Retrofit experience in US multi-family buildings

Journal Article · · Home Energy; (USA)

OSTI ID:6729621

Greely, K; Goldman, C ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)

The authors collected information on retrofit projects from multifamily buildings through their Building Energy use Compilation and Analysis project, and their results are presented. Retrofits in privately owned fuel-heated buildings are typically low-cost and have short paybacks, especially when they focus on heating and hot-water-system improvements. At public housing projects, over twice as much is spent to achieve the same level of savings, because housing authorities install more expensive retrofits with the dual purpose of saving energy and improving building appearance while reducing maintenance costs. In electrically heated buildings, payback times for the commonly installed window and insulation retrofits were often longer than 20 years. Based on current program experience in electrically heated buildings, results suggest that it is not cost-effective to spend more than $2,000/apartment. Economics could be improved by limiting costs, targeting high users, and emphasizing less-expensive retrofits, including lighting and hot-water measures.

• OSTI ID: 6729621
• Journal Information: Home Energy; (USA), Journal Name: Home Energy; (USA) Vol. 6:2; ISSN 0896-9442; ISSN HOENE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320105* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Building Services-- (1987-)
APARTMENT BUILDINGS
BUILDINGS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
OWNERSHIP
PAYBACK PERIOD
RECOMMENDATIONS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RETROFITTING