Technical Barriers, Gaps, and Opportunities Related to Home Energy Upgrade Market Delivery

Bianchi, M. V. A.

关键词: CAPITAL;    CLIMATES;    CONSULTANTS;    CONTRACTORS;    ENERGY EFFICIENCY;    FINANCING;    MANUFACTURERS;    MARKET;    PROPERTY VALUES;    SAFETY BUILDING AMERICA;    HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY;    HOME ENERGY UPGRADES;    GAPS;    BARRIERS;    OPPORTUNITIES;    Building America;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1029415
RP-ID  :  DOE/GO-102011-3443
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1029415
Others  :  TRN: US201201%%115

学科分类：能源（综合）

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

This report outlines the technical barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program. The objective of this report is to outline the technical1 barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building America program. This information will be used to provide guidance for new research necessary to enable the success of the approaches. Investigation for this report was conducted via publications related to home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, and a series of interviews with subject matter experts (contractors, consultants, program managers, manufacturers, trade organization representatives, and real estate agents). These experts specified technical barriers and gaps, and offered suggestions for how the technical community might address them. The potential benefits of home energy upgrades are many and varied: reduced energy use and costs; improved comfort, durability, and safety; increased property value; and job creation. Nevertheless, home energy upgrades do not comprise a large part of the overall home improvement market. Residential energy efficiency is the most complex climate intervention option to deliver because the market failures are many and transaction costs are high (Climate Change Capital 2009). The key reasons that energy efficiency investment is not being delivered are: (1) The opportunity is highly fragmented; and (2) The energy efficiency assets are nonstatus, low-visibility investments that are not properly valued. There are significant barriers to mobilizing the investment in home energy upgrades, including the 'hassle factor' (the time and effort required to identify and secure improvement works), access to financing, and the opportunity cost of capital and split incentives.