The psychology of energy efficiency labels: Trust, involvement, and attitudes towards energy performance certificates in Ireland

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are a widely implemented policy intended to inform building owners, occupiers, tenants, real estate agents and other relevant groups about the energy performance of dwellings (e.g., level of comfort and/or expenditure) and stimulate the investment in energy efficiency of buildings. EPCs for buildings are not a recent concept, for example, in the USA, the “Green Lights” programme was launched in 1999, which later expanded into the “Energy Star Building” programme. To date, all members of the European Union have formally introduced EPCs, although the stage of implementation and the name of the label differ between the various member states. In this paper we focus on EPCs for buildings in Ireland, which stands out as having one of the most well-established and reported databases within the EU.