Of special interest is the introduction of individual metering and debiting (IMD) of hot water in rented flats. IMD is considered as an important means to encourage households to reduce their water and energy usage. Many studies support this assumption, but also report shifting results in terms of actual savings. Most studies are done on an aggregated level and it is unclear exactly what is behind the changed usage - it is the habits themselves that have changed or may it be explained by other changes such as the installation of water-saving technology or high-consuming households moving from the area? The varying results may also depend on contextual factors surrounding the introduction of IMD, something that previous research does not handle as much but are also important to identify.
Qualitative long-term studies of household everyday water use
The present project is a qualitative, partly longitudinal study of household water habits in connection with the introduction of IMD and conducted with the help of time-diaries, interviews, observations and measurement data. The analysis is based on time-geographical concepts, and special emphasis is placed on household specific resources and constrains for changed consumption; what resources, in a broad sense, do households need to understand the ongoing changes and to act accordingly with them?
