Policy Modelling for Ambitious Energy Efficiency Investment in the EU Residential Buildings

Fotiou, Theofano; Capros, Pantélis; Fragkos, Panagiotis

doi:10.3390/en15062233

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In fact, heterogeneity across the building stock poses particular challenges linked to tenure, for example dealing with mixed-owned apartment buildings [30]. Another relevant area of research are the synergies between financial and institutional as well as regulatory frameworks [31] or information campaigns [14].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the financial impact of housing retrofit policies on Dutch homeowners

Fernández

Haffner

Elsinga

2022

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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The Renovation Wave is the latest addition to a series of European measures designed to incentivise investment in a low-carbon built environment. In terms of residential retrofits, research has focused on how structural measures can reduce costs through energy savings and improve affordability in the long term. However, it is less clear how retrofit policies can positively impact households with different income levels, energy costs and savings’ opportunities across time. EU Member States have provided substantial funding for retrofitting in the form of grants, subsidised loans and tax deductions. This paper addresses with the Netherlands as case study the question: how do different retrofit measures affect the finances and affordability of homeowners in the short and longer term? Our numerical analysis is mainly based on the WoON 2018 dataset, a household-level survey. By focusing on household finances under different financing schemes, this paper aims to place renovation measures in the context of the housing affordability literature. User costs are one of the most important capital-based indicators of long-term affordability. In contrast, cash flows deal with the exchange of money and indicate financial access to housing at a given point in time. In the Dutch context of rising house prices, it is crucial to measure the short and long-term economic impact of energy efficiency measures, as they are likely to have a lasting impact on affordability. Our results show that depending on policy, a majority of homes could be retrofitted with a cost-neutral margin, depending on energy prices and post-retrofit savings. The main barrier to retrofitting is the upfront cost, which threatens short-term affordability. Loans, either subsidised or private, offer an alternative to upfront costs but reduce cost-neutrality. On the other hand, from a user cost perspective, retrofitting lowers costs in the long run. Finally, a cluster analysis shows that middle and higher income groups would be most likely to benefit from retrofitting. This raises the question of the regressive nature and targeting of flat-rate subsidies and tax deductions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the financial impact of housing retrofit policies on Dutch homeowners

Fernández

Haffner

Elsinga

2022

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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“…The database for both sectors is integrated in the modelling framework and has been constructed using data from a variety of databases, reports and studies that had to be reconciled to construct a consistent dataset. In [30], there is an extended list of all the databases (and the respective references) that have been combined and elaborated to build the database for PRIMES-BuiMo.…”

Section: Primes-buimo Model and It's Intrelinkages With Other Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decarbonising the EU Buildings|Model-Based Insights from European Countries

Fotiou,

Fragkos,

Zisarou

2024

Climate

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The European Union faces the pressing challenge of decarbonising the buildings sector to meet its climate neutrality goal by 2050. Buildings are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through energy consumption for heating and cooling. This study uses the advanced PRIMES-BuiMo model to develop state-of-the-art innovative pathways and strategies to decarbonise the EU buildings sector, providing insights into energy consumption patterns, renovation rates and equipment replacement dynamics in the EU and in two representative Member States, Sweden and Greece. The model-based analysis shows that the EU’s transition towards climate neutrality requires significant investment in energy efficiency of buildings combined with decarbonisation of the fuel mix, mostly through the uptake of electric heat pumps replacing the use of fossil fuels. The Use Case also demonstrates that targeted policy interventions considering the national context and specificities are required to ensure an efficient and sustainable transition to zero-emission buildings. The analysis of transformational strategies in Greece and Sweden provides an improved understanding of the role of country-specific characteristics on policy effectiveness so as to inform more targeted and contextually appropriate approaches to decarbonise the buildings sector across the EU.

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“…Given the recent attention of the European Union to energy poverty [86], several other countries have started research and launched measures to tackle it [87,88], including Portugal [89], Spain [90,91], and Poland [92].…”

Section: Energy Poverty In Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Role of Building Envelope in Reducing Energy Poverty Risk: A Case Study on Italian Social Housing

Fabbri,

Marchi,

Antonini

et al. 2023

Energies

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Energy poverty is a significant social, economic, and health issue which increasingly affects millions of households worldwide. Both climate change and the socio-economic crisis have aggravated this phenomenon, making families unable to keep adequate comfort conditions at home because of economic constraints and/or dwelling inefficiencies. Considering the recent inflation trends, as well as the global effort to reduce the building sector’s carbon emissions, energy retrofitting of buildings emerges as the most forward-looking strategy to cope with energy poverty risk. In the case of large building stocks, which are typical for social housing complexes across the EU, deep and fast energy retrofitting might prove challenging, especially considering the resource shortages and disruptions to occupants that may arise. Therefore, this article investigates the relationship between the envelope’s insulation ratio and the risk of energy poverty for households. To this end, diverse scenarios are defined, corresponding to progressive increases in the percentage of building envelope that is insulated. The resulting energy needs are calculated for each of them and correlated with local average incomes and relative energy expenses of households. This is tested on an Italian social housing demo case. The results confirm a predictable but not linear correlation between thermal insulation and reduced energy needs for heating, and an interesting side effect on cooling needs for scenarios that perform better in winter. As for income, energy cost has a greater effect on the energy poverty risk when monthly rent is lower, while energy prices have a major role when rent per month is higher.

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Policy Modelling for Ambitious Energy Efficiency Investment in the EU Residential Buildings

Cited by 13 publications

References 31 publications

Comparing the financial impact of housing retrofit policies on Dutch homeowners

Comparing the financial impact of housing retrofit policies on Dutch homeowners

Decarbonising the EU Buildings|Model-Based Insights from European Countries

Exploring the Role of Building Envelope in Reducing Energy Poverty Risk: A Case Study on Italian Social Housing

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