Although Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) offer a clear path to reducing energy use and carbon emissions, different stakeholder groups face numerous barriers at four stages of implementation. Existing reviews catalog these barriers but lack precise stakeholder–stage alignment and fail to match each barrier with its most effective mitigation strategy. We reviewed 89 publications, identified 42 barriers and nine strategy categories, and applied Simple Correspondence Analysis (SCA) to quantify the couplings between barriers and strategies based on the consensus in the literature. We then developed a barrier–strategy mapping and prioritization framework to identify the dominant academic strategies associated with each barrier. The results show: (1) barriers shift from early financing–policy frictions to later human–technology frictions; (2) 90 % of barriers link to at least one highly significant strategy; (3) information coordination gaps and frequent design changes show no significant coupling with any mitigation strategy. The framework offers three values: (1) Practical guidance: it provides clear, stage‑specific guidance for barrier identification and strategy selection; (2) Theoretical foundation: it lays a structured basis for context‑sensitive empirical studies across regions, project types, and scales, enabling localized validation and optimization of the NZEB barrier–strategy model; (3) Mapping paradigm: this study proposes a strategy–barrier mapping paradigm grounded in systematic literature consensus. It provides a structured basis for selecting and prioritizing strategies across diverse regional conditions, project typologies, and real-world applications.

China has recently shown great enthusiasm for developing neighborhood renewal, and good cooperation within resident groups is the key to successful implementation. Residents’ cooperative behavior is easily influenced by social relationships among residents, which are referred to as resident-level social capital. Further, resident-level social capital is influenced by the neighborhood effects, known as neighborhood-level social capital. However, few studies examined the impact of social capital on residents’ behavior from the perspective of both resident-level and neighborhood-level. This paper aims to examine the multilevel social capital that influence residents’ cooperative behavior in China. Using social capital theory and the theory of planned behavior, this study collects questionnaire survey data from 1039 residents in 98 neighborhood renewal projects in China. The results from multilevel structural equation modeling suggest that residents’ social capital can directly influence residents’ cooperative behavioral intention. The variability of neighborhood-level social capital and the impact of multidimensional social capital were examined. The findings of this study have strengthened the explanatory power of the theory of planned behavior and expanded the application scope of social capital theory. The results provide a more cultural and historical perspective, that is, resident relationships, for promoting cooperation among residents in neighborhood renewal.

Energy renovation of residential buildings is a key strategy for a just energy transition, involving complex socio-technical challenges and increasingly requiring attention to social implications and equity. However, what constitutes just energy renovations remains undefined and often limited to more abstract conceptualizations, lacking a field-specific definition, with integrated, implementation-oriented guiding strategies. Limiting the scope to developed countries, this study systematically reviews 104 interdisciplinary studies on energy renovation that consider social and resident dimensions. The literature is analysed through a synthesised framework of energy and spatial justice theories, adapting the principles of recognition, procedural, and distributive justice to residential environments and energy renovation requirements. Firstly, the study provides a comprehensive overview of socially oriented renovation research, demanding greater attention to vulnerable contexts, stakeholders' dynamics, design and post-renovation phases, through iterative, co-creative field research. Secondly, the study identifies critical domains, subdomains and related (in)justice trajectories within the three justice principles, offering context-sensitive application pathways and highlighting the relevance of beyond-energy-efficiency aspects and trust-building strategies. This results in a flexible framework of decision-making criteria that align environmental and social needs, supporting researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Achieving justice requires interconnected mechanisms across decision-making levels and renovation phases, that rely on collaborative mutual-learning dynamics among actors. To complement strategic policies, design and implementation criteria emerged as crucial for ensuring effective engagement and user-centred interventions. This study contributes to validating energy justice as a decision-making guide, demonstrating the added value from spatial justice integration for a just urban transition, and laying fertile ground for further empirical research.

