RP3002: A Framework for Low Carbon Living Community Policy & Program Development

RP3002: Journal Article: Forecasting uptake of retrofit packages in office building stock under government incentives

As government and industry plan to reduce energy consumption in building stock, there is a need to forecast the uptake of retrofit packages across building stock over time. To address this challenge a diffusion model was set up and applied to office building stock across New South Wales (NSW) in Australia, accommodating a high spatial resolution and temporal capability for projecting uptake of technology packages characterised by multiple variables. Six retrofit packages were set up for the diffusion model, which ranged from inexpensive services and manuals through to mid-priced packages involving energy efficient T5 lighting and solar hot water through to expensive packages such as chilled beams and Solar PV.

The authors evaluated the model using a base case and two policy programs, representing the Green Building Fund and Environmental Upgrade Agreements. These were recent incentive programs funded by the Australian government to accelerate the uptake of retrofit packages, by providing financial support to upfront expenditures and removing barriers to retrofit. By forecasting uptake of each retrofit package to 2032 under each program, the authors demonstrate how the model can be a valuable resource in tailoring expensive government programs and increasing their effectiveness.

Read the full article HERE

Participants Annual Forum 2015 - RP3002 Evaluating the impact of policies for promoting building energy efficiency retrofits

Participants Annual Forum 2015 - Day 1

Project snapshot - RP3002 Evaluating the impact of policies for promoting building energy efficiency retrofits 

James McGregor, CSIRO Energy Technology Project Director (Major Projects)

Participants Annual Forum 2015 - RP3002 project snapshot (585836 PDF)