The Economics of Energy Conservation

[drplokta]

They've just finished an eight year programme to refurbish a social housing estate near us, and bring it up to modern levels of energy conservation. http://www.24dash.com/socialhousing/20852.htm for details. The highest annual fuel cost saving they have seen was £278 -- let's be generous and say the average was £200 per household. There are 186 properties on the estate. So the total annual saving is around £37,200 and it will take nearly 300 years to pay back the capital cost. Retrofitting the housing stock to meet modern standards of energy conservation is not worth doing. (If you're concerned about global warming, I think it safe to say that the same amount of money invested in carbon sequestration would have removed a lot more CO² from the atmosphere.)

Comments

[timill]

See http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk/upload/pdf/Sus_dev_Annualreport.pdf where it's Case Study 4.

The refurbishment, which was completed in March 2005, involved completely stripping out the early 1900s building, leaving only the structural walls. A complete internal refit and structural remodelling of the block was undertaken to create a more user-friendly environment. This involved building new internal walls and installing new windows, kitchens and bathrooms. External works included cleaning and renewing brickwork and installing security systems.

The modernisation is the sixth out of a total of eight being carried out on the estate in Rotherhithe. Specialist building contractors Durkan Ltd is undertaking the work.

Brenda Smith, a resident at Deanshanger House, a next-door block that has already been refurbished to a previous high standard, said that the changes have had a positive impact: “I’m a lot happier now. We’ve got a lot more room, the kitchen is nice and I’ve got a great new bathroom.”

[redbird]

Yes: the actual energy savings include the amount of human time and energy saved by getting to use a well-fitted-out kitchen.