Retrofit Your Home Programme

Transcription

1 PRES/33 Retrofit Your Home Programme Retrofitting for a more resource efficient and healthier housing stock for Aucklanders Presentation to Beacon Pathway Housing Symposium 11/9/2012

2 Introduction The Retrofit Your Home (RYH) programme is a voluntary residential ratepayer assistance programme that aims to achieve multiple public and private benefits for Auckland households. It provides: the opportunity to access central government subsidies and grants for installing insulation and clean heating, by providing additional cost recoverable financial assistance from the Council to undertake sustainability improvements up to a value of $5000 (GST inclusive) Access to other types of household sustainability/performance advice All Auckland ratepayers with a clean rates payment history are eligible

3 Origin of RYH in brief Originated from Beacon s research work and originally developed and delivered in conjunction with Waitakere City Council Launched as the country s first whole of house programme included drainage, heating, insulation, double glazing. Was continued past the transition to the single Auckland Council but only available in the west Regionalised in July 2011 as a heating and insulation only programme (Stage I) with a view to include other interventions in the future The first local environmental programme to be fully regionalised by the new council

4 Auckland Plan & RYH Sustainably Manage Natural Resources Reduce emissions from home heating through policies to encourage cleaner home heating sources and improved housing insulation, taking into account social consideration. Strategic Direction 8 Contribute to Tackling Climate Change and Increasing Energy Resilience

5 Auckland Plan & RYH Priority One Mitigate Climate Change Investigate mechanisms to support and to incentivise businesses and households relating to opportunities for sustainable refurbishment and retrofit programmes, and the installation of renewable energy and low-emissions energy technologies. Strategic Direction 11 House All Aucklanders in Secure, Healthy Homes They Can Afford Priority Three Improve the Quality of Existing and New Housing Incentivise retrofitting of existing homes and provide information to consumers on the benefits of sustainable homes. Reduce home heating emissions through improved home energy efficiency and a renewable, energy friendly policy.

6 AP Targets related to RYH Sets a target of reducing GHG emissions by 40% by 2040 (based on 1990 levels) Shorter term reduction of 10-20% by % reduction by 2050 Sets a target of retrofitting 40% of Auckland s housing stock in need of retrofitting by 2030 By 2031 Auckland could be spending 10% of its GDP on energy (currently spends 5%)

7 The Challenge Housing Quality issues in Auckland Auckland still has approximately 350,000 inadequately insulated homes 2 key housing quality issues in Auckland: overcrowding + cold damp poorly ventilated performing housing Impact of cold damp housing greatest on children and elderly with respiratory infections being a leading cause of hospitalisations for children under 2 years of age Poor uptake of incentives and grants for retrofitting by landlords

8 The Challenge Domestic heating issues in Auckland Poor quality heat sources contribute significantly to air quality issues Air pollution in Auckland costs $700 million per year and is responsible for 700 deaths Auckland air pollution emissions in winter time total 13 tonnes per day while 74% of those emissions come from domestic heating sources And yet also dealing with fuel poverty and health

9 Key Statistics at May % (1552) of all homes installed both heating and insulation 9% (206) installed underfloor insulation only 12% (271) ceiling insulation only 9.58% (215) ground vapour barriers

10 Heating installs 888 homes installed heat pumps (90% of total) 40 decommissioned wood burners and/or open fires (4.06%) 49 efficient wood burners installed (4.97%) 1 pellet burner installed 7 flued gas

11 Other minor interventions 59 hot water cylinder wraps 47 households had pipes lagged

12 So what have we done in ? 2733 retrofits were undertaken to date this financial year leveraging a total of $7.98 million (out of a total available budget of 8 million) in household spending on insulation and clean heating through use of the targeted rate funding facility

