A Three-Dimensional Model of Residential Energy Consumer Archetypes for Local Energy Policy Design in the UK

TL;DR

This paper introduces a three-dimensional archetype model for UK residential energy consumers, integrating property efficiency, behavioral greenness, and occupancy patterns to inform targeted local energy policies.

Contribution

It proposes a novel 3-D archetype model for UK residential energy consumers, combining property, behavior, and occupancy factors, validated through a case study.

Findings

Eight distinct consumer archetypes identified.

The 3-D model effectively supports local energy policy design.

Model demonstrates robustness in case study applications.

Abstract

This paper reviews major studies in three traditional lines of research in residential energy consumption in the UK, i.e. economic/infrastructure, behaviour, and load profiling. Based on the review the paper proposes a three-dimensional model for archetyping residential energy consumers in the UK by considering property energy efficiency levels, the greenness of household behaviour of using energy, and the duration of property daytime occupancy. With the proposed model, eight archetypes of residential energy consumers in the UK have been identified. They are: pioneer greens, follower greens, concerned greens, home stayers, unconscientious wasters, regular wasters, daytime wasters, and disengaged wasters. Using a case study, these archetypes of residential energy consumers demonstrate the robustness of the 3-D model in aiding local energy policy/intervention design in the UK.