Anatomy of low carbon retrofits: evidence from owner-occupied Superhomes

Abstract

A small number of ‘Superhome’ owners in the UK have renovated their homes to reduce CO₂ emissions by 60% or more. Superhome owner-occupiers, their homes and various aspects of their retrofit are characterized including the timing, planning, motivation, costs and interactions with professionals, and lessons drawn from this specialized group for the wider population. Research is based on a survey of 57 Superhome owners and 14 more detailed interviews. Compared with typical owner-occupiers, Superhome owners are on average younger, better educated, living in larger household groups and larger homes, and have higher incomes. However, there is considerable variation between households. Two main routes to retrofit were identified: planned and emergent, with emergent retrofits taking longer to complete, stretching over many years in some cases. Householder levels of knowledge and involvement in planning and managing the retrofit were high. Most commonly, paid professionals did most or some of the retrofit work, but many projects included some DIY. Significantly, their decisions are not made as ‘rational economic actors’; instead motivations were multiple and included environmental concern, desire for improved comfort and living standards, reducing waste and saving on energy costs. Questions for further research are identified, as are suggestions for policy development.

Keywords:

• demographics
• energy
• homeowners
• housing
• low carbon
• motivation
• owner-occupier
• refurbishment
• retrofit

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the coordinators of the Superhomes network for their support with this survey, and offer particular thanks to all those who generously shared their experiences via the survey and interviews.

Funding

The research reported in this paper was jointly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Electricité de France's European Centre and Laboratories for Energy Efficiency Research (ECLEER) through the People, Energy and Buildings programme (EP/H051163/1). Any views expressed in this paper are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the funders.

Supplemental data

Further detailed information on the survey findings can be found in the online supplemental data file at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2014.893162