Understanding Homeowners' Renovation Decisions: The 'VERD' Project

VERD is a research project at the University of East Anglia investigating homeowners' decisions to renovate, with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency. 'VERD' stands for Value propositions for Energy efficient Renovation Decisions. The project is a collaboration between researchers from the Norwich Business School and the Tyndall Centre, and is funded by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC).

Background & Objectives of the VERD Project
Energy efficient renovations can lower energy bills, improve comfort by reducing drafts, and even increase a home’s value. So why do homeowners prefer to spend their money on a new kitchen, redecorating, or a DIY project? There are many good reasons. Some homeowners may just not be aware of the potential for efficiency improvements. Others may be put off by the costs or the hassle. Efficiency is also largely invisible. Upgrading a boiler doesn’t earn admiring approval from friends. Renovating for energy efficiency might improve domestic comfort and suggest thrift, but does it also evoke style or entertainment? Ultimately, homes say a lot about their occupants. People are different; so too are their homes.

We want to understand the decisions homeowners make to renovate their homes. We’re interested in energy efficiency, but in all other kinds of renovation too. Here are some of the questions we’re trying to answer: Why do some homeowners renovate and others never do? What initiates or triggers their decisions? How do renovations relate to the routines and identities of a household? What value propositions are attractive to homeowners deciding on renovations? We hope our research will help government design policies to encourage energy saving, and businesses offer better services to homeowners.

Documents for Download:

This report is a summary report of our research findings and recommended actions for service providers and local authorities.

This journal article analyses the different ways in which home renovation decisions are researched and proposes a new, integrative approach. [ERSS].

This journal article analyses data from before and after the Green Deal to look at how homeowners respond to incentives and information about energy-efficient home renovations.

This data archive holds all the survey and choice experiment data on home renovations in the UK collected by the project in 2012 and again in 2013.

This document contains all the talks by the VERD project team at the research briefing for stakeholders event in Westminster in October 2013.

This document summarises all our main findings so far, based mainly on the national homeowner survey and choice experiments we conducted in autumn 2012.

This document is a talk by Charlie Wilson from summer 2013 that links some of our findings to progress so far with the Green Deal.

This document is a talk by George Chryssochoidis from summer 2013 that sets out some of our findings on attractive value propositions for renovating homeowners.

These two documents are a talk and a conference paper by Charlie Wilson from summer 2013 that explain how the background conditions of domestic life help explain why homeowners decide to renovate in the first place.

This document is an interim report with a summary of our initial findings as of winter 2013.

This document is a detailed consultation report in which we set out our conceptual approach to understanding and modelling renovation decisions. This includes detailed 'mappings' of key variables at different stages of the renovation decision.

This document provides some background to the VERD project, and opportunities for interested stakeholders to get involved. Click here to download.

 

For further details on the VERD project, please contact the research team:

George Chryssochoidis - Choice experiments, surveys, decision modelling

E-mail: g.chryssochoidis@uea.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1603 592694


 

Charlie Wilson - Energy efficiency policy, renovation decisions, surveys, interviews

E-mail: charlie.wilson@uea.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1603 591386

 

Hazel Pettifor - Survey analysis

E-mail: h.pettifor@uea.ac.uk

 

Lucy Crane - Interviews

E-mail: l.crane@uea.ac.uk