Greenhouse gas mitigation benefits and cost-effectiveness of weatherization treatments for low-income, American, urban housing stocks

Bradshaw, Jonathan L.; Bou‐Zeid, Elie; Harris, Robert H.

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.07.020

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…They also found that their benefits exceed the initial cost of installation. Bradshaw et al (2016) investigate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of three types of weatherization treatments: replacing a standard thermostat with a programmable thermostat, installing attic insulation, and envelope air sealing. These treatments were modeled for the low-income housing stock of six contrasting American urban areas: Orlando, Florida; Los Angeles-Long Beach, California; Seattle, Washington; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.…”

Section: Technologies and Measures Installedmentioning

confidence: 99%

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

et al. 2020

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In an era of U.S. energy abundance, the persistently high energy bills paid by low-income households is troubling. After decades of weatherization and bill-payment programs, low-income households still spend a higher percent of their income on electricity and gas bills than any other income group. Their energy burden is not declining, and it remains persistently high in particular geographies such as the South, rural America, and minority communities. As public agencies and utilities attempt to transition to a sustainable energy future, many of the programs that promote energy efficiency, rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and home batteries are largely inaccessible to low-income households due to affordability barriers. This review describes the ecosystem of stakeholders and programs, and identifies promising opportunities to address low-income energy affordability, such as behavioral economics, data analytics, and leveraging health care benefits. Scalable approaches require linking programs and policies to tackle the complex web of causes and impacts faced by financially constrained households. Prog. Energy 2 (2020) 042003 M A Brown et alNumerous clean energy programs fail tests of distributive justice, including many energy-efficiency programs, special rates for electric vehicles, and net metering of rooftop solar installations. Such programs are typically paid for in part by low-income ratepayers who do not receive commensurate benefits Huessy 2018, Carley et al 2018). Intergenerational equityIntergenerational equity adds a time dimension to the equity discussion by considering community obligations to future generations. Actions that serve to increase rather than limit the development options of future generations can be said to improve intergenerational equity (Norton 2005). In the field of clean energy, intergenerational equity frequently involves deliberating which aspects of the present should be maintained or changed for future generations (Williams-Rajee 2015). Most clean energy programs do work to reduce CO 2 emissions and as a result, contribute positively to intergenerational equity in some ways. How these programs may impact the social and economic contours of communities across generations has received much less emphasis. The context: multiple stakeholders in the low-income housing marketNumerous decision-makers and stakeholders influence the energy integrity of low-income housing. This highly fragmented affordable housing market challenges efforts to improve low-income energy affordability. Government agencies have administrative and regulatory roles that influence each of these stakeholders to varying degrees. In terms of word counts, energy utilities are mentioned most often in the abstracts of the 183 publications examined in this review. Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based groups are also key stakeholders based on this tally. At the other extreme, the terms 'building manager' and 'property manager' do not appear in the 183 abstracts, and 'landlord' and 'property ow...

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Section: Technologies and Measures Installedmentioning

confidence: 99%

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

et al. 2020

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“…The increase in electricity prices in many European countries has aggravated the vulnerability of many low-income and energy-inefficient households [55]. In these cases, the use of natural gas for heating systems presents some beneficial results [56]. Providing a more diversified range of primary energy sources can also contribute to alleviate energy-poverty status [57].…”

Section: Energy Poverty: An Empirical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

et al. 2018

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The actual energy consumption and simulated energy performance of a building usually differ. This gap widens in social housing, owing to the characteristics of these buildings and the consumption patterns of economically vulnerable households affected by energy poverty. The aim of this work is to characterise the energy poverty of the households that are representative of those residing in social housing, specifically in blocks of apartments in Southern Europe. The main variables that affect energy consumption and costs are analysed, and the models developed for software energy-performance simulations (which are applied to predict energy consumption in social housing) are validated against actual energy-consumption values. The results demonstrate that this type of household usually lives in surroundings at a temperature below the average thermal comfort level. We have taken into account that a standard thermal comfort level may lead to significant differences between computer-aided energy building simulation and actual consumption data (which are 40-140% lower than simulated consumption). This fact is of integral importance, as we use computer simulation to predict building energy performance in social housing.

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“…Bednar et al show patterns between income levels and utility bill payments, indicating that although 14% of high-income families and 40% of low-income families miss their bill payments, the likelihood of service shutdown is seven times higher among low-income households, while low-income families consume more energy per unit area (Bednar et al, 2017). Bradshaw et al reviewed the relationship between home weatherization treatments and household income level (Bradshaw et al, 2016). Their results indicate that practices such as the installation of programmable thermostats, attic insulation, and envelope air sealing offer more savings for low-income households.…”

Section: Methodology and Survey Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Reshaping energy policy based on social and human dimensions: an analysis of human-building interactions among societies in transition in GCC countries

Ghofrani

Zaidan

Jafari

2021

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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Without major structural changes, social sciences can potentially bolster economic diversification and strategic planning efforts in developing countries. This article presents an analysis of a set of human-oriented dimensions to enhance energy policies associated with the building sector in developing countries with similarities to the Gulf Cooperation Council union (GCC). A clear understanding of human dimensions in the GCC union’s energy policy is crucial due to social complexities and large numbers of expatriate communities and migrant workers with unknown cultural, behavioral, and financial diversities with respect to local communities. This study evaluates the correlations of demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral dimensions with human–building interactions to identify the main contributors that create discrepancies in human habits, well-being, motivations, responsibilities, and energy use based on a sample of 2200 respondents in Qatar. Moreover, this study is extended to explore human indoor comfort perception dependencies with building features. Behavioral associations with financial drivers, including energy subsidies and demand response programs, are investigated. The patterns in the data are analyzed and attributed to applications in energy policy concerning awareness, social well-being, and interventions. The sample is clustered into various consumer classes, and a feature importance analysis is conducted via machine learning methods to find the key contributors to consumer behavior. The outcomes show profound insight into how human factors influence consumption, consequence awareness, self-responsibility, habits, norms, and comfort perception in residential and work environments. The findings of this study can assist decision-makers in creating targeted strategies to enhance the efficacy of energy policies and improve sustainability performance indicators.

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Greenhouse gas mitigation benefits and cost-effectiveness of weatherization treatments for low-income, American, urban housing stocks

Cited by 12 publications

References 14 publications

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

Reshaping energy policy based on social and human dimensions: an analysis of human-building interactions among societies in transition in GCC countries

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