Assessing the impact of shallow renovation on energy poverty: a primary data study

R. Barrella, J.C. Romero, A. Laguillo, E. Sevilla

Energies Vol. 16, nº. 21, pp. 7237-1 - 7237-25

Summary:

One of the main identified causes of energy poverty (EP) is the low energy efficiency of housing. In this line, since 2018, public administrations and NGOs collaborating with the Naturgy Foundation's Energy Renovation Solidarity Fund have implemented several shallow renovation interventions in 3,660 Spanish vulnerable households. However, the effects of these measures on domestic energy affordability were not evaluated before because of a lack of a proper method. This paper presents a methodology to objectively assess the impact of these interventions on EP. In particular, this work proposes calculating a hidden EP indicator using data from a primary survey and applies it to a local case study (54 vulnerable households in Catalonia – 10% of dwellings renovated by the Fund in the region) by processing their characteristics and energy bills before and after the implementation of the interventions. Considering the whole sample of households analysed, the hidden EP indicator drops by 10% in absolute terms (11.2% in relative terms) after the retrofit and the average EP gap goes from 423 €/year to 313 €/year, thus marking a significant positive effect of the analysed interventions on the EP situation of this population. Eventually, extrapolating the results to the vulnerable population in Spain, this paper points out a series of recommendations that could be useful for decision-makers and organisations when designing and implementing shallow renovation interventions.

Spanish layman's summary:

Este articulo presenta una metodología para evaluar objetivamente el impacto de la rehabilitación exprés en la pobreza energética y la aplica a un estudio de caso local (54 hogares vulnerables en Cataluña) procesando sus características y facturas antes y después de las intervenciones.

 

English layman's summary:

This paper presents a methodology to objectively assess the impact of shallow renovation on energy poverty and applies it to a local case study (54 vulnerable households in Catalonia) by processing their characteristics and energy bills before and after the implementation of the interventions.

Keywords: Energy poverty; Energy retrofitting; Primary survey; Impact Assessment; Spain

JCR Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 3,000 - Q3 (2023)

DOI reference: https://doi.org/10.3390/en16217237

Published on paper: November 2023.

Published on-line: October 2023.

Citation:
R. Barrella, J.C. Romero, A. Laguillo, E. Sevilla, Assessing the impact of shallow renovation on energy poverty: a primary data study. Energies. Vol. 16, nº. 21, pp. 7237-1 - 7237-25, November 2023. [Online: October 2023]