1 Introduction Many of Australia’s ten million homes are characterised by poor thermal and energy efficiency performance. Consequently, substantial energy consumption is required to maintain thermal comfort and deliver household services. Energy efficient retrofitted homes save money, decrease energy consumption, promote healthier home environments, contribute to stabilising the electricity grid, and represent a significant market opportunity. Private finance is willing to provide loans for retrofits. However, they need scale and clear market signals to make it an attractive opportunity. Builders, installers, and materials providers are interested in this business opportunity but need a strong market signal to justify investment in the infrastructure, training, accreditation, and staff for scale up. State governments have energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, which would be aided by residential retrofits. In addition, governments want better health outcomes, new jobs and economic growth, and affordable energy. Significant work has been done across Australia to progress home energy efficiency and thermal performance retrofits. As shown in Appendix C, several state-based Australian pilot programs have demonstrated that retrofits can be effectively implemented and yield positive community and household scale impacts. Internationally, large-scale retrofit programs have been rolled out with varying levels of success, as will be demonstrated in Section 4. Despite this, large-scale schemes supporting home energy efficiency retrofits remain elusive in Australia, however the market is changing and demand for a collaborative effort and partnership between homeowners, tenants, industry, investors and government is growing. This report supports and proposes the design and development of an evidence-based large-scale home retrofit scheme. It draws on international and local expertise to: • • • • •
Model the impact of retrofits at a household scale including energy savings, environmental benefits, financial benefits and improvements in thermal comfort Gather evidence of environmental, social and economic benefits of large-scale retrofits Illuminate the barriers, opportunities and market setting requirements for largescale home retrofits Identify a proposed retrofit standard to offer to homeowners, depending on their home requirements and priorities Advance the proposed delivery model including, understanding current activity, mapping stakeholders, understanding markets, consumer preferences, recruitment options and funding and financing requirements
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Pathways to Scale: Retrofitting One Million+ Homes