Active resident engagement and effective organizer management are crucial for participatory neighborhood rehabilitation. Yet, existing public participation research focuses on residents, leaving the behaviors of organizers and their influence on outcomes less examined. Furthermore, most renewal studies treat the rehabilitation process as homogeneous and static, overlooking how stakeholders’ objectives, strategies, and actions evolve throughout the project lifecycle. To address these gaps, this paper employs stakeholder theory to propose the Stakeholder Influence Model (SIM), which investigates the multifaceted influence of stakeholders on resident participation across different phases of neighborhood rehabilitation. Drawing on 44 in-depth interviews and a four-month participant observation in Wuhan, China, deductive content analysis reveals stakeholders’ distinct influence strategies and both stimulating or disincentivizing effects on resident engagement. Specifically, indirect local government involvement, excessive delegation to neighborhood committees, and imbalanced power dynamics among residents are identified, jeopardizing the fairness, inclusiveness, and long-term viability of rehabilitation initiatives. By highlighting diverse stakeholders’ evolving impacts, this study advances current understanding of participatory urban renewal. The proposed SIM provides a robust framework for analyzing stakeholder interactions and informs policy interventions aimed at fostering more equitable and inclusive urban rehabilitation in China.

Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) are widely seen as a key pathway to achieving energy efficiency and decarbonization in the building sector. Although subsidies in some regions of China cover most explicit costs, large-scale adoption remains limited. The main reason lies in the significant hidden costs borne by stakeholders due to multi-stage certification systems, emerging technologies, and complex policies. Despite their impact, these costs are underexplored in current research. To address this, this study applies transaction cost theory and interviews 23 NZEB experts to identify hidden costs, then develops mitigation strategies validated by 12 experts and a focus group, yielding a three-tier roadmap. It makes three contributions: 1) It introduces a replicable “stage–stakeholder–cost” framework to analyze hidden costs in NZEB practices; 2) It identifies 36 transaction cost items and maps cost flows across 11 stakeholder groups, providing a model for visualizing procedural frictions in complex building environments; 3) It targets major transaction cost bottlenecks and, drawing on international experience, proposes and validates strategies to reduce hidden costs, offering a roadmap for China and other emerging markets.

Green construction transforms traditional construction practices by prioritizing energy efficiency, environmental protection, and long-term sustainability. With the construction sector accounting for 36 % of global energy consumption and 37 % of energy-related CO₂ emissions, the critical and systematic analyses of policy-based initiatives driving green construction and implementation barriers in China remain critically needed. This study addresses these gaps through a comprehensive mixed-method approach, incorporating extensive analysis of 189 publications, complemented by 9 in-depth interviews with experienced professionals (each with over 10 years of expertise). Key contributions include: (1) development of a multi-dimensional policy classification framework analyzing administrative, economic, and technological perspectives; (2) Systematic identification of five major implementation barriers through expert validation using Delphi methodology; (3) Successful international case studies are examined to offer comparative insights and targeted policy recommendations for China. This study also identifies key barriers and formulates practical solutions through a multi-stakeholder lens, integrating interview findings to enhance the relevance and applicability of the recommendations. The innovations encompass the integrated literature-expert triangulation framework for China's green construction policy assessment, combining policy document analysis with stakeholder validation to ensure robust findings. The study reveals critical policy gaps in interdepartmental coordination, financial mechanisms, and public engagement, while proposing actionable strategies including enhanced assessment systems, improved policy coherence, and expanded financial access. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for policymakers to accelerate China's construction industry transition toward carbon neutrality goals.

This paper provides a holistic overview of the evolution of policies towards digitalising energy renovation processes in the European Union (EU). Since the European Green Deal initiative in 2019, EU policies have been increasingly addressing the digitalisation of the building industry to enable evidence-based decisions when tackling environmental challenges. To better understand the development(s) since, this paper integrates a structured policy analysis approach and critically reviews 31 EU policy documents on digitalisation and/or energy renovation. The analysis identified a growing number of policy instruments aimed at supporting a robust use of data, to, among others, improve decision-making and information sharing throughout the energy renovation process. These include Energy Performance Certificate, Building Renovation Passport, Smart Readiness Indicators, Level(s), Digital Building Logbook, Digital Product Passport, Digital Twin, Building Information Modelling, and Digital Permitting. While each of these nine instruments can independently facilitate decision-making on sustainable and/or smart renovations, they also project a significant degree of complementarity between each other. To that, this paper presents the Digital Energy Renovation Framework, which comprehensively synthesises the (inter)relationships between the proposed policy instruments with respect to facilitating energy renovation processes. A key finding is that the integration between the Building Renovation Passport and a data-rich Digital Building Logbook is fundamental to maximise the impact on decision-making throughout the renovation process. To achieve this, ensuring coherence and interoperability of data throughout the renovation value chain is crucial, with the standardisation of data formats and protocols being essential for effective data gathering and processing across these instruments.

Resident participation is essential for neighborhood rehabilitation. It requires the active involvement of residents and efficient management by organizers. To improve the effectiveness of resident participation, it is necessary to understand the critical success factors (CSFs) underlying it. However, previous research has examined the critical factors from a single-stakeholder perspective, overlooking potential differences in perceptions among stakeholders with diverse roles and rehabilitation experiences. Based on 30 interviews and 255 questionnaires from six stakeholder groups in Wuhan, China, this study explores how the perception of critical factors for effective resident participation varies among local government, community-based organization, designer, contractor, consulting party, and resident. Thirty-seven factors were identified and compared among the stakeholders. Financial Incentive (for participation organizers) was identified as the most critical factor for effective resident participation, followed by Information Disclosure and Transparency, and Trust. Results from the analysis of variance (ANOVA) show that the six groups differed significantly in the importance of most factors (25/37), especially in Participant Education and Prejudice against the Working Group. Interview results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and rehabilitation experience changed stakeholders’ perceived importance of some factors. Specifically, in future RP initiatives, extra emphasis could be placed on Trait and Capacity (of the working group) and Participation-assistance Technologies. Stakeholders regarded these two factors as more critical as their rehabilitation experience accumulated. By understanding stakeholders' conflicting and changing perceptions of effective resident participation, suggestions were proposed to each stakeholder group to fulfill their distinct participation objectives and improve the overall effectiveness of participation practices.

The implementation of prefabricated housing (PH) has become prevalent in China recently due to its advantages in enhancing production and energy-saving efficiency within the construction system. However, stakeholders may not always fully realize the benefits of adopting PH due to the emergence of transaction costs (TCs) in the development process of such projects. This study investigated the strategies for developers to make rational choices for minimizing the TCs of the PH project considering their own attributes and external constraints. A Bayesian Belief Network model was applied as the analytical method, based on surveys conducted in China. A single sensitivity analysis indicated that developers influence the TCs of PH through the following three most impactful factors: prefabrication rate, PH experience, and contract payment method. Integrated strategies are recommended for developers in various situations based on a multiple sensitivity analysis. Developers facing challenges due to high prefabrication rates are advised to reduce the risks by procuring highly qualified general contractors and adopting unit-price contracts. For developers with limited PH experience, adopting the Engineering–Procurement–Construction procurement method is the most efficient way to reduce their TCs in the context of China’s PH market. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge concerning the effect of traders’ attributes and choices on TCs, expanding the application of TC theory and fulfilling the study on the determinants of TCs in construction management.

In the context of increasing focus on social sustainability, neighborhood rehabilitation has emerged as a crucial component of global urban renewal initiatives. Distinct from most renewal paradigms that are usually one-offs, neighborhood rehabilitation is a long-term endeavor that requires ongoing resident participation to effectively address diverse needs, investment shortages, and governance challenges. Extant research predominantly focuses on residents' initial engagement, leaving the dynamics of continued participation and its influencing factors largely unexamined. Employing the Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM), this study explores how residents' initial participation experiences influence their intentions to continue participation. Analyzing questionnaire responses from 367 experienced residents in Wuhan, China, the study finds that a mere 38.2 % of residents exhibit re-engage intention. Path analysis shows that initial participation experience influences residents' re-engage intention indirectly through participation satisfaction and perceived usefulness. Residents' re-engage intention is most influenced by level of influence residents hold in decision-making, followed by type of activities they engage in, and stage of their initial involvement. As an exploratory study into the realm of continued participation, this research uncovers several potential pathways and policy recommendations, aiming to ease residents' transition from initial acceptance to sustained engagement in future neighborhood development efforts.

Highlights
• The aging systems, and the house's condition, are important factors that motivate occupants to consider energy retrofitting.
• Educating occupants on regular monitoring can enhance the durability and performance of energy-efficient technologies.
• Policymakers need to implement region-specific strategies, to promote energy retrofitting initiatives.

