermal retrofit programmes. This challenges the prevailing view that large cuts in energy consumption can be achieved by focusing purely on technical solutions, such as retrofitting homes. In some cases, doing so may bring only half the expected savings, perhaps less." - —Minna Sunikka-Blank Many European households are consuming less energy than predicted, especially in supposedly energy-inefficient homes, a new study has found. The research identified a recurring gulf between the quantity of energy predicted by governments for different types of housing and the amount homeowners actually use. Researchers also found that the discrepancy was greatest among the least energy-efficient homes, where householders appear to be consuming far less than national energy usage standards predict. This phenomenon is branded the "prebound effect" in the study, which is published in the new issue of the journal Building Research and Information .