Evaluation of investment in residential thermal insulation considering non-energy benefits delivered by health

Abstract

It takes many years to recover the initial investment cost for installing housing insulation through savings from energy reduction (Energy Benefit:EB), since construction cost is very high in Japan. This long payback time is the major barrier to the promotion of well-insulated houses. However, it has been found that if Non-Energy Benefits (NEB) of well insulated houses, such as improvement in personal health, reduction of medical expenses and decline in absences from work are all taken into account, the time required to recover the initial investment cost would change from 29 to 16 years. Therefore recognition of NEB is expected to encourage residents to invest in residential thermal insulation. NEB of well-insulated houses is thus evaluated regarding human health in this study.