High household end-user services demand of high-income families results in higher energy consumption compared with low-income families, indicating high-income families may save more energy from similar building energy retrofitting (BER) strategies. Therefore, current BER subsidy policies, which consider technique indicators and ignore families' income, will make high-income families' recovery costs faster, and can't maximize the incentive for residents’ BER awareness. To formulate a equitable and efficient subsidy policies considering families’ income, this study selected Chongqing as the study case and employed propensity scores matching method to evaluate BER's actual energy savings performance for families with different incomes. Meanwhile, the BER subsidies are reallocated based on the dynamic cost payback period. The results indicated that, following BER, the energy savings of high-income families (7.36 kWh/m²) were higher than the mid- (3.96 kWh/m²) and low-income (3.25 kWh/m²) families. Notably, under current subsidy policies, the cost payback period of low-income families is nearly 2.55 and 3.14 times of the mid-income (6.61 years) and high-income (5.37 years) groups, respectively. This study suggests a subsidy of 32.57 yuan/m², 20.27 yuan/m², and 15.38 yuan/m² for low-income, mid-income, and high-income families, respectively. These results provide novel insights into the actual energy-saving performance of residential buildings and help policymakers to formulate fair subsidy policies.

Socially sustainable urban renewal hinges on active public participation, necessitating effective information sharing. Combining Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Ecological Network Analysis (ENA), this study longitudinally investigates how stakeholder information sharing evolves over the project lifecycle of neighborhood rehabilitation and its impacts on resident participation. A representative neighborhood rehabilitation project in Wuhan, China, serves as the study case, with data from 10 interviews, 35 questionnaires, and 3 focus groups. The study suggests that SNA and ENA are complementary and competent in identifying key stakeholders, as well as uncovering undesirable behaviors of manipulation and monopolization, and unhealthy relationships like exploitation and competition. Implementation unit and neighborhood committee emerged as principal information holders, while local media and tenant were least informed. SNA results underscore the central position of neighborhood committee in collecting and disseminating information, demonstrating significant autonomy and control throughout project lifecycle. Conversely, homeowner showed marked dependence and lacked control, particularly in the planning and design phase. ENA findings reveal neighborhood committee’s ongoing struggle with information exploitation, eroding its willingness and capacity to share information during the later phases of rehabilitation process. The information exploitation led to a fragile network that further marginalized local media, undermined by dwindling trust and autonomy. Notably, homeowners amplified their discourse power as project progressed, shifting from passive recipients to active decision-makers. Yet, well-informed homeowners monopolized information sharing, deliberately excluding others with conflicting interests, intensifying issues of inequity and opacity. Policy recommendations are provided to counter unhealthy stakeholder dynamics and promote equitable and inclusive public participation in urban renewal initiatives.

This chapter addresses Social Innovation. It describes conditions, methods, and procedures to optimize engagement and strengthen people's and the community’s position in affordable energy renovations in buildings and on the district level. We focus on the lower- and middle-income occupants being tenants of not-for-profit or public housing associations and owner / occupiers in apartment buildings. [...]

Urban sustainability is a pressing challenge that intertwines energy efficiency, social equity, technological innovation, and community involvement. With the growing global emphasis on reducing carbon footprints and addressing climate change, the need for sustainable urban housing and communities has become increasingly critical. This Research Topic, “Sustainable Transition for Urban Housing and Community,” brings together a Research Topic of research that examines the multifaceted issues surrounding sustainable development in urban contexts. By analyzing the interplay of energy consumption, governance, technological innovation, and digital transformation, the articles in this Research Topic present a holistic view of how urban sustainability can be achieved. [...]

