The need to decarbonize the built environment has increased policy and research attention on large-scale energy-efficient renovations (EER) in the residential sector, particularly social housing. While technical pathways for such renovations are increasingly well-defined, successful implementation depends on an often underestimated factor: the human dimension. In practice, success depends not only on technical solutions but also on tenant consent and participation. In the Netherlands, social housing associations (HAs) are required to obtain consent from at least 70% of affected tenants before proceeding with impactful EER projects. Yet, current practice often relies on uniform consent and communication strategies, implicitly treating tenants as homogeneous despite wide variation in behavioural determinants, perceptions, and personal characteristics. Drawing on behavioural insights and a tailored survey among Dutch social housing tenants, this study develops a data-driven persona framework using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). The analysis identifies five benefit-based classes and seven barrier-based classes that capture systematic heterogeneity in comfort expectations, trust, perceptions of financial risk, transaction costs, and decision preferences. These probabilistic classes are translated into actionable personas that reflect tenants' differential receptiveness to information and engagement modes, thereby enabling practitioners and policymakers to better anticipate where non-agreement risks may emerge and to design targeted intervention strategies. The studies' main contribution lies in operationalizing behavioural heterogeneity as an implementation tool for consent-based governance. It provides a scalable method for designing differentiated, targeted intervention strategies, anticipating consent dynamics, and supporting more just and effective implementation of EER projects in social housing. ... Read more

Energy renovations in multi-owner residential buildings are a critical but complex component of Europe's decarbonization strategy. Co-owned condominiums face challenges related to collective decision-making, technical complexity, legal rigidity, and financial risk. Across Europe, national and regional governments have launched support structures, most notably one-stop shops, to guide co-owners through the renovation process and to bridge technical, financial, and organizational gaps. In the Belgian region Flanders, the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency has launched a subsidized Renovation Master Plan to overcome these barriers by facilitating one-stop shops that provide neutral renovation advice (Energy Houses), and engineering and architectural consultancies (Study Offices) to support condominiums throughout the renovation process. This article investigates how this Public-Led Approach operates in practice by analysing five real-life condominium renovation projects across three cities: Antwerp, Mechelen, and Ostend. Based on case studies, interviews with co-owners and relevant stakeholders, and analysis of project reports, this study explores this policy instrument with the aim of optimizing its effectiveness and exploring its potential for replication in other EU member states. The findings show that successful energy renovations are not just a matter of technical planning or financial subsidies. Progress depends on how public actors build trust, coordinate fragmented stakeholders, and adapt their business models to diverse ownership structures and renovation pathways. We argue that replicating and scaling such Public-Led Approaches requires sustained local engagement, institutional flexibility, and public-private collaborations. The findings can inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in developing effective and targeted Publicly-Led Integrated home renovation services in the EU. ... Read more

Under the national goals of Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality, the Chinese government has set higher requirements for energy efficiency renovation (EER) of existing residential buildings in its Northern Heating Region. The decision-making support of homeowners plays a crucial role in achieving these renovation targets. This study investigates the barriers and motivations influencing homeowners’ decisions to participate in government-led EER programs. In addition to socio-demographic factors and building characteristics, particular attention is given to homeowners’ previous renovation experiences. Based on a questionnaire survey conducted among homeowners in the region, the study identifies the main barriers as high capital costs, perceived unfairness in financial planning, an inefficient renovation process, concerns about decreased comfort, and a lack of incentives. Conversely, motivations include the desire to improve comfort levels, reduced capital costs, a transparent and well-organized renovation process, financial incentives, and trust in government authorities. Homeowners with prior renovation experience report overall lower levels of perceived barriers and motivations compared to those without such experience, with significant differences in several factors. Semi-structured interviews provide further insights into these findings. In addition, the study examines homeowners’ willingness to engage in EER. Policy recommendations are proposed based on the results. ... Read more

Building Information Modeling is recognized as a key socio-technical system driving stakeholder collaboration in the construction industry. However, at the project level, it often encounters the paradox of difficult collaboration. Previous research has primarily compiled static lists of barriers, overlooking the processual challenges and stakeholders' behavioral responses during collaboration. To address this gap, this study applies transaction cost economics to examine the challenges stakeholders encounter throughout the collaborative process. Drawing on empirical data from expert focus groups and semi-structured interviews, the study first contextualizes a transaction cost map. Secondly, it identifies the learning and training costs arising from high asset specificity within organizations and uncertainty-driven coordination costs across organizations. The findings explain that under pressure from high transaction costs, stakeholders tend to adopt low-risk strategies, leading to collaboration dilemmas. This study offers a new perspective for understanding digital collaboration dilemmas and provides practical implications for project management. ... Read more

Improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings is essential for achieving long-term climate and energy goals, yet the uptake of home energy retrofits remains limited. While financial incentives are widely used to address upfront cost barriers, less is known about how incentive delivery mechanisms and associated transaction costs affect household investment decisions and welfare. This study conducts a discrete choice experiment with 796 Dutch homeowners to examine preferences for retrofit incentive schemes that vary in incentive timing (upfront discounts versus post-installation subsidies) and application support (energy coaches, contractors, and pre-filled forms). Estimating mixed logit models in both preference and willingness-to-pay space, we find that homeowners systematically prefer post-installation subsidies over upfront discounts, with a particularly strong aversion to discounts when handled by contractors. Application support, particularly personalised assistance, is highly valued and generates substantial welfare gains. Heterogeneity analysis shows that energy-vulnerable households (defined by lower income, lower investment literacy, and lower energy literacy) exhibit persistently low willingness to pay for future energy savings, and that the valuation of application support varies across vulnerability dimensions. Overall, the results demonstrate that reducing transaction costs through administrative support can partially substitute for higher financial incentives, with important implications for the cost-effectiveness and equity of energy retrofit policies. ... Read more

Transaction costs are widely recognized as a hidden constraint on scaling Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs), yet existing studies largely treat them as isolated items and overlook how they interact across stages and stakeholders. This study adopts a structural perspective to examine transaction cost interactions in Chinese NZEB projects. Based on 36 transaction cost elements identified in prior empirical work, we conducted a two-round Delphi survey with 23 experienced practitioners to elicit perceived directional relationships and construct a consensus-based structural self-interaction matrix. An integrated ISM–MICMAC–SNA approach was then applied to identify the hierarchical structure, driving–dependence categories, and key nodes in the network of transaction cost elements, complemented by Louvain community detection. The analysis reveals a ten-level structure that can be grouped into three functional zones and yields four main findings. First, transaction costs in the bottom driving zone are mainly borne by developers, especially those related to consultant selection and contract negotiation. Second, transaction cost determinants show a hierarchical pattern, with asset specificity dominating the lower levels and uncertainty becoming more prominent in the upper levels. Third, construction-stage transaction costs are not structurally isolated. In the expert-consensus model, they are linked to perceived dependencies from the concept and design stages through consensus-based directional relationships. Fourth, the study identifies twelve key transaction cost elements and groups them into five categories: partner selection, contract negotiation, technical solution development, certification document preparation, and construction change and dispute management. These findings clarify perceived dependencies and reachability patterns among transaction cost elements and provide a basis for proposing prioritized mitigation strategies in NZEB delivery. ... Read more

As climate change becomes a global concern, policymakers and practitioners are paying increasing attention to low carbon development in urban building zones. Among various measures, energy-saving renovations of existing residential buildings have become among the most vital developments for reducing carbon emissions in China. However, Quality failures—such as improper installation of steel nails or missing rivets defined as completed work that does not comply with prescribed technical standards—occur frequently during construction processes. These quality failures, representing a gap in policy implementation for residential building energy renovations, have received relatively little academic attention. This research seeks to address this gap by applying policy-network analysis to two case studies of renovation projects in Inner Mongolia in China, examining how actor interdependencies and adoption of policy instruments contribute to quality failures. The findings indicate that market-based policy instruments incur significant administrative costs, thereby impeding the maintenance of project quality. Additionally, mandatory policy instruments frequently lead to goal displacement at various governmental levels, further compromising the quality of energy renovation projects. Conversely, involving residents as a voluntary policy instrument can alleviate financial pressures on local governments while enhancing oversight of renovation quality. Nonetheless, this approach may impose financial burdens on economically disadvantaged groups. Based on these results, it is recommended that the government adopt a nuanced combination of policy instruments to minimize quality failures and realise the energy-efficiency potential of residential renovation initiatives. ... Read more

This report evaluates the performance and development needs of Integrated Home Renovation Services (IHRS) tailored for condominiums in Flanders and the Netherlands. It focuses on two complementary models: a public-led approach piloted in Flanders through the Flemish Climate and Energy Agency (VEKA) and local Energy Houses, and a private-led approach represented by the Dutch service provider WNR.
To support this evaluation, we developed a conceptual framework based on tailored evaluation criteria designed to assess the viability of the business models. These criteria were informed by a review of relevant literature, project deliverables, and practical observations, and are used to assess key aspects such as financial stability, adaptability, customer focus, and operational efficiency.
The analysis combines multiple data sources, including document reviews, observations, co-creation workshops, and in-depth interviews with co-owners, board members, IHRS actors, and public stakeholders involved in energy renovations across eight condominium associations (CAs) in both Flanders and the Netherlands. This qualitative research was further complemented by two questionnaire surveys, one targeted at CA co-owners in Flanders and the Netherlands, and another at a broader group of property owners across the EU. The EU-wide survey revealed consistent patterns in motivations, barriers, and support needs, highlighting the relevance of the findings beyond the immediate case studies.
Both IHRS models aim to simplify the complex renovation journey for CAs by offering advisory, coordination, and technical support. However, each model faces specific challenges: The public-led model benefits from neutrality and policy alignment, but often lacks long-term engagement beyond the masterplan phase and struggles with resource intensity. The private-led model shows strengths in flexibility, phased planning, and client-centric service, but must overcome barriers related to trust, financing accessibility, and coordination with public actors such as municipalities and housing corporations.
The report provides detailed business model recommendations for improving service delivery across nine Business Model Canvas components. These are supported by policy recommendations targeting national and local governments.
Limitations of the Study: While this report offers rich insights, it is based on a limited number of in-depth IHRS providers, three in Flanders and one in the Netherlands. The findings are therefore not statistically generalizable but reflect qualitative depth. The co-owner interviews may also reflect the views of more engaged or vocal residents, potentially underrepresenting passive or non-participating co-owners. Finally, the long-term outcomes of renovation processes were not yet fully observable at the time of this analysis. Despite these limitations, the study provides robust evidence for informing business model optimization and targeted policy support for IHRS models across varying governance contexts. The developed evaluation framework also offers a transferable tool for assessing similar renovation service models in other European contexts. ... Read more

