Quantitative evaluation of deep retrofitted social housing using metered gas data

•Social housing retrofit reduced metered gas demand in two statistical tests.•Retrofit moves the distribution of house gas demands towards a normal curve.•The retrofits alleviated the prebound effect and potential self-rationing of heat.•Pre-payment intervals increased after retrofit, reducing dweller transaction costs.•Most gas demand in retrofitted social housing persisted but is subaverage. Research into home energy retrofit is important because most existing homes will operate in 2050. A lack of funding or incentives often prevents home energy retrofit, particularly of social housing. This study analysed retrofitted Irish social housing and their gas meter data, including pre-payment meters that require regular “top-ups” purchased from shops. The data comprised records from 100 retrofit and control group homes throughout 2013–2015. A novel evaluation of retrofitted rented homes processed meter data into multiple metrics. Gas consumption is computed per house and weather correction is incorporated, enabling statistical testing of the retrofit. A “difference in difference” technique compared the retrofit and control groups. Gas consumptions of the most popular building type are plotted as distribution curves before and after retrofit. Subsequently the energy use intensity (kWh/m2/year) is computed per home; leading to calculation of the prebound effect. In social housing, the prebound effect quantifies energy underconsumption due to self-rationing. Retrofit significantly reduced gas consumption, and reduced its variance among homes. A small positive skewness in the statistical distribution of home gas consumption prevented characterisation as a normal distribution. The prebound effect is high, but alleviated by the retrofit. Finally, retrofit extended average pre-payment intervals.