Tax Policies for Housing Energy Efficiency in Italy: A Risk Analysis Model for Energy Service Companies

Abstract

The Superbonus is an Italian tax relief policy aimed at encouraging residential buildings’ energy and seismic efficiency. Only the energy part of the legislation is analyzed here. The tax deductions of the Superbonus exceed the nominal value of the project, making the interventions convenient even for economically disadvantaged citizens and small construction companies. However, the measure has only found wide diffusion in single-family housing, while it proceeds more slowly for multi-family buildings, where procedural complexities greatly amplify the risk of the financial failure of projects. The purpose of the paper is to analyze how urban planning and technical and administrative problems affect the Return on Investment (ROI) when the Superbonus is applied to multi-unit buildings. Therefore, a financial risk analysis is conducted from the perspective of an ordinary Energy Service Company (ESCo), which assumes the burden of carrying out energy efficiency measures. The property considered has all the requirements of an ordinary multi-family building for which the Superbonus is generally used. The works considered are also those carried out most frequently. The study shows that only three out of five energy interventions are financially sustainable. This result is in line with the data provided by the Italian Revenue Agency.

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

“…That is why the proposed study does not include renovation costs in the final balance as it is supposed that these are covered by dedicated funds for social housing, which in Italy represent a very small part of the massive financial incentives that were released during the last three years to support deep insulation of building façades, namely the Superbonus [109,110]. This would lead to a further reflection on how public resources are allocated and on how interventions are prioritized.…”

Estimating the Renovation Cost of Water, Sewage, and Gas Pipeline Networks: Multiple Regression Analysis to the Appraisal of a Reliable Cost Estimator for Urban Regeneration Works

“…Urban regeneration has emerged as a widely explored field of research on a global scale in response to the complex challenges that cities must confront, including the decline of urban functions, the deterioration of urban structures, the energy transition, and the well-being of residents [58][59][60][61]. In this context, the renovation of deteriorating underground pipelines plays a crucial role, as it is instrumental in improving the overall urban environment and ensuring the sustainable development of cities [62].…”

Building renovation between CAM and Superbonus: limitations and prospects for mass retrofitting

“…L'accesso alle deduzioni è vincolato al miglioramento ability. In the second case, instead, incentive measures for redevelopment were identified through tax deductions, the benefit of which is subject to meeting requirements basically related to the energy efficiency of buildings (Macchiaroli et al, 2023). In this sense, the Italian case is of particular interest for a reflection on the differences between the two models of redevelopment and on the respective expected effects on the building stock.…”

“…A seguire dalla normativa sul Green Public Procurement (European Commission, 2008), nel primo caso sono stati introdotti dei criteri minimi obbligatori per la fornitura di beni e servizi, in un'ottica olistica di circolarità e sostenibilità ambientale, economica e sociale. Nel secondo, invece, sono state individuate misure di incentivazione alla riqualificazione attraverso detrazioni fiscali, il cui beneficio è subordinato al soddisfacimento di requisiti essenzialmente legati all'efficientamento energetico degli immobili (Macchiaroli et al, 2023). In questo senso, il caso italiano risulta di particolare interesse per una riflessione sulle differenze che intercorrono fra i due modelli di riqualificazione e sulle rispettive ricadute attese sullo stock edilizio.…”