Across Europe, homeowner associations (HOAs) are increasingly recognised as pivotal entities in the energy renovation of condominiums, which are essential for achieving the EU's energy efficiency targets. However, the success of such renovations hinges on the active involvement and effective collaboration of diverse stakeholders throughout the renovation journey, from project initiation to post-renovation operation. This paper aims to map stakeholders involved in energy renovations supported by intermediaries for HOAs, categorise their roles, and analyse their relationships to better understand collaboration dynamics. By investigating these stakeholder interactions, the study seeks to identify opportunities for improving stakeholder engagement, optimising IHRS coordination, and unburdening HOAs throughout the renovation process. Using an iterative approach that combines desk research, focus groups, and interviews, this study identifies the relationships between renovation intermediaries and potential stakeholders for condominium renovations. The findings of this study highlight that successful energy renovations require the involvement and effective coordination of multiple stakeholders. Achieving comprehensive condominium renovations necessitates a public-private collaboration, ensuring that all financial, technical, and regulatory aspects are adequately addressed. The findings provide actionable insights for intermediaries such as one-stop shops, policymakers, renovation service providers, and HOAs, enabling them to enhance collaborative frameworks, streamline processes, and develop strategic actions. By strengthening public-private cooperation, these insights support the efficient implementation of energy renovations and the unburdening of HOAs throughout the renovation journey. This study contributes to the development of integrated renovation pathways that are efficient, scalable, and sustainable. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

This study explores Dutch homeowners' intentions to adopt shallow geothermal solutions for the energy transition in existing buildings, using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework. Through a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative elicitation interviews with 20 homeowners and a quantitative survey of 800 representative Dutch households, the study identifies key psychological and socio-demographic factors influencing adoption intentions. The findings indicate that approximately 33% of surveyed homeowners express intention to adopt geothermal technology within the next five years. Structural Equation Modeling reveals that attitudes toward geothermal technology and subjective norms significantly influence adoption intentions, while perceived behavioral control has no significant impact on intention. Economic benefits and environmental protection emerge as the strongest attitudinal drivers, with uncertainty about investment payback periods acting as the primary barrier. Normative influences from environmental advocates, suppliers, and community members also strongly shape adoption intentions. Among socio-demographic factors, higher energy cost-to-income ratios, higher income levels, and homeowners’ association membership positively influence adoption intentions, while age shows a negative correlation. These insights provide evidence-based guidance for policymakers to develop targeted interventions addressing specific psychological barriers experienced by different homeowner segments, potentially accelerating the transition to renewable heating systems in the Netherlands' existing housing stock. ... Read more

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is regarded as a representative of digital innovation in the construction industry. However, the process of its innovation is often hindered by the resistance from stakeholders. Many studies view such resistance as a barrier or static outcome, overlooking both stage and pathway perspectives. Even when considered, existing discussions remain fragmented. To fill this gap, this paper integrates diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory to build a theoretical framework that guides a systematic literature review of 55 journal articles. Based on the results, this study proposes a stage-based and pathway-oriented conceptual model to enhance the understanding of BIM innovation resistance. The conceptual model provides an intermediate theory, providing a theoretical basis for future knowledge development. It also offers stage-based practical references for managers and policymakers to identify and mitigate resistance in the process of BIM promotion. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

The renovation of old neighborhood plays a pivotal role in augmenting the quality of life and catalyzing urban development. Currently, numerous old neighborhoods in China necessitate renovation due to insufficient maintenance and management, inadequate supporting infrastructure, and suboptimal energy efficiency. Despite extensive research and practical endeavors dedicated to old neighborhood renovation, a research gap in critical analysis emerged during the literature review. This study endeavors a comprehensive analysis to delineate the current state of renovation endeavors, elucidate barriers encountered, and propose innovative strategies to surmount these barriers. Firstly, this study provides a comprehensive overview of ongoing status of renovation efforts and their key focal points. Secondly, this study furnishes an encompassing summary of the fundamental aspects of old neighborhood renovation, encompassing sponge city renovation, environmental enhancement, building energy-efficient renovation, elevator installation, and modernizing elderly facilities and services