The Fund will trial and evaluate the impact of renewable energy solutions in public housing (through Kāinga Ora) and a selection of Māori housing through various Māori community organisations and housing providers. The goals of the Fund are to:

• contribute to affordable energy and improved wellbeing
• support decarbonisation
• empower tangata whenua/Māori to harness clean energy in line with kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga and tikanga Māori.

Specific objectives for households that receive the renewable energy solutions are to provide a reliable and secure energy source, reduce energy costs and improve health and wellbeing outcomes.

MBIE will use the pilot phase of the project to learn about the effectiveness of the different types of renewable energy solutions. This will explore the costs, benefits, and design options for distributed energy solutions at the household level, and which solutions would be suitable for a larger scale roll out.

Evaluation purpose and key questions

MBIE contracted Allen + Clarke to independently evaluate the effectiveness of the Fund and to assess the feasibility of continuing the interventions.

The purpose of the evaluation is to measure the impact of the renewable energy fund on the public and Māori housing streams. The evaluation explores the following key evaluation questions:

1. How much of the household energy requirements are met by the renewable energy interventions?
2. To what extent has there been an improvement in health and wellbeing outcomes for targeted households?
3. What is the comparative efficacy of the range of distributed energy solutions?
4. What has been the impact on equity?
5. To what extent does the implementation of the renewable energy systems offer value for money?
6. How well did the different aspects of the engagement and implementation processes work?
7. What have been the impacts for targeted Māori household?

Co-design of the Māori housing stream evaluation

As well as the above questions, the evaluation team will work with recipients of the Māori Home Renewable Energy Fund in five selected rohe to co-design specific questions of interest to providers in the rohe. More information can be found here [Link to article 2]

Evaluation methodology

For the Māori housing stream, the evaluation will focus on five rohe (Wellington, Central North Island, Northland, Taranaki, Marlborough).

We’ll work with Māori organisations who are funding recipients to identify households that have received renewable energy solutions, to invite these whānau to participate in the evaluation. We will gather data on energy use, monitor indoor temperature, and conduct a Energy audit and Household Experience Survey on household experience of the renewable energy for 100 households across the five rohe.

We’ll also undertake kanohi-ki-te-kanohi interviews with a smaller sample of Māori providers who are funding recipients, households and whānau who have received the renewable energy solutions. These interviews will collect data about the process of applying for funding, receiving the renewable energy solutions, and any changes or impacts on wellbeing.

Nā wai te hui i karanga? (Who set up the hui and why?)

Allen + Clarke evaluators (Jessica Kereama and Meremoana Potiki) will arrange hui with Funding recipients. We are a consultancy firm based in Wellington who have been contracted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to conduct an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the Renewable Energy Fund.

We will be asking you to participate in a rohe-based wānanga with other Māori renewable energy projects. The wānanga will introduce you to the evaluation team, gather feedback on the overall evaluation design and the Māori housing workstream methodology, and discuss what participation in the evaluation involves for providers and households. We will also work with you to co-design process and outcome evaluation questions, and a wellbeing survey module.

We have subcontracted Motu Research Institute to assess the feasibility of continuing the interventions. Phoebe Taptiklis and Guy Penny will lead the Energy audit and Household Experience Survey and collection of energy use data. We’ll introduce you to them at the wānanga.

Mō wai? (Who is the hui for?)

These wānanga will be held with other funding recipients of the rohe. They are to ensure recipients to the Renewable Energy Fund have an opportunity to codesign the wellbeing survey module for the quantitative research.

The wānanga are an opportunity for recipients to speak about their experiences of the Fund including any benefits, challenges and concerns they feel need to be fed back to MBIE. Importantly, wānanga are also an opportunity for our project team to be held accountable to our whānau. Any hui we arrange will focus on whanaungatanga (developing long-term relationships with whānau and hapori Māori).

Me wai? Kei te hui tātou, me wai? (Who are we meeting with?)

Funding recipients from selected case study regions will be meeting with the Allen + Clarke evaluation team to explore the process of applying for the Renewable Energy Fund, and with Motu Researchers to discuss the Energy Audit Survey and assessments for retrofitted homes in the project.

Ko wai? (Who will we engage with?)

We will work closely with Fund recipient to navigate their communities, and to select households to participate in the evaluation. We recognise Māori providers who applied for the Fund are key navigators of their communities and have an essential role of guiding the evaluators.  We will recognise their costs to attend hui and to screen the research for their papakainga and we will invest in recognising their role as kaitiaki of their communities.

He wai? (A song?)

We have ensured that all those leading engagement with you are experienced and competent in engaging with Māori and equipped with knowledge and experience of tikanga and culturally safe practices.

For the case study qualitative interviews, participants will be asked whether they want to have quotes recorded under their own name or a pseudonym.

Purposes the data may be used for

The data held by the evaluation team will be used to produce four reports which form the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund Evaluation. These are:

• Household Experience Report
• Energy Audit Report
• Cost Benefit Analysis Report
• Synthesis Report

Reports and presentations about the evaluation will not use any information that could identify the organisations, whānau or individuals that participated in the evaluation.

The reports will be shared with all participating groups and published on MBIE’s website. These reports may, after completion of the project in 2026 be re-formed into publishable papers on the same topics reported on in the four reports above, and publication sought in appropriate peer-reviewed journals. This may involve some deepening or revisiting of the same analyses, but does not include using the data to assess new research topics not already included in the four evaluation reports.

The participant consent form asks for permission for the evaluation team to hold the data for seven years from the project close date of December 2026. This allows for the evaluation team to complete sufficient analyses for the final reports.

If researchers wish to conduct any new research with the data within the seven-year period after the project closes, we will seek permission from data-owners (i.e., evaluation participants) for these new research questions.

All research reports will be shared with participating Māori organisations, prior to final publication, for the purposes of checking their community is appropriately protected. After the seven-year period, all data held by the evaluation team and MBIE will be destroyed. Data that is provided to MBIE (inverter data) will also be destroyed.