Across the European Union (EU), approximately 46% of the population resides in apartment buildings. A majority of these buildings are in need of energy renovation and are managed by Homeowner associations (HOAs). HOAs face distinct challenges in renovating their buildings. Integrated home renovation services (IHRS) have emerged as a potential solution to accelerate highly energy-efficient renovations for HOAs. The question arises: How do current integrated home renovation service providers facilitate energy renovations for homeowner associations, overcoming the prevailing barriers to uptake? This paper explores the current state of IHRS providers operating in four European regions with a focus on the Netherlands and Flanders. The study offers insights into the dynamics of their business models, strategies, and ways forward. The methods employed involve a combination of qualitative approaches. Fourteen business models of IHRS providers in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Austria were analysed, to define their strategies within the regional context. The results reveal that while public entities prioritize broad societal challenges, private models focus on operational efficiency and financial sustainability. Public-private partnerships offer a hybrid approach, blending strengths but requiring precise governance to align diverse interests and achieve comprehensive, sustainable outcomes. The findings can inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in developing effective and targeted IHRS initiatives in the EU.

Residential energy retrofitting projects in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zone of China face various risks related to project activities, which incur transaction costs (TCs), such as search, negotiation, and monitoring costs. As the leader in project implementation, the Chinese government is responsible for project planning, organisation, and coordination. However, TCs impede the government’s ability to execute risk-related project activities effectively, subsequently increasing the probability of the occurrence of risk. Drawing on transaction cost economics (TCE), this study proposes a theoretical framework to understand the barriers—such as asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency—that prevent the government from performing project activities and mitigating risks effectively. An artificial neural network (ANN) is applied to verify the hypotheses. The results underscore experience and operational maturity in project activities, cost and time constraints, and the immature retrofitting market as significant impediments to the government’s execution of risk-related activities. Considering the varying roles of the government in reducing different risks, this study concludes by offering policy recommendations to alleviate these activity barriers and mitigate risks. By employing a TCs perspective, this study not only identifies key barriers but also deepens our understanding of risk mitigation mechanisms, providing robust policy insights tailored to the specific regional context of China, thereby enhancing both the execution and the framework of government-led retrofitting projects.

Energy renovation processes in vulnerable neighbourhoods are complex decision-making endeavours. The JustPrepare project aims to develop inclusive strategies attuned to local needs to enhance energy renovation and transition effectiveness, considering economic, environmental, and social benefits.

The renovation of existing buildings is widely recognized as a powerful strategy for reducing emissions and land use. However, when it comes to residential buildings, the socio-technical challenges are particularly complex. The necessity and urgency of increasing energy efficiency often lead to retrofit processes that overlook residents’ needs and fail to consider the impact of renovation techniques on their lives. This study conducts a systematic and interdisciplinary literature review to explore how and to what extent social aspects, particularly residents and their needs, are considered in building renovations. An analysis of 40 studies from the Web of Science and Scopus databases is presented. The holistic overview focuses on two interrelated aspects: the orientation of decision-making processes towards residents and social components of multi-stakeholder involvement, and the relationship and interaction between design choices and residents. By doing so, the review enables a collection of meaningful and heterogeneous criteria for process management and retrofit solutions selection. Recognizing the existing gaps in the literature and clarifying relevant criteria, this review can help identify areas that require further research and intervention.

Buildings in the EU consume around 40 % of energy and are responsible for 36 % of greenhouse gas emissions. This necessitates building energy renovations as a coping strategy for energy reduction. Residential buildings consume about 27 % of the energy use in Europe. Multifamily residential buildings, known as condominiums, feature individually owned apartments and are managed by Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs). HOAs constitute a considerable percentage of the owners of the residential sector in Europe. However, the deep energy renovation rate is still low due to the complex process and the barriers faced by HOAs. There is a lack of understanding of the main barriers to undertaking deep energy renovation projects by HOAs and their potential solutions. Therefore, this paper investigates barriers, incentives, and possible solutions that motivate HOAs to undertake deep energy renovation projects. This study employs a combination of qualitative methods, including archival research, the gathering of information through observations at meetings organized by the EU, four interviews, and a workshop with eleven experts. This exploration was conducted from the perspective of three actors: home renovation providers, public authorities, and policymakers in the Netherlands and Flanders. The barriers are grouped under four categories, namely: financial, legal, social, and technical. The findings indicate that communication, cost, and legal structure are the most significant barriers. The incentives play a vital role only in the early phases of the renovation. The findings can inform policymakers, energy practitioners, and researchers in developing targeted strategies for successfully implementing deep renovation projects for HOAs.