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Reducing the cost of home energy upgrades in the US: An industry survey

Journal Article · · Journal of Building Engineering
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
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Decarbonizing the US residential building stock requires a substantial acceleration in home energy upgrades. Numerous barriers exist to accelerating adoption of efficient and electric building technologies, but foremost among these is high upfront costs. This study uses an industry survey delivered to a sample of home energy professionals to examine promising cost reduction strategies across a range of project types, including HVAC, water heating, and envelope/insulation projects. The survey included quantitative and qualitative questions to collect evidence on the estimated cost reduction potential of these strategies and their likelihood of use in the construction industry. The 167 survey respondents included contractors, energy consultants, architects, manufacturers, and others with experience in delivering energy upgrades in single-family and multifamily buildings in the US. Results show that significant cost reductions are achievable by minimizing additional infrastructure costs (such as replacing electric panels), streamlining project planning/management, and deploying innovations that simplify installation. We find that for a typical deep retrofit project, including heat pumps for space and water heating in addition to envelope upgrades, the strategies could result in a total installed cost reduction of nearly 50%, dramatically improving the customer economics of such a project. This research makes a novel contribution to the literature on strategies to reduce the costs of residential retrofits. We discuss how our study's insights on the highest-value cost reduction strategies for home energy upgrades can further accelerate their uptake in the US housing stock.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2462829
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2477760
Journal Information:
Journal of Building Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Building Engineering Vol. 98; ISSN 2352-7102
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (6)

Assessing the energy-efficiency information gap: results from a survey of home energy auditors journal December 2012
Drivers and barriers to energy-efficient technologies (EETs) in EU residential buildings journal July 2021
Regional assessment of household energy decision-making and technology adoption in the United States journal February 2024
Decisions and decision-makers: Mapping the sociotechnical cognition behind home energy upgrades in the United States journal March 2024
Getting to Scale for Decarbonizing Homes in the US: An Industry Survey journal September 2022
Home Energy Upgrades as a Pathway to Home Decarbonization in the US: A Literature Review journal August 2022

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Home Energy Upgrades as a Pathway to Home Decarbonization in the US: A Literature Review
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Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
Building decarbonization
Cost reduction
Electrification
Energy efficiency
Energy retrofits