An energetic and economic analysis of 18 Exemplary houses in The Netherlands
Summary 18 Exemplary houses in the Netherlands
Healthy, comfortable, sustainable and affordable houses
Research
From the publication “Voorbeeldwoningen 2011” of Agentschap.NL, we have made an Energetic and Economic analyses of the 18 most common houses in The Netherlands.
We started from the situation as described in this publication. Over the years, many of these houses have already been renovated or modernised. All of the houses that we analysed have been built between 1946 and 2005.
The following housing types have been analysed:
- Detached house, build before 1965
- Detached house, building period 1965 – 1974
- Detached house, building period 1975 – 1991
- Detached house, building period 1992 – 2005
- Semidetached house, build before 1965
- Semidetached house, building period 1965 – 1974
- Semidetached house, building period 1975 – 1991
- Semidetached house, building period 1992 – 2005
- Terraced house (middle), build before 1945
- Terraced house (middle), building period 1946 - 1964
- Terraced house (middle), building period 1965 – 1974
- Terraced house (middle), building period 1975 – 1991
- Terraced house (middle), building period 1992 – 2005
- Maisonette, build before 1965
- Maisonette, building period 1965 – 1974
- Maisonette, building period 1975 – 1991
- Gallery flat build before 1964
- Portico flat build before 1946
Assumptions
Energy consumption of the houses is based on actual use. The houses are entered into the PHPP in the current situation. The airtightness is adapted to the technical practice of the period in which the houses were build. Average indoor temperature is set between 16°C and 19°C. For thermal bridges, assumptions are made that match the building style and building period of the houses.
The analysis on the investments is based on the energy prices, interest rates and inflation rates, and expected rises: Natural gas € 0.07 kWh Annual rise 4% per year Electricity € 0.22 kWh Annual rise 3% per year Mortgage rent 3% per year Inflation rate 1% per year
Lowest housing costs An investment analyses of all the housing types is made in order to determine the lowest housing costs. These housing costs are related to the municipality and is determined by
- Interest and repayments,
- Real estate tax,
- Waste charge,
- Property flat rate,
- Sewage and drinking water charges,
- Home insurance,
- Maintenance,
- Telephone costs,
- Fixed fee water,
- Fixed fee electricity,
- Fixed fee natural gas.
Also taken into account in determining the return on investment are:
- Purchasing costs,
- Planning permission costs,
- Private building plan assessments,
- Consultation costs.
The increase of the market value of the house as a result of the investments, is set on 60%. 40% of the investment vaporizes. In order to be able to compare the retrophit measurements, a fixed amount for Real Estate Tax (OZB), which differs from one municipality to the other, is set for all reference houses.
Potential investments
In the analysis, for each house, the potential improvement measures are calculated for:
- Energy savings,
- Increase of Building Costs,
- Increase of taxes and rates,
- Return on investment,
- Earn back period in years.
The potential improvement measures are investigated: Insulation value of the basement floors Insulation value of the facades, Insulation value of the rooftops, Thermal bridge interrupters in perimeter Window frames, Glass, Set frames, Air thightness, Ventilation system, Co2 regulators, Natural gas central heating system, Geothermal ducts, Geothermal exchangers Bio heaters , Air/water heat pumps, Water/water heat pumps, Hybrid natural gas heaters with ventilation heat pumps, Thermodynamic heat pumps, Solar collectors, Heat exchangers in showers, Photovoltaic cells, Electricity storage systems.
Only if the investments mentioned above, proved to be profitable, they are described in the report. Non-profitable investments are not described.
Application of measurements The applied measurements always meet the requirements for a healthy and comfortable house. This is a strict requirement that is not compromised.
Conclusions
Maximal insulation within the existing construction without replacement of window frames and replacement with Hr++ glazing in all housing types leads to a reduction of the Total Cost of Ownership.
Retrophit according to the Passive House Standard in most cases can be realised against the same costs with regard to the TCO if the average in-house temperature is not raised. If the average in-house temperature is raised to 20°C the TCO rises considerably as a result of the costs for energy consumption, but at the same time, comfort is increased.
The amount of window frames has considerable impact on the financial feasibility to reach passive house standard.
For all types of houses, PV-panels play an important role in the economic feasibility of an energetic retrophit. A retrophit of houses that are suited for installation of photovoltaic panels oriented to the south, east or west, are more profitable.
It is necessary that the current regulation for balancing the electricity remains or is adapted in a resident-friendly way, otherwise an energy transition to energy neutral retrophit cannot be realised (with regard to housing costs.
Houses that are renovated with a new envelope, causes a considerable investment, which currently cannot be earned back by means of the energy savings. It is necessary to scale up and innovate new facade elements and rooftop elements, so that prices will decrease. In All-electric houses, the application of a heat pump is profitable. As a result of the Seasonal Performance Factor) of thermodynamic heat pumps, in most cases these proved to be the most economic choice.
Maximal insulation within the existing construction offers highest profits.
Not using natural gas is only possible if there is sufficient room for solar panels.
Solar collectors are only financially profitable compared with electricity-only concept.
Wind turbines are economically not profitable.
As a result of the current electricity balance regulations, storage of electricity is not profitable.
The difference between investing in standard window frames and passive house window frames currently is too high. If window frames need to be replaced, a standard window frame is the best choice. It is necessary to decrease prices substantially by scaling up an innovation of Passive House profile systems.
Triple glass in most cases is financially profitable compared to Hr++ glazing and justifies €1000 extra for adapting the existing window frames.
Total Cost of Ownership
In the overview below, the TCO for the retrophit and the maximal savings are listed.
Appendices:
Appendix 1 Brochure Examplary houses 2011 - existing housing: reference houses are described and depicted with their characteristics.
Accessible via this link: http://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/bijlagen/4.%20Brochure%20Voorbeeldwoningen%202011%20bestaande%20bouw.pdf
Appendix 2: pages on which the reference houses are described are listed.
P14 Detached house, build before 1965 P16 Detached house, building period 1965 – 1974 P18 Detached house, building period 1975 – 1991 P20 Detached house, building period 1992 – 2005
P24 Semidetached house, build before 1965 P26 Semidetached house, building period 1965 – 1974 P28 Semidetached house, building period 1975 – 1991 P30 Semidetached house, building period 1992 – 2005
P36 Terraced house (middle), build before 1945 P38 Terraced house (middle), building period 1946 - 1964 P40 Terraced house (middle), building period 1965 – 1974 P42 Terraced house (middle), building period 1975 – 1991 P44 Terraced house (middle), building period 1992 – 2005
P48 Maisonnette, built before 1965 P50 Maisonnette, building period 1965 – 1974 P52 Maisonnette, building period 1975 – 1991
P58 Gallery flat build before 1964
P68 Portico flat build before 1946
