Table 6 Theme 6 Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) priority questions.
Question no. | Agreed SSH priority question |
|---|---|
75 | How do energy efficiency measures interact with other policy frameworks and financial mechanisms affecting the business and industrial sectors, such as fiscal and monetary policies and carbon pricing? |
76 | What impacts do energy audits of companies (such as those required by the EU’s 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive) have on the actual implementation of energy efficiency measures by those companies; and how can the design of auditing processes be made more effective? |
77 | In what ways do financial priorities in business and industry conflict with or complement energy efficiency goals; and to what extent are businesses implementing the ‘Energy Efficiency First’ principle, which stipulates that energy efficiency investments must be prioritised when it is cost-effective to do so? |
78 | Given that a large proportion of intentions to invest in energy efficiency measures (in existing buildings) are never carried out or are substantially delayed, how can Social Sciences and Humanities improve understandings of this implementation gap? |
79 | How can energy efficiency policy benefit from an analysis of the transnational markets and global supply chains that underpin different energy efficiency technologies, going beyond national-level assessments? |
80 | Given that Global South households often rely on second-hand donated electrical goods from Europe, what are the implications for importing energy (in)efficiency and how can these be addressed? |
81 | How can innovation in energy efficiency be encouraged in the Global South, so that inefficient consumption ‘lock-ins’ can be avoided? |
82 | How can stimulus packages after rare-destructive events (e.g., COVID-19 outbreak) be designed to include energy efficiency; to what extent is it viable to promote energy efficiency investments as an anti-crisis measure; and what would be the macro-effects of such an approach? |
83 | In what ways (if any) do post-COVID-19 recovery plans account for energy efficiency; how does energy efficiency complement and/or clash with economic recovery; and how will economic recovery affect the ability to achieve the goal of improving energy efficiency in different countries? |
84 | What new models and mechanisms for sharing, trading and accounting for energy resources are emerging; and what might these socio-economic innovations mean for energy efficiency and energy sufficiency? |
85 | How can policy support development of an adequately skilled workforce to implement the innovations needed to fulfil the EU’s energy efficiency targets; in particular, digital innovations in the building and construction sector? |
86 | How could alternative economic systems (e.g., slow, local, time-rich, high-satisfaction economies) contribute to energy efficiency and energy sufficiency? |
