Brenda is an Emeritus Fellow at the ECI following her retirement in September 2008. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter. At the ECI, Brenda was the former head of the Lower Carbon Futures team and a co-director of the UK Energy Research Centre. Her main research focus is on how to achieve demand reduction in energy across the UK economy, but in particular the built environment.
Brenda's main research focus is on energy efficiency and the way that energy is used in British homes, particularly by low-income households, i.e. fuel poverty. She considers the economic, social and technical aspects of the subject and her work has a strong policy emphasis. She is widely viewed as one of the most experienced in her field and was awarded an MBE in 1998 for her work on energy efficiency and received the Energy Institute's Melchett Medal in the same year.
Brenda's second book, Fixing Fuel Poverty: Challenges and solutions is available in both paperback and hardback. The book examines why the numbers of households in fuel poverty are rising - currently 5m in the UK - despite the government's legal obligation to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016. Many of the lessons from the UK are germaine to other countries beginning to experience worsening fuel poverty, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe. The European Commission now requires action on fuel poverty in all Member States, through the revised Electricity Directive. Brenda has given a series of presentations about the book to various professional and academic audiences in the UK, in Brussels and in Prague.
Brenda continues to supervise two doctoral students and to give occasional lectures to the MSc in Environmental Change and Management. She also contributes to the MSc in Energy Policy at Exeter University and is external examiner for the MSc in Theory and Practice of Sustainable Design, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University.
ENGAGER training school keynote session featuring Brenda Boardman interviewed by Harriet Thomson and Sergio Tirado Herrero.
In 2012 a special issue of the international journal Energy Policy was published commemorating 21 years of research and policy related to fuel poverty. The issue is a tribute to the work of Brenda Boardman and hails her as the primary “researcher, strategic thinker and campaigner” on the world of fuel poverty. View the special edition online: Fuel Poverty Comes of Age: Commemorating 21 Years of Research and Policy.
The missed exam: Conversations with Brenda Boardman, by Christine Liddell (Energy Policy 49:12-18)
Boardman B, K Lane, M Hinnells, N Banks, G Milne, A Goodwin and T Fawcett (1997) Transforming the UK Cold Market. Report from the DECADE team, Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 112pp. ISBN 1874370168. http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/archive-decade.html
Boardman B, T Fawcett, H Griffin, M Hinnells, K Lane and J Palmer (1997) 2MtC: two million tonnes of carbon. DECADE 4th year report, Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 106 pp. ISBN 1874370192
Boardman, B (1997) EESOP’s fable: a review of the second series of annual reports on the Energy Efficiency Standards of Performance. Energy Action 67, NEA, Newcastle, January
Boardman, B (1997) Cold houses, warm homes and household energy use: a challenge for the twenty-first century. Paper given at the WWF climate change conference, 'The Road to Kyoto'. 11pp
Boardman, B (1997) Cold labelling - the UK experience of Energy Labels. Proceedings of the European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, June 1997. Vol 1, paper 72. 14pp
Boardman, B (1997) PowerGen - energy in action. Energy Action 69, NEA, Newcastle, August
Boardman, B (1997) Contributing to Kyoto: lessons from cold appliances. Energy Utilities 8, September 1997, OXERA, Oxford. Pp24-6
Boardman, B (1997) Managing demand through economic instruments : social equity (including rural areas). Briefing paper, Transport Policy Review, October 1997
Boardman B (1997) Understanding consumer behaviour: the implications for UK policy. In Energy efficiency in household appliances, (eds) P Bertoldi, A Ricci and B Huenges Wajer, Proceedings of the First International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Household Appliances, 10-12 November. Springer-Verlag Berlin-Heidelberg. Pp113-124
Milne, G and B Boardman (1997) Making cold homes warmer: the effect of energy efficiency improvements in low-income homes. A report to the Energy Action Grants Agency Charitable Trust. 32pp
Anable, J, B Boardman and A Root (1997), Travel Emission Profiles. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 96pp. ISBN 1874370184
Boardman, B, Hinnells, M, Lane, K, Milne, G and Palmer J (1996) Efficient appliances and SOP money. Report to the Energy Saving Trust. 10pp
Boardman, B (1996) A great leap forward. Paper for conference on the Home Energy Conservation Act: reporting, planning and implementing across all housing sectors. Held at De Montfort University, Leicester, June
Boardman, B (1996), Home energy efficiency scheme (HEES), Response the Department of the Environment consultation paper. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford
Root, A, B Boardman and W J Fielding (1996) Rural Travel and Transport Corridors. SMART (Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility in Rural Transport) interim report. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 74pp. ISBN 1874370125
Root, A, B Boardman and W J Fielding (1996) The costs of rural travel. Final report of the SMART (Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility in Rural Transport) project. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 82pp. ISBN 187437015X.
