Valuing energy efficiency and clean heating

There isno pathway to Net Zero without the near-complete decarbonisation of heat inhousing. In this project, we seek to provide high quality evidence on progressin relation to this goal to support public policy and wider debate.

Aims and objectives

Thisproject aims to track progress with the transition to higher energy efficiencyand clean heating for domestic properties, and to understand public attitudesto this, through their willingness to pay more for ‘greener’ housing.

·       To track progress with energyefficiency and the adoption of clean heat overall

·       To examine the distribution ofpublic support for the transition and to monitor the emergence of any newinequalities arising in this process

·       To understand people’swillingness to pay for energy efficiency and clean heat as a crucial factorshaping decisions to invest in the transition, and how this may vary across thehousing stock

·       To assess how willingness to paymay vary over time, particularly in relation to energy prices fluctuations

Existing work and nextsteps

We havefocussed initially on the role of energy efficiency in house buying and rentingdecisions, using the evidence provided by Energy Performance Certificates(EPCs). We examined overall progress in achieving greater energy efficiency in this study for England, exploringvariations between neighbourhoods and local authorities.

In workled by Dr Yunbei Ou, we reviewed evidence from across Europe on people’s willingness to pay more formore energy efficient properties. That was followed by a study of the impacts of the 2022 energy price crisis on house buying behaviour in GreaterManchester, UK. Our work shows that higher energy efficiency is valued,particularly in house sales, and that the energy price crisis increased this‘green premium’.

The nextstages in our work will include an exploration of how the ‘green premium’varies across the housing stock. Again focussing on Greater Manchester, we willuse causal machine learning models to provide stronger insights into the impactwhich energy efficiency has on house values.