Going DEEPer: A new approach for encouraging retrofits

The briefing argues that traditional utility rebate programs, which focus on single-technology upgrades, yield only 1 to 5 percent whole-building savings. In contrast, a 'deep retrofit' approach—optimizing the building as a whole—can achieve 30 to 50 percent savings. To scale this, the authors propose the 'Deep Energy Efficiency Pays' (DEEP) program, which provides an additional incentive for projects that meet a specific energy savings threshold (e.g., 30 percent). This incentive is designed to 'tip' the economics of projects that would otherwise be financially unviable for building owners. The document highlights the Empire State Building as a successful example of a deep retrofit and discusses existing programs in California and Connecticut as precursors to this model.

• Traditional utility rebate programs typically focus on single-technology measures, resulting in limited whole-building energy savings of between 1 and 5 percent.
• A whole-building approach to energy efficiency, which combines and optimizes multiple technologies, can increase individual building energy savings to between 30 and 50 percent.
• The Empire State Building serves as a model for deep commercial retrofits, achieving a 38 percent reduction in energy consumption with a simple payback period of three years.
• The proposed 'Deep Energy Efficiency Pays' (DEEP) program targets commercial, institutional, and industrial customers by offering an additional incentive for projects that exceed a specific energy savings threshold.
• The DEEP program aims to overcome financial barriers by providing incentives that reduce the simple payback period to a level acceptable to building owners, thereby unlocking external capital.
• Existing utility programs in California and Connecticut have already begun implementing mechanisms to encourage bundled measures over single-technology upgrades.
• Successful implementation of the DEEP model requires careful definition of savings thresholds, synchronization with other capital investments, and transparent measurement and verification (M&V) protocols.

APA

Smith, K., & Bell, M. (2011). Going DEEPer: A new approach for encouraging retrofits. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-19_GoingDeeperEncouragingRetrofits.pdf

Chicago

Smith, Kelly, and Mathias Bell. Going DEEPer: A new approach for encouraging retrofits. RMI, 2011. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-19_GoingDeeperEncouragingRetrofits.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Smith |first1=Kelly |last2=Bell |first2=Mathias |title=Going DEEPer: A new approach for encouraging retrofits |publisher=RMI |date=September 2011 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-19_GoingDeeperEncouragingRetrofits.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{smith2011going, author = {Smith, Kelly and Bell, Mathias}, title = {{Going DEEPer: A new approach for encouraging retrofits}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2011}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-19_GoingDeeperEncouragingRetrofits.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }