An Energy Efficiency Assistance Program for Low-income Households in South Korea: Introduction and Case Studies

Because of the increasing number of energy-related issues (e.g., depletion of natural energy resources and increasing of fuel cost), many individual households are unable to meet basic energy needs. In South Korea, the Home Energy Efficiency Assistance Program for low-income households was developed by the government and the Korea Energy Foundation in 2007. Under this program, qualifying low-income households can apply for funding to replace low efficiency appliances or to remodel walls, windows, and flooring in dilapidated homes. However, although many low-income households were received these assistances, the effectiveness of this assistance program could not be examined in terms of energy savings. Therefore, in this paper, we describe the basic tenets of this program and Home Energy Diagnostician for examining energy savings, and also evaluate its efficacy in case studies that examines energy savings following the remodeling of several homes. We found the remodeling activities under this program increased the energy efficiency and improved the energy savings of all home analyzed.