Value for money in energy efficiency retrofits in Ireland: grant provider and grant recipients

Collins, Matthew; Curtis, John

doi:10.1080/00036846.2017.1302068

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The highest improvement in energy efficiency per unit grant expenditure is associated with heating system upgrades, followed by attic insulation, followed by wall insulation. This finding is in line with the findings of Collins and Curtis (2017b) for grants targeting higher income households. For heating system upgrades a 1 percent increase in grant expenditure, on average, is associated with 0.12 kWh/m 2 /year improvement in BER rating.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The coefficient estimates associated with ‘E’, ‘F’ and ‘G’ rated properties are all statistically significant, indicating greater levels of improvement among the least energy efficient properties. This shows that the grant scheme is achieving the greatest energy efficiency improvements within the most energy inefficient properties, a finding consistent with other energy retrofit grant studies ( Hoicka et al, 2014 ; Webber et al, 2015 ; Collins and Curtis, 2017b ; Liddell, 2015 ; Elsharkawy and Rutherford, 2018 ).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Outcome evaluations of retrofit grants can be important in decision-making regarding the continuation of funding for such schemes or search for alternate strategies for energy efficiency improvements ( Fylan et al, 2016 ). Previous research finds that energy efficiency retrofit grants can significantly improve energy efficiency in private dwellings ( Hoicka et al, 2014 ; Webber et al, 2015 ; Collins and Curtis, 2017b ). Rau et al (2020) find that government or community assisted energy retrofits in Ireland bring better thermal comfort and reduction of energy use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An examination of energy efficiency retrofit scheme applications by low-income households in Ireland

Pillai

Reaños

Curtis

2021

Heliyon

Self Cite

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This paper studies the determinants of why low-income households in Ireland abandon energy efficiency retrofit applications using administrative data from a targeted energy efficiency grant. By applying for the scheme, the applicants overcome any financial barriers for undertaking retrofits and demonstrate their willingness to improve the energy efficiency of their dwellings. Hence this study contributes to the scarce literature on nonfinancial barriers preventing low-income households from undertaking energy efficiency retrofits. Contrary to previous findings, we find that the higher the number of retrofits to be implemented, the lower the probability of households abandoning their applications. We also find that planning to undertake retrofits such as ventilation, which can significantly improve the health and safety standards of the dwelling, is associated with a higher probability of abandonment. Both findings indicate the presence of key behavioural and informational barriers which prevent low-income households from fully comprehending the purpose or benefits of proposed energy efficient retrofits. Our findings also suggest that higher grant expenditure on dwellings with poor pre-works energy efficiency rating and on retrofits such as attic insulation and heating system upgrades may have the highest energy efficiency improvements per unit of expenditure. Within the constraints of limited budgets for retrofit grant supports, this research can inform the redesign of grant schemes to achieve the greatest aggregate improvements in residential building energy efficiency.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An examination of energy efficiency retrofit scheme applications by low-income households in Ireland

Pillai

Reaños

Curtis

2021

Heliyon

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The expected costs and heat energy saving of retrofitting from one BER rating to another requires further investigation. The retrofit cost data is based upon AECOM (2013) and Ali et al (2020) and the expected energy saving is based upon Collins and Curtis (2017). For this reason, the model uses a simplistic retrofitting options.…”

Section: Future Technology Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

TIM: Modelling pathways to meet Ireland’s long-term energy system challenges with the TIMES-Ireland Model (v1.0)

Balyk

Glynn

Aryanpur

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Ireland has significantly increased its climate mitigation ambition, with a recent government commitment to reduce greenhouse-gases by an average of 7 % per year in the period to 2030 and a “net-zero” target for 2050, underpinned by a series of five-year carbon budgets. Energy systems optimisation modelling (ESOM) is a widely-used tool to inform pathways to address long-term energy challenges. This article describes a new ESOM developed to inform Ireland's energy system decarbonisation challenge. The TIMES-Ireland Model (TIM) is an optimisation model of the Irish energy system, which calculates the cost-optimal fuel and technology mix to meet future energy service demands in the transport, buildings, industry and agriculture sectors, while respecting constraints in greenhouse-gas emissions, primary energy resources and feasible deployment rates. TIM is developed to take into account Ireland's unique energy system context, including a very high potential for offshore wind energy and the challenge of integrating this on a relatively isolated grid, a very ambitious decarbonisation target in the period to 2030, the policy need to inform five-year carbon budgets to meet policy targets, and the challenge of decarbonising heat in the context of low building stock thermal efficiency and high reliance on fossil fuels. To that end, model features of note include “future proofing” with flexible temporal and spatial definitions, with a possible hourly time resolution, unit commitment and capacity expansion features in power sector, residential and passenger transport underpinned by detailed bottom-up sectoral models, cross-model harmonisation and soft-linking with demand and macro models. The paper also outlines a priority list of future model developments to better meet the challenge of deeply decarbonising energy supply and demand, taking into account equity, cost-effectiveness and technical feasibility. To support transparency and openness in decision-making, TIM is available to download under a Creative Commons licence.

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Recession or retrofit: An ex-post evaluation of Irish residential space heating trends

Dennehy

Dineen

Rogan

et al. 2019

Energy and Buildings

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Value for money in energy efficiency retrofits in Ireland: grant provider and grant recipients

Cited by 9 publications

References 25 publications

An examination of energy efficiency retrofit scheme applications by low-income households in Ireland

An examination of energy efficiency retrofit scheme applications by low-income households in Ireland

TIM: Modelling pathways to meet Ireland’s long-term energy system challenges with the TIMES-Ireland Model (v1.0)

Recession or retrofit: An ex-post evaluation of Irish residential space heating trends

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