The successfulness of social housing energy renovation projects: An exploration into the effects of the project on tenants’ satisfaction and their energy consumption

The improvement of the energy efficiency of dwellings of housing corporations is important to counteract climate change. In addition to energy reduction, satisfaction of tenants with the renovation is an important criterion to judge whether a project is successful (Uesaraie, 2018). While it is assumed that the renovation process, including participation, affects these two criteria, there is little research into these relationships. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the relations between the renovation approach and the satisfaction and energy consumption, using four cases. Data about the expectations, experiences and satisfaction of tenants is collected (N=118) and used to estimate a path model describing the relations between several determinants and the overall satisfaction. Path analyses showed that the gap between the expectations and experiences of tenants of several determinants influence the overall satisfaction. Therefore, both the expectations and experiences of tenants should be considered during and after the renovation to improve satisfaction. Furthermore, the determinants comfort and measures are most important for the overall satisfaction. The wishes and needs of tenants should be considered and the effect of the applied measures should be communicated. The level of influence seems to be less important to tenants, but a personal approach is likely to ensure that tenants can express their feelings, wishes and complaints. Influence in additional work will increase satisfaction and can be regulated through e.g. work vouchers. The amount of self-invested time should also be considered, because it affects most of the other determinants. Finally, the communication with the contractor is more important than the communication with the housing corporation. It is therefore important for housing corporations to monitor the communication between contractor and the tenants. The analyses of the energy consumption data show that it is likely that the renovation approach can affect the energy consumption behaviour of tenants. However, the sample size (N=29) is too small to say this for certain.