Energy advice for homebuyers

Last registered on September 10, 2021

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Energy advice for homebuyers

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008093

Initial registration date

August 24, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

September 10, 2021, 11:18 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Ireland

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Hannah Julienne

Affiliation

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Karl Purcell

PI Affiliation

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2021-08-12

End date

2022-06-30

Keywords

Behavior, Environment & Energy

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

A trial to investigate whether providing homebuyers with a free energy advice session increases rates of retrofitting in the homes they purchase.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Julienne, Hannah and Karl Purcell. 2021. "Energy advice for homebuyers." AEA RCT Registry. September 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8093-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Homebuyers will be offered a free tailored energy advice session with a Building Energy Rating (BER) expert.

Intervention Start Date

2021-08-23

Intervention End Date

2021-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Completion of home retrofitting works within (a) 3 months and (b) 6 months.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Rates of retrofitting will be approximated by the number of homes that applied for an SEAI grant and for which energy upgrade works have been completed. Unsuccessful applications (grant denied) will still be counted if works were carried out. Homes that undergo upgrades without applying to SEAI for a grant will not be captured.

Evidence of retrofitting will be assessed within (a) 3 months and (b) 6 months of the homebuyer completing the webform.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Homebuyers in the treatment group will be offered a free energy advice session with a BER expert after going sale agreed on a new home.

Rates of retrofitting in these homes will then be compared with those in a control group for which no energy advice session was offered.

Experimental Design Details

Eligible participants (homebuyers who have gone sale agreed on a home built before 2006, and who are not first time buyers) will be recruited via mortgage advisors (from a partner bank), who will ask them if they would be willing to participate in research undertaken by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). If they agree, they will be randomised to either a control or treatment group.

Participants will then receive an email with a link to a webform hosted by SEAI. Participants in the control group will simply be asked to provide basic information about the home they are buying (e.g. address), while those in the treatment group will also be offered the chance to avail of a free energy advice session with a building energy expert. If they take the offer, their contact details and the BER advisory report for the home (if available) will be forwarded on to an energy advice company who will then go on to arrange an energy advice session with the customer.

SEAI will check for evidence of retrofitting works being carried out in the relevant homes in the months following the trial. Analyses will compare rates of retrofitting in the control and treatment groups, with actual attendance at the energy advice session as a mediating variable. The hypothesis is that there will be a higher rate of retrofitting in the treatment group. Homes for which the mortgage was not drawn down within the reference period will be excluded from analysis. Further exploratory analyses may compare results based on regional location, the BER rating of the home, etc.

Randomization Method

Randomization is predetermined in an excel file, where each new row is assigned to either condition with equal probability using random number generation. Participants are assigned to an experimental group in the order they are recruited according to this excel file. Mortgage advisors cannot choose what group a participant is assigned to.

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

600 homebuyers (minimum)

Sample size: planned number of observations

600 homebuyers (minimum)

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

300 (minimum)

Recruitment will continue until 300 participants in the treatment arm are successfully contacted and schedule an energy advice session. Participants who turn down the offer of an energy advice session or who the energy advice company are unable to contact will still be included in the treatment arm for analysis.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB