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A Critical Appraisal of Germany's Thermal Retrofit PolicyConclusions: A New Way Forward

A Critical Appraisal of Germany's Thermal Retrofit Policy: Conclusions: A New Way Forward [Germany has engaged better-off homeowners in advanced thermal retrofits to high standards. However, at this level retrofits are inherently economically inefficient, and empirical research shows they often bring significantly smaller savings than calculated. This ‘top-end’ approach also fails to engage the bulk of homeowners, due to severe technical and economic difficulties of retrofitting to the required level. In order to increase the annual retrofit rate and energy savings, we propose a broadening out of policy into three distinct streams, simultaneously promoting: cost-effective thermal upgrade measures, which would not necessarily meet current, stringent EnEV standards; user behavior change, which appears to have a very large saving potential that is already beginning to be realized; and top-end thermal retrofits which may not be economically viable but could be promoted for their environmental and comfort benefits. To put this three-stream CUT model into place would require institutional change, and also a significant shift in attitude among policymakers. They would have to accept the value of modest thermal upgrade measures, and of the contribution of behavior change, rather than remain narrowly focused on the extreme end of technological capability. Notions of ‘economic viability’ would also need to be overhauled.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Critical Appraisal of Germany's Thermal Retrofit PolicyConclusions: A New Way Forward

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References (7)

Publisher
Springer London
Copyright
© Springer-Verlag London 2013
ISBN
978-1-4471-5366-5
Pages
135 –148
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4471-5367-2_9
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Germany has engaged better-off homeowners in advanced thermal retrofits to high standards. However, at this level retrofits are inherently economically inefficient, and empirical research shows they often bring significantly smaller savings than calculated. This ‘top-end’ approach also fails to engage the bulk of homeowners, due to severe technical and economic difficulties of retrofitting to the required level. In order to increase the annual retrofit rate and energy savings, we propose a broadening out of policy into three distinct streams, simultaneously promoting: cost-effective thermal upgrade measures, which would not necessarily meet current, stringent EnEV standards; user behavior change, which appears to have a very large saving potential that is already beginning to be realized; and top-end thermal retrofits which may not be economically viable but could be promoted for their environmental and comfort benefits. To put this three-stream CUT model into place would require institutional change, and also a significant shift in attitude among policymakers. They would have to accept the value of modest thermal upgrade measures, and of the contribution of behavior change, rather than remain narrowly focused on the extreme end of technological capability. Notions of ‘economic viability’ would also need to be overhauled.]

Published: Jul 26, 2013

Keywords: Retrofits; Thermal regulations; German policy; Economic viability; Energy use behavior

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