Footnote:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments August 10, 2023 erstellt
Description:
With buildings accounting for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions, deep energy retrofits to reduce emissions are necessary to meet global climate goals. Yet deep retrofits can easily cost $50,000 or more, limiting its affordability for many households. Generous subsidy programs are being rolled out to coax homeowners into retrofitting. This manuscript presents a model of homeowners willing to accept different retrofit upfront costs and payback periods. The model is meant to aid policymakers in quantifying the need for subsidies to catalyze adoption across the socio-economic spectrum while also identifying opportunities to reduce subsidies for what would otherwise be inframarginal purchases. The model is based on a survey of 1,000 homeowners in the Northeastern U.S. Key factors influencing homeowners’ willingness to accept a retrofit include the upfront cost, their income, and their concern about emissions from their home. In post-estimation analyses, increasing concern about emissions for all respondents from the median of “slightly concerned” to “extremely concerned” led to a 50% savings in retrofit subsidy cost. The model can help jurisdictions throughout the U.S. better allocate limited resources to catalyze higher adoption rates of building retrofits