mid-term conference, 28 th june 2010 alan watt ceu socio-economic research within the staccato...
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Mid-term conference, 28th June 2010
Alan Watt
CEU
Socio-economic research within the Staccato project
Overview of socio-economic research• 3 research sub-components: social,
financing, policy• Financing and policy research in
second half of project, first reports due end of 2010
• Social research primarily focuses on resident surveys before and after retrofit
Progress to date on social research
• Amsterdam pre-retrofit survey begun but incomplete (c.100 responses)
• Obuda questionnaire survey completed summer 2009: 295 responses (c. 1/3 households)
• Qualitative interviews Obuda in March 2010
• Oborishte pre-retrofit survey planned 2010 H2
Research findings
Pre-renovation Satisfaction levels – energy costs
Fuel poverty
Satisfaction with comfort
• Significant (80%) dissatisfaction with comfort in summer in Obuda; far less (<25%) dissatisfaction with comfort in winter
• 20% dissatisfied with comfort in Amsterdam
Energy-saving behaviour
Surveyed residents demonstrated positive energy-saving behaviour, e.g.:
• 2/3 in Obuda always check the energy label when purchasing new appliances (40% Amsterdam)
• 80% always turn off the light when they are not in a room (85% Amsterdam)
Usefulness of retrofit project
Anticipated disruption
Quantity of information
Desired extra information on...
Expectations: electricity bills
Expectations: heating costs
Willingness to pay
• About 60% of Obuda residents would (or already did) carry out energy efficiency renovation of their apartments individually, outside of the Staccato project
• 40% would not have done it except as part of this block-wide project – and this category also attached somewhat less importance to energy saving than the respondents as a whole
Post-retrofit interviews• 12 interviews were conducted in March
2010 with Obuda residents to assess their immediate reactions to the retrofit
• Interviewees were still very positive, found it had met their expectations
• They anticipated a significant improvement in their financial position, especially due to the higher value of their apartments
Post-retrofit interviews (contd)• They also reported significant falls in
energy bills, in the range of 30-60%• Most had taken out bank loans, but
found the conditions manageable• The renovation process had not
caused major problems, though minor problems such as cracked tiles were mentioned