Different paths of change: home energy efficiency policy in britain and germany

This paper looks at long-term change with regard to domestic energy efficiency policy. More specifically, it discusses how the principal policy instruments targeting energy use in homes in the UK and Germany changed over time. The UK was the first country in the world that introduced obligations on suppliers to save energy at the customer end in 1994. Since then this policy changed rapidly and is now the principal instrument to deliver energy savings in the housing stock. Germany put in place large loans and grants schemes to finance residential energy efficiency measures. The CO 2 Building Rehabilitation Program started in 2001 and was modified frequently over the last decade. This paper aims to answer three questions: First, how did the two policy instruments change over time? Sec- ond, which long-term pressures caused such a remarkable shift and what were the key drivers of that change? Third, how does policy change in the UK compare to Germany?

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