Homeowners prioritise comfort over cost

This Issue This is a part of the Retrofit and renovation feature

By - , Build 116

Twelve months into a 22-month study, the Homesmart Renovation project has provided homeowners with a tailor-made plan for upgrading their homes’ sustainability performance and gathered feedback on what drives owners to retrofit.

Figure 1: HomeSmart Renovation participants’ retrofit intentions before and after receiving their renovation plans.
Double glazing fitted to a villa.
Before (left) and after addition of underfloor insulation.

HomeSmart Renovations is a large-scale research project testing what it takes to get consumers retrofitting to improve their homes’ performance. The 530 homeowners participating in the project have been given renovation plans that would bring their homes to Beacon’s HSS High Standard of Sustainability®, a set of benchmarks for a high-performing home.

Critical to the project are a series of homeowner surveys and interviews exploring what steps the homeowner has taken or is planning based on the renovation plan. Beacon’s earlier live research projects (the NOW Homes® and the Papakowhai Renovation project) identified the best ways to make homes warmer, drier, healthier and cheaper to run; the HomeSmart Renovation project is more focused on whether homeowners who are provided with independent advice on achieving an affordable and effective retrofit will continue on to make the changes needed to bring homes to the HSS High Standard of Sustainability®.

Step-by-step plan for homeowners

The project is underway in six locations across New Zealand, based on EECA’s Home Energy Rating Scheme (HERS) climate zones: Auckland region, Rotorua and Taupo, Wellington, Nelson and Marlborough, Christchurch, and Dunedin and Invercargill.

As well as the broad geographical spread, the project also covers the spectrum of household incomes: $0–50,000, $50,000–100,000 and beyond.

To begin, an independent assessor reviewed all aspects of participating homes’ performance: energy, water, waste and the indoor environment. Homeowners were then provided with a renovation plan tailored to their home, outlining what steps to take and in what order to ensure the best results.

The upgrades are being funded by homeowners, but they have been encouraged to access subsidies and assistance where available, for example, the Warm Up New Zealand scheme.

The renovation plans build on experience from the NOW Homes and the Papakowhai Renovation project, which identified the best ways to make homes perform better. Insulating the full thermal envelope, combined with an efficient heating source, is a must for healthy indoor living. The plans also focus on the whole house, extending beyond energy efficiency initiatives (insulation, space heating, lighting, hot water and other appliances) to water (low-flow showerheads, dual-flush toilets and urban rainwater tanks), waste and indoor environment quality.

Double glazing fitted to a villa.

Warmth valued more than savings

Reaction to the renovation plans has been positive, and just under half of the participants (47%) have changed their retrofit intentions as a result of the tailored information provided (see Figure 1).

To date, the most common renovations planned by homeowners include installing:

  • underfloor insulation – 34.5%
  • ceiling insulation – 28.6%
  • double glazing – 13.9%
  • wall insulation – 11.8%
  • heat pump – 10.1%
  • solar hot water – 7.6%
  • rainwater tank – 5.5%.
Figure 1: HomeSmart Renovation participants’ retrofit intentions before and after receiving their renovation plans.
Before (left) and after addition of underfloor insulation.

So what’s driving homeowners to consider sustainable retrofits? According to early feedback, 38% of project participants view a warmer home as the main reason for upgrading; in fact, 94% see a warmer home as a major goal. Interestingly, only 9% report energy efficiency as the key driver.

This is not to suggest that immediate monetary benefits are unimportant. However, the proportion of households that value warmth or comfort ‘a lot’ exceeds those that value power bill savings ‘a lot’.

Encouragingly, 46% found all the recommendations in their renovation plans affordable, and 80% intend to spend more than $2,000 in the next 12 months. Already, 62% are acting on their renovation plan – most are in the planning and quote-seeking phase.

Of those that have started the retrofitting process, 23% report using a tradesperson to act on plan recommendations and 19% have undertaken recommendations themselves. The government subsidy means that many people are tackling insulation first.

Monitoring aids understanding

The HomeSmart Renovation project will wrap up in June this year. The project includes monitoring the actual performance of homes in terms of energy and water use, indoor temperature and humidity before and after upgrading. This data will enable researchers to:

  • determine if the participating homes have achieved the HSS High  Standard of Sustainability® through their retrofits
  • understand more about the best retrofit options for different house types – house type has a big impact on what retrofits are possible
  • learn more about the retrofits needed for homes to perform well in  different parts of the country.

Overall, the monitoring and homeowner interviews will indicate whether offering homeowners an individualised renovation plan and information on sustainable renovation has been effective in stimulating consumers to improve their home’s performance.

Features of a typical whole-of-house upgrade.*
Energy efficiency  
Thermal performance • Insulate ceilings to the best practice standard or higher in SNZ PAS 4244:2003: Insulation of lightweight-framed and solid-timber houses.
  • Insulate under the floor (where possible) to as high a standard as practicable.
 

• Where renovations are already planned, install wall insulation to meet best practice in SNZ PAS 4244:2003.

  • Where glazing or windows are in need of replacement, install low-E double glazing.
Space heating • Install a pellet burner or low-emission wood burner appropriately sized for the dwelling or, if not possible, an Energy Star rated heat pump with a coefficient of performance of 4 or better.
  • Heat transfer systems, if required, to ensure heat is supplied to all bedrooms and living spaces.
Hot water • Install a solar hot water system or heat pump hot water system.
  • Install low-flow showerheads (7–9 litres per minute).
Energy efficient bundle • CFL lightbulbs, draught-stopping of major draughts, polythene under floor, washing line if there is none.
Water efficiency  
Low-flow fittings • Replace full-flush cisterns with AAA-rated dual-flush (3 and 6 litre) cisterns or replace whole toilet with AAAA-rated dual-flush (3 and 4.5 litre) toilets.
  • Put flow restrictors on kitchen, bathroom and outdoor taps.
Rainwater tanks • 2,000 litre (5,000 litre if space) tank to supply outdoor uses, toilet and washing machine supply.
Greywater reuse • In areas of low rainfall, or where on-site sewage treatment systems are in place, reuse of greywater for outdoor uses or toilet.
Indoor environment quality  
Ventilation • Install a mechanical ventilation extract system in bathrooms, vented to outside.
  • Install a rangehood in kitchen, vented to outside.
  • Provide venting to outside for any driers.
  • Install strip-passive vents in windows in living spaces or security stays to enable windows to be left open.
Reduce waste  
Recycling construction waste • Use REBRI guidelines in sorting and recycling construction waste.

* Benchmarks vary by climate, so the measures required will vary in different parts of the country.

For more

For further information, visit www.beaconpathway.co.nz.

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

Figure 1: HomeSmart Renovation participants’ retrofit intentions before and after receiving their renovation plans.
Double glazing fitted to a villa.
Before (left) and after addition of underfloor insulation.

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