Earth Notes: General Bibliography (fetzer2023conservation)

• [fetzer2023conservation] Thiemo Fetzer Regulatory barriers to climate action: Evidence from Conservation Areas in England (accessed 2023-02-13), CAGE Research Centre, University of Warwick, 2023-02, report/number 654 (report) (BibTeX).
  abstract

  Preserving heritage is an important part of maintaining collective identity for future generations. Yet, in the context of the climate crisis, it is imperative to understand to what extent there is a tangible trade-off between conserving "character" vis-a-vis averting the worst of climate change - a much more existential threat to those future generations. Studying data for more than half of the English housing stock, I show that conservation area status - a special area-based designation to preserve the unique character of a neighborhood - not to be confused with preservation of historic buildings - in England may be responsible for up to 3.2 million tons of avoidable CO2 emissions annually. Using a suite of micro-econometric methods I show that properties in conservation areas have a notable worse energy efficiency; experience lower investment in retrofitting and consume notably higher levels of energy owing to poor energy efficiency. Effect sizes are very consistent comparing engineering based energy consumption estimates with actual consumption data. Effects can be directly attributed to planning requirements for otherwise permitted development that only apply to properties by virtue of them being located inside a conservation area.
  note

  [Quote: "... this specific barrier is causing higher levels of energy consumption mostly from a hydrocarbon source: natural gas for space heating." Quote: "Overall, the 2,033,354 properties inside conservation areas in the 239 English local authority for which boundary data is available are estimated to consume between 500 to 1500 kWh more in natural gas that is used mostly for space heating purposes." Quote: "... around 50 to 70% of the variation in actual energy consumption can be explained by the property and its characteristics; the remainder is likely driven by socioeconomics of the resident population and the interaction with the building characteristics." Quote: "It is estimated that the conservation-area status induced energy efficiency gap owing to lower rates of retrofits may account for between 5 to 15% of the energy efficiency gap."]