From energy behaviours to lifestyles: Contribution of behavioural archetypes to the description of energy consumption patterns in the residential sector

Many studies emphasise that household energy behaviour is a key determinant of domestic energy consumption, but few highlight the fact that it is fundamentally associated with lifestyle and housing context. Existing studies that address this issue perform clustering but use only restricted datasets and rarely describe the associated households and housings. In this study, we develop an original methodology to construct behavioural archetypes from qualitative and quantitative variables, opening up perspectives for a wider and more transparent use of survey data. The clustering is performed with 35 variables describing hygiene, food, heating, lighting and leisure practices and housing occupation. Seven homogeneous archetypes of domestic behaviours were constructed from a database describing 1363 households in the Ile de France region. The analysis of the related household profiles shows that the behavioural archetypes are related to specific housing contexts and energy consumption levels. The work also invites to stand back from the variables usually mobilized, such as income or tenure status, and used for the conception of targeted policies. In particular, the work highlights the value of the household life cycle in constructing a typology suitable for policy makers. Finally, this work opens up avenues for the construction of archetypal energy consumption models.