In this paper we develop an economic model that explains the decision-making process of an indust... more In this paper we develop an economic model that explains the decision-making process of an industrial firm under uncertainty. The decision is between making an irreversible investment in a co-generation system, or to invest in a conventional heat-only generation system and to purchase all electricity from the grid. We also study the energy policy implications of the model outcome, with a special focus on the situation in Switzerland. Furthermore, we discuss ongoing regulatory changes related to the energy sector and policy design issues that aim at promoting industrial co-generation in Switzerland. In our model, we take into account the main influencing variables of the investment decision process and their associated risks and uncertainties. The dynamic stochastic model presented captures the major variables and allows for an analysis of the impact of different sources of risk and uncertainty on the investment decision. We apply the theoretical model and illustrate our main finding...
With regard to residential energy use in the European Union (EU), most studies consider potential... more With regard to residential energy use in the European Union (EU), most studies consider potential adopters of the technology (e.g., private owners) as being the sole decision-makers in the technology selection. However, during an integrated decision-making process (e.g., a construction project) multiple stakeholders will interact, influencing each other’s judgement, thereby making it difficult to discern who is affecting the final decision, and to what extent. The goal of this study is to outline the full network of stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, along with their degree of power and interaction in the technology choice. For this purpose, empirical evidence from a multi-country survey is examined using social network analysis (SNA). The information is compared across building typologies, project types and countries (i.e., Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The results demonstrate that, in EU residential buil...
Building renovation is one of the key factors in fostering energy efficiency in the building sect... more Building renovation is one of the key factors in fostering energy efficiency in the building sector. However with regard to the long-term policy goals such as the Kyoto-Protocol and the IPCC recommendations the past and current rates of such renovations have been too low in most European countries including Switzerland. To identify the relevant factors affecting the renovation decisions of
In recent years extensive empirical investigations have been made about building retrofit activit... more In recent years extensive empirical investigations have been made about building retrofit activities and behavior in the residential sector. However such empirical data has been available much less in the non-residential sector so far. Therefore, an empirical study has been carried out by the authors in order to investigate the situation of office and administrative buildings in the city of Zurich. The goal of the study was to gather energy-relevant determinants of a sample of office buildings, in terms of energy increasing factors on the one hand and in terms of energy-reducing factors on the other hand. Hence, we analyze both, the equipment of office buildings with appliances and building technologies and the retrofit behavior as well as the management strategies of building owners and managers of such buildings. In particular, we investigate motivation and influencing factors which lead to retrofits in general and to energy-saving retrofits: First, we describe the hitherto retrof...
The paper reports on a project which goal was to empirically determine the building renewal pat- ... more The paper reports on a project which goal was to empirically determine the building renewal pat- tern in the Swiss residential sector for the period 1986-2000, differentiating between the main components (construction elements, i.e. wall, window, roof etc.). The results that are based on about 1000 single family houses and apartment buildings each confirm the assumed lack of re- newal of the Swiss residential buildings. By the majority measures on the building envelope include only refurbishments like painting or renewal of the roof covering that doesn't improve the energy efficiency of the building. The common main factor of all construction elements that triggers refur- bishment is the end life time, other factors are specific on the construction element and the meas- ure (changing attic to apartments, noise protection, energy saving / environmental protection etc.). The obtained database is able to serve two purposes: first to describe better the energetic charac- teristics o...
In this paper we develop an economic model that explains the decision-making process of an indust... more In this paper we develop an economic model that explains the decision-making process of an industrial firm under uncertainty. The decision is between making an irreversible investment in a co-generation system, or to invest in a conventional heat-only generation system and to purchase all electricity from the grid. We also study the energy policy implications of the model outcome, with a special focus on the situation in Switzerland. Furthermore, we discuss ongoing regulatory changes related to the energy sector and policy design issues that aim at promoting industrial co-generation in Switzerland. In our model, we take into account the main influencing variables of the investment decision process and their associated risks and uncertainties. The dynamic stochastic model presented captures the major variables and allows for an analysis of the impact of different sources of risk and uncertainty on the investment decision. We apply the theoretical model and illustrate our main finding...
With regard to residential energy use in the European Union (EU), most studies consider potential... more With regard to residential energy use in the European Union (EU), most studies consider potential adopters of the technology (e.g., private owners) as being the sole decision-makers in the technology selection. However, during an integrated decision-making process (e.g., a construction project) multiple stakeholders will interact, influencing each other’s judgement, thereby making it difficult to discern who is affecting the final decision, and to what extent. The goal of this study is to outline the full network of stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, along with their degree of power and interaction in the technology choice. For this purpose, empirical evidence from a multi-country survey is examined using social network analysis (SNA). The information is compared across building typologies, project types and countries (i.e., Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The results demonstrate that, in EU residential buil...
Building renovation is one of the key factors in fostering energy efficiency in the building sect... more Building renovation is one of the key factors in fostering energy efficiency in the building sector. However with regard to the long-term policy goals such as the Kyoto-Protocol and the IPCC recommendations the past and current rates of such renovations have been too low in most European countries including Switzerland. To identify the relevant factors affecting the renovation decisions of
In recent years extensive empirical investigations have been made about building retrofit activit... more In recent years extensive empirical investigations have been made about building retrofit activities and behavior in the residential sector. However such empirical data has been available much less in the non-residential sector so far. Therefore, an empirical study has been carried out by the authors in order to investigate the situation of office and administrative buildings in the city of Zurich. The goal of the study was to gather energy-relevant determinants of a sample of office buildings, in terms of energy increasing factors on the one hand and in terms of energy-reducing factors on the other hand. Hence, we analyze both, the equipment of office buildings with appliances and building technologies and the retrofit behavior as well as the management strategies of building owners and managers of such buildings. In particular, we investigate motivation and influencing factors which lead to retrofits in general and to energy-saving retrofits: First, we describe the hitherto retrof...
The paper reports on a project which goal was to empirically determine the building renewal pat- ... more The paper reports on a project which goal was to empirically determine the building renewal pat- tern in the Swiss residential sector for the period 1986-2000, differentiating between the main components (construction elements, i.e. wall, window, roof etc.). The results that are based on about 1000 single family houses and apartment buildings each confirm the assumed lack of re- newal of the Swiss residential buildings. By the majority measures on the building envelope include only refurbishments like painting or renewal of the roof covering that doesn't improve the energy efficiency of the building. The common main factor of all construction elements that triggers refur- bishment is the end life time, other factors are specific on the construction element and the meas- ure (changing attic to apartments, noise protection, energy saving / environmental protection etc.). The obtained database is able to serve two purposes: first to describe better the energetic charac- teristics o...
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Papers by Martin Jakob