Energy and Buildings, Vol.74, 17-29, 2014
Resource management in organized housing settlements, a case study at Kastoria Region, Greece
Energy and water efficiency of the residential sector is a major issue regarding the sustainable management of both these resources, and may involve numerous aspects (everyday practices, efficient appliances, major interventions, such as domestic renewable energy microgeneration etc). The present work addressed a structured questionnaire to the residents of the organized settlements of County Council Housing, in Kastoria, Greece, in order to record their willingness to change practices and to adopt a number of energy and water saving appliances or interventions. Although respondents exhibited similar saving attitudes against both resources, energy related appliances/interventions have gained higher rates of willingness to adopt, in accordance with the overall family spending for energy, which is almost eight times higher than for water. The income level of the respondents affected their willingness against most of the proposed appliances/interventions, and the medium income category was found more determinative, compared to the low and the high income ones. Especially, willingness against pellet boilers and water saving appliances was affected by the corresponding consumption of heating oil and water. More than one third of the respondents were willing to install roof photovoltaics and pellet boilers, forming a base for future decisions of the County Council Housing Organization. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,
Keywords:Resource management in buildings;Domestic energy efficiency;Renewable energy micro-generation;Water saving;Water recycling