Stakeholders’ Awareness of the Benefits of Passive Energy-Efficient Retrofitting of Residential Buildings: A Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation and Thematic Analysis

There is a growing global interest in making existing buildings more energy efficient. However, stakeholders seem to have differing views on the matter, especially in developing countries, thus raising the issue of awareness among key stakeholders at the operational stage of existing buildings. This study examined the stakeholders’ awareness of the benefits of passive energy-efficient retrofitting of residential buildings. Convergent mixed-methods approach was used to integrate data gathered from two questionnaire surveys: one completed by 118 property managers and the other by 163 owners of residential buildings, and six semi-structured interviews with government officials in Lagos State, Nigeria. Quantitative results revealed that property managers and owners had a moderately high awareness of the environmental, economic, and social benefits of passive energy-efficient retrofitting of residential buildings. However, while the property managers generally had a higher level of awareness than the owners, a significant gap was found in their awareness of environmental benefits. The qualitative analysis results, on the other hand, showed that the government officials demonstrated a strong awareness of environmental benefits (energy reduction, air quality, natural lighting) and economic advantages (cost savings, lower implementation costs). In contrast, their awareness of social benefits is limited to health improvements. Building agencies need to further reinforce their targeted awareness programs for owners who demonstrated fair awareness of environmental benefits while leveraging the intermediary role of property managers in promoting home retrofit practices. Economic benefits should also be an integral part of policy frameworks to drive wider adoption across all stakeholder groups.