Residential building resource consumption: A comparison of Portuguese municipalities' performance

• The methodology developed evaluates residential buildings' resource consumption.
• The assessment is carried out at a municipal level to inform policy makers.
• The methodology developed is based on an enhanced stochastic frontier panel model.
• We identify the factors associated with better levels of municipal performance.
• We provide new insights on strategies to improve buildings' resource consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a robust methodology to assess municipalities' performance concerning the consumption of resources in residential buildings. The assessment is carried out at a municipal level to inform decision makers about the relative position of their municipalities compared to others. In addition, the factors associated to better levels of municipal performance are identified, and the extent of their effects is quantified. The study uses an enhanced stochastic frontier panel model based on data of energy, water and materials consumption in Lisbon municipalities during the period 2003–2009. The study reveals that the municipalities' performance has remained stable over the years, although there are considerable differences in performance among municipalities. In addition, it is concluded that municipal performance tends to improve with the environmental policy expenditure and scale size, and decline with buildings' age, population density and the proportion of buildings with private ownership.