Boardman B (1995) Freezing out the poor: raising domestic energy prices is not good environmental policy. New Economy, September 1995, pp 152-156. Dryden Press
Boardman B (1995) Policy instruments - a survey. Workshop on energy savings in home entertainment electronics, Copenhagen, 15-16 May
Boardman, B (1995), as a member of the Energy Working Group, Energy & Environment in the 21st Century. National Academies Policy Advisory Group (NAPAG). 104pp. July
Boardman B (1995) Lessons from VAT on domestic fuel. The Guardian, October 2
Boardman B (1995) Energy and the environment, chapter in Environment, Health & Medical Care for the 21st Century, edited by Eiji Yano, Teikyo University. Proceedings of the First Teikyo-Harvard Symposium, Tokyo, pp84-99
Boardman B (1995) Through the looking glass: energy efficiency projects funded by electricity companies, Energy Action, NEA, Newcastle, November, pp14-15
Hinnells, M J, K B Lane, E Small, B Boardman and N Middleton (1995) Policy options: energy and emissions savings from intervention. Background report no 10 in A study of efficiency in washing machines, dishwashers and dryers, a report to DG XVII (Energy) of the European Commission. Danish Energy Agency
Boardman B, D Favis-Mortlock, M Hinnells, K Lane, G Milne, J Palmer, E Small, V Strang and J Wade (1995) DECADE (Domestic Equipment and Carbon Dioxide Emissions) second year report. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 147pp
Boardman B (1995) Assessing regulatory impacts. Discussant contribution, Proceedings of Energy and Environment Regulation Workshop. Regulatory Policy Institute, University of Oxford.
Boardman, B, M J Hinnells and G Milne (1995) Estimation of the energy use in the EU, 1985-2010. Study of standby losses and energy saving potential for televisions and video recorders in Europe. Part A, Novem BV, Sittard NL
Boardman B, D Favis-Mortlock, M Hinnells, K Lane, G Milne, E Small, V Strang and J Wade (1994) DECADE (Domestic Equipment and Carbon Dioxide Emissions) first year report. Energy and Environment Programme, Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford. 83pp
Boardman B (1994) Energy efficiency and UK households. Energy and Environment 4 pp316-334
Hunt, S and Boardman B (1994) Defining the problem. In Domestic Energy and Affordable Warmth (ed T A Markus). Watt Committee report 30. ISBN 0 419 20090 8. pp 17-32. London, E & F N Spon
Boardman B (1994) Strategies for action. In Domestic Energy and Affordable Warmth (ed T A Markus). Watt Committee report 30. ISBN 0 419 20090 8. pp 81- 96. London, E & F N Spon
Boardman B (1994) Energy efficiency measures and social inequality, in Housing and the environment: a new agenda (eds M Bhatti, J Booke and M Gibson), Chartered Institute of Housing, Policy and Practice Series. pp 107-127
Boardman B (1994) DECADE - Domestic Equipment and Carbon Dioxide Emissions, in The SAVE Programme: overview and future. Proceedings of the conference held in Florence, October 26-28. 14pp
Boardman B (1993), Energy inefficient Europe: the scale of the problem. Paper presented at conference on `Towards an Energy Efficient Europe', Birmingham, 20-21 January. Neighbourhood Energy Action. Newcastle. 6pp
Boardman B, Energy efficiency incentives and UK households, Energy and Environment, 4 (4), 316-334.
Boardman B (1993) Response to the Department of the Environment’s Climate Change discussion document. Together with the National Right to Fuel Campaign. 8pp
Boardman B (1993) Comments on OFFER’s consultation document on Energy Efficiency Standards of Performance, March. 9pp
Boardman, B (1993), Cold facts about fuel poverty. Innovations in social Housing. No 4. March. Pp5-6
Boardman B (1993) Investment in energy efficiency. Energy and Environment in the South West conference proceedings, Camborne School of Mines. April.
