socio-economic research within the staccato project

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