Energy Efficiency is a strategy with the aim of limiting or reducing the amount of technically supplied energy to a sustainable level through changes in technology utilization and other aspects of usage. This project was set to examine how energy-efficient everyday routines, social practices and lifestyle aspects can be reconciled with the social and ecological requirements of a sustainable development, and how the structural and political framework conditions must be shaped so that energy sufficiency in everyday life becomes more feasible. Reduction potentials for household electricity consumption were quantified for the three principle energy-saving approaches of reduction, substitution and adaptation. With this it was possible to show that energy sufficiency can make a significant contribution to the energy transition. The findings of the project include the following: An Internet-based household electricity check, a manual for sustainable product design in the appliance industry and the development of proposals for national and EU instruments to reduce electricity consumption and promote local climate protection.
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