13 Customer uptake since regionalisation 12,000,000 Assistance Approved Program to Date 10,000,000 8,000,000 6,000,000 4,000,000 2,000,000 0 Jul 12 Jul 11 Aug 11 Sep 11 Oct 11 Nov 11 Dec 11 Jan 12 Feb 12 Mar 12 Apr 12 May 12 Jun 12

14 Take up by location

15 Programme Uptake & Customer Feedback Results from a phone survey of 300 programme participants, in January 2012, found that in the first 6 months of operation the regional programme had achieved an 85% satisfaction rating. The financial assistance available was taken up by 74% of the sample with 85% affirming the application was easy, information clear and EECA subsidies were an encouragement Of those who made changes to their homes, 80% felt their homes had improved (noting many respondents had not yet been through a full winter since retrofitting).

16 Customer Price Sensitivity The Retrofit Your Home programme receives up to 250 enquiries each week. A high proportion of these relate to the financial cost component of the programme. In general the feedback that is received can be summarised as follows: The interest rate must be competitive with current mortgage lending rates, 7-8% appears to be the maximum acceptable interest rate. Higher interest rates affect uptake by lower income priority target groups one of the programme s main focus areas. Research on similar schemes shows that programme uptake is affected when additional costs of participation are involved.

17 Customer Feedback to Programme Charges Results from a sample of 264 RYH respondents who were contacted and interviewed in respect to proposed programme charges showed there was a high degree of sensitivity around upfront pricing apparently strong resistance to any charge made by council for delivering the programme

18 Managing suppliers Suppliers are critical to success They provide the bulk of the service and the majority of the sales force But this also provides challenges for a risk conscious organisation like the council Key lessons: Getting quotes signed by households critical Strong legal contracts and documentation required (between all parties) EECA approved suppliers and products make it less risky for councils Watch out for gold diggers and didn t understand customers Overly keen sales force (and lack of full representation of the programme) Administrative systems (and efficiency) of suppliers varies hugely Political fallout of dissatisfied customers But many more political positives from satisfied customers and significant media interest and pick up

19 Sample Feedback "I think that the programme is great. The whole programme raises your awareness about family being healthy. A good service by the Council, given options to manage finances, easier to pay off, keeping home warm and secure. Very grateful to the Council, old house so needed the insulation which we could not have afforded to do otherwise. Thanks to the Council, we have a new baby and just could not have afforded doing this ourselves, so we are very pleased with everything

20 Key lessons (Process) Financing - legislative context for council s use of financial mechanism somewhat muddy around interest rates, GST Political challenges Administration of programme complex Robust legal documents Application management Rates checking Financial tracking Ongoing administration of customers over time (9 years) Adding data to LIM etc Anticipating level of programme demand difficult and not solved yet Suppliers critical to success but also potentially reputational risk Heat pumps overwhelming preferred heating source installed reflecting supplier preference Ongoing central Government subsidies are critical to maintain uptake Measuring success ongoing issue and challenge Pricing is critical equity of access Working with DHB s and partnering with others in this space also important

21 Challenges for the future Introducing Stage II interventions? Monitoring the results and outcomes SROI? Better alignment with Homestar? Upskill suppliers through partnership with SBN? Being more targeted with financial assistance? How to continue a journey of homeowner engagement with household sustainability issues and matters How to supercharge retrofit initiatives in Auckland house WOF a necessary step

22 Post Presentation Questions Q: Are service companies competitive and can residents get quotes from others and get it done cheaper A: No must use EECA approved supplier as tied to Warm Up NZ (EECA s management of this helps Auckland Council). Q: Given high demand and timeframe of 2030, what is plan when funding runs out? A: At this stage have green light to continue journey, EECA and Council still have a role to play. Hope EECA continues to fund, council role valuable as broadens intervention beyond EECA s energy remit to include water, ventilation. Q: Is lending attached to house or to homeowner? A: It is tagged to house, details on LIM and owner has legal obligation to tell potential buyers. Can take up to 9 years to pay back but can repay the amount at anytime without penalty.

23 Thank you!