Insight in actual energy use in houses as a basis for energy performance contracting

Energy performance contracting is based on the idea that the investments for the improvements of the energy performance of a building through better insulation and more efficient installations will be covered by the savings of the use of energy in the use phase. The external contractor takes care of all the investments costs and guarantees the...

Are we moving fast enough? The energy renovation rate of the Dutch non-profit housing using the national energy labelling database

The existing housing stock plays a major role in meeting the energy saving targets set in the Netherlands as well as in the EU. Existing buildings account for 38% of the final energy consumption in the European Union (EU), and they are responsible for 36% of the CO₂ emissions. Energy renovations in dwellings offer unique...

Effectiveness of energy renovations: a reassessment based on actual consumption savings

Energy renovations offer unique opportunities to increase the energy efficiency of the built environment and for the existing housing stock; they are the most important solution. Usually, energy savings are based on modeling calculations. However, recent research has shown that the predicted energy consumption differs largely from the actual...

Identification of the behavioural factors in the decision-making processes of the energy efficiency renovations: Dutch homeowners

Over half of all residential buildings in the Netherlands are owner-occupied. In this study, the influence of behavioural factors on individual decisions toward energy efficiency renovations (EERs) was investigated. This study focused on contextual (e.g. building characteristics), personal (e.g. awareness of energy consumption), and...

Review on shallow geothermal promoting energy efficiency of existing buildings in Europe

The energy-saving renovation of existing buildings has been attracted sufficient attention to reduce fossil fuels and mitigate global warming in Europe. The shallow geothermal for building cooling and heating, as an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternative, has been widely explored to promote energy efficiency of existing...

Optimising the involvement of tenants in the decision-making process for energy efficiency renovation: Revealing behavioural barriers of tenants

Energy efficiency renovation (EER) of the existing residential housing stock is crucial to achieving further decarbonization to be climate neutral by 2050. This transition is particularly challenging for affordable rental housing providers as they have to make intensive investment decisions while balancing rental affordability for their low- and...