Impact of time-use behaviour on residential energy consumption in the United Kingdom

Lorincz, M. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3853-0918, Ramirez-Mendiola, J. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7666-7440 and Torriti, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0569-039X (2021) Impact of time-use behaviour on residential energy consumption in the United Kingdom. Energies, 14 (19). 6286. ISSN 1996-1073 doi: 10.3390/en14196286

Abstract/Summary

In order to have the best possible chance of achieving ‘decent work’ and ‘climate action’ as laid forth in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, government and policy makers must pay close attention to current time-use patterns, as well as the way these might change in the near future. Here we contribute to the existing literature on time-use behaviour through a systematic exploration of the relationship between working patterns and energy consumption from the perspective of timeuse. Our starting point is the premise that different work arrangements impact the timing of energy demand not only in workplaces, but also at home. Using the data from the 2014–2015 UK time-use survey, we were able to capture patterns of time-use behaviours and to assess their relationship with daily energy consumption. We propose a systematic time-use-based approach for estimating residential energy consumption with regards to activity timing, activity location, activity coordination, and appliance type. We use this method to discover patterns in residential activities and energy consumption, as well as the causal relationship between residential energy consumption and work patterns. In this study, we unpack the heterogeneity in the work–energy relationship, particularly when comparing full-time and part-time workers. Our results suggest that full-time employees have a higher potential to reduce their energy use compared to part-time employees. We also discover a non-linear change in total energy consumption for respondents with varying levels of work time. Energy consumption reductions associated with differences in work schedules are greatest during the first few hours of the workday, but then level off. Our findings suggests that time-use data can

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/100610
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Publisher	MDPI
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