· · · Institutional Repository

Processes for ambitious energyefficient housing renovation are at present often too fragmented between many SMEs and clients have difficulties handling all information. This brings communication, planning, coordination and execution problems. It is also difficult for customers to find single responsible parties offering integrated housing renovation as a service. Since innovative client-oriented services are already emerging in various European countries, also Belgian enterprises should explore business development opportunities for more client-oriented housing renovation. The potential for so-called “One Stop Shops” that unburden the customer was explored in a European project, which led to defining tools for business modeling of customeroriented integrated housing renovation services. The developed tools and new networking methods were recently used in the international “Business Zoo” workshop to explore business development opportunities and barriers together with Belgian and international enterprises. The experiences of ten working groups during this workshop are explained in this paper. The working groups detected various opportunities and barriers for Belgian business model development for integrated housing renovation as a clientoriented service. They developed initial business model canvases for integrated housing renovation.

From the previous LEHR-project, it became clear that many retrofit projects are executed in a very fragmented way: many actors do a certain part of the works, without cooperation or coordination. Sometimes, there is a lack of attention for works that have been executed already, or the works that have to be executed afterwards are not kept in mind. This is however very important, especially when striving for nearly zero energy buildings in housing. It is desirable that every activity executed in a renovation, is integrated in a global concept, and thus takes into account the works executed earlier and afterwards in the process chain. The presented research was executed during the One-Stop-Shop-project. It maps these interactions for thorough, nearly-zero-energy, retrofit projects, using a structured approach (matrix), a process analysis and contacts with frontrunners in the field. An overview is given of the most important and critical attention points during design and execution, when different actors intervene in the same project. This overview allows for the development of solutions. These can be a more integrated execution of the works and/or the application of innovative technology. A selection of solutions is presented.

The EU ‘Energy Performance of Buildings Directive’ (2010/31/EU) requires Member States to ensure that all new buildings which are constructed by 2021 are nearly zero-energy buildings. This requirement takes effect in 2019 for public buildings. Actions and measures must be taken to increase the number of nearly zero-energy buildings for both new and existing buildings. The number of new buildings is only a fragment of the complete building stock, and with the current rate and depth of renovation a large potential on energy savings is being neglected with the risk of not reaching the EU policy goals. In most countries implementation of holistic energy efficient solutions in the housing sector is still at an early market development stage. However, the state of the art regarding available technology solutions is rather at an advanced level. Also, there are emerging examples of deep renovation that can be used for knowledge, experience, awareness raising and promotion. To realise these high quality house renovations as well as increase in their number, novel business approaches for this emerging market are needed.

Within an ERANET-ERACOBUILD project, this study investigates the opportunities and barriers to establish a “one stop shop” with an integrated supply side, to counteract the fragmented offer in sustainable renovation of single-family houses and to increase the level of knowledge, skills and innovations. Aspects of providing reliable information and guidance for house-owners are also included. Starting from a survey directed to the Flemish construction sector, we tried to distill the viewpoint and willingness of enterprises to cooperate in such a one-stop-shop idea. The survey concludes that the increase of holistic very low energy renovations is expected in a short time and that a large percentage of companies is willing to work together. However, socio-technical and know-how barriers to accomplish this still remain. With these results - and an analysis of existing websites providing an interface between suppliers and owner-occupants - business models, training and other activities will be set up to establish a one-stop shop model within the continuation of this project. A test case is foreseen.