Boardman B (1993) Uncertainty and the British household. Paper presented to the Demand Side Management and Energy Efficiency conference, Stockholm, September. 12pp
Boardman B (1993) Prospects for affordable warmth. In Aspects of Unhealthy Housing, R Burridge and D Ormandy (eds), Chapman and Hall. pp382-400
Boardman B (1993) Energy Efficiency in Buildings. Submission on behalf of the Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford to the Environment Committee, House of Commons, Fourth Report, Session 1992-93. HC648-III, HMSO
Boardman B (1993) The opportunities and constraints posed by fuel poverty on policies to reduce the greenhouse effect in Britain. Applied Energy 44, pp185-195
Boardman B (1993) Implications for low-income households of the imposition of VAT on domestic energy. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford
Boardman, B (1993), Response to the Energy Saving Trust, Residential Scheme. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford, December. 10pp
Boardman, B (1992), Energy efficiency and the utilities. Report to the National Consumer Council. January. 13pp
Boardman B (1992) Why energy efficiency? Energy Utilities, Oxera, Oxford, February. Pp23-26
Boardman B (1992) Fuel Poverty. Environmental Health, March, pp 61-5
Boardman B (1992) Effects of electricity privatisation for consumers. Submission to the House of Commons Energy Select Committee inquiry on behalf of the National Right to Fuel Campaign and Right to Warmth, in HC 113-II, session 1991-92. 13pp
Hulme, M, P Haves and B Boardman (1992) Impacts of climate change. Innovative Cooling Systems Workshop, Future Buildings Forum, International Energy Agency, May. 13pp
Boardman, B (1992), Comments from the National Right to Fuel Campaign on the OGGER Energy Efficiency Consultation Document, June, 5pp
Boardman B (1992) Social aspects of energy efficiency. Energy efficiency: the policy agenda for the 1990s. I Christie & N Ritchie (eds), Policy Studies Institute, London
Boardman B (1992) Energy efficiency: the role of the local authority. Environmental Health Congress, September 14-17, Bournemouth. 6pp
Boardman B (1992) Paying for energy efficiency. Paper for National Society for Clean Air Conference, 19-22 October, Bournemouth
Boardman, B (1992), When is a house not a house? Presentation at the Right to Warmth Seminar, Glasgow on A legal right to warmth?, November, 10pp
Boardman B (1991) Fuel poverty: from cold homes to affordable warmth. Belhaven Press (now Wiley). Out of print. 267pp. ISBN 1 85293 139 6
Boardman B (1991) Ten years cold: lessons from a decade of fuel poverty. Neighbourhood Energy Action, Newcastle
Boardman B (1991) Aspects of energy literacy and public awareness. Conference on Towards a cohesive policy for energy education in the UK, Cranfield Institute of Technology. 4pp
Boardman, B (1991), Memorandum submitted by the National Right to Fuel Campaign, Energy efficiency, Energy Select Committee, House of Commons, Third Report, Session 1990-91, Volume II, Memoranda of Evidence. 91-II, pp96-98
Boardman B (1991) Social aspects of energy efficiency. Background paper for Neighbourhood Energy Action and Policy Studies Institute seminar
Boardman B (1991) Fuel Poverty is different. Policy Studies 12 (4).Policy Studies Institute. pp 30-41 ECU Reprint Series RP-91-1.
Boardman B and T Houghton (1991) Poverty and power: the efficient use of electricity in low-income households. Bristol Energy Centre. Funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 100pp
Boardman, B (1991), Additional comments on Ofgas tariff review: E factor and associated standards of performance. Submitted on behalf of the National Right to Fuel Campaign. November. Pp4-6
Boardman B (1991) Prospects for affordable warmth. Paper presented to Unhealthy Housing conference, Legal Research Institute, Warwick University, December. 6pp
Boardman B (1990) Fuel poverty and the greenhouse effect. Friends of the Earth, Heatwise Glasgow, National Right to Fuel Campaign, Neighbourhood Energy Action, April, 15pp
Boardman, B (1990), Home Energy Efficiency Scheme. Response to Energy Efficiency Office consultation paper, on behalf of the National Right to Fuel Campaign, May. 11pp
Boardman, B (1989) Beating the cold: the role of social services, Social Work Today. 19 January, pp20-21
Hughes, D and Boardman, B (1989), Cheap Heat, Housing, February, Vol 25.1,pp12-13
Boardman, B (1989), Powerless poor, Housing, February, Vol 25.1, pp15-17
Boardman, B (1989), Memorandum on behalf of the National Right to Fuel Campaign and oral evidence, Efficiency of electricity use. Select Committee on the European Communities, House of Lords, Session 1988-89, 8th Report. HL Paper 37, 18 April, pp99-109
Boardman B (1988) Energy efficiency policy and low income households. In D Reay and A Wright (eds) Innovation for energy efficiency, Pergamon Press, Oxford
Boardman B (1988) Little and large: problems and potential for the control of domestic energy consumption. Paper presented at ‘Automating the Home 88’ conference, organised by National Economic Development Organisation and RMDP, London, December
Boardman, B (1988), Little and large: problems and potential for the control of domestic energy consumption. Paper presented to the Automating the home 88 conference, NEDO & RMDP, December
Boardman, B (1988), The ‘woollen hat’ solution: fuel poverty – how to break the cold spell. Poverty 71 pp11-12
Boardman, B (1987), Affordable warmth – can energy costs be related to the ability to pay? Voluntary Housing. April, pp8-9
Boardman B (1987) Defining affordable warmth. Paper presented at Unhealthy Housing conference organised by the Institution of Environmental Health Officers and the Legal Research Unit, University of Warwick, December
Boardman B (1986), Fuel poverty: the need for a low-income energy efficiency programme. Energy UK, Public Money Journals
Boardman B (1986) Seasonal mortality and cold homes. Paper presented at Unhealthy Housing conference organised by the Institution of Environmental Health Officers and the Legal Research Unit, University of Warwick, December
Boardman B (1985) Activity levels in the home. Paper presented at an international conference for building researchers, Budapest, September
Boardman, B (1985), Energy Efficiency Office, Submission to the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy, on behalf of the National Right to Fuel Campaign. 16pp
Boardman B (1984) The Cost of Warmth, National Right to Fuel Campaign, London. ISBN 0 9509429 0 1