Challenges and opportunities of the passive house concept for retrofit

Abstract

For newly built houses and renovations European and national ambitions prescribe increasing levels of energy performances, even including achieving the passive house standard, net zero energy or carbon neutral houses. For highly energy-efficient renovation, project information from first demonstration projects is now becoming available. This paper examines experiences of demonstration projects with improved energy performance, in order to diffuse these experiences to reach other innovators and the early adopter market. Innovation diffusion theory is used to analyse examples of residential renovations using passive house technologies. Further the paper examines challenges and opportunities for the diffusion of demonstrated solutions to an early adopter market. Detailed case studies show that passive house retrofit, as well as low energy retrofit, need more holistic approaches, higher skill competence and strong process coordination. The results show that it is technically feasible to reach outstanding energy performance in renovation. However, social, political and economical issues remain important barriers to reach a more substantial market share. In particular there is a need to cluster energy efficiency principles to focus on substantial energy savings. The research leads to ideas for further study of the possible role of change agencies to support substantial energy reduction in retrofit projects.