Electricity and buildings

A 2007 study by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability states that electricity consumption in EU-27 Member States has continued to grow. From 1999 to 2004 the increased was of 10.8 percent, almost the same rate as the economy.

The study identifies four major factors for this trend:
1. More penetration of appliances such as dishwashers, driers, air conditioners, computers, and introduction of consumer electronics and information and communication technology with standby losses
2. Increased used of equipments: more hours of TV watching, more hours in front of the computer
3. Increased number of double or triple appliances
4. More single family houses, each with some basic appliances, and larger houses and apartments.

The largest electricity use is heating (26%), followed by refrigerators and freezers (15%) and lighting (12%). The Figure is for EU-15.


Comparing this figure with the Electricity consumption in portuguese households from Ecocasa project the percentages are of the same order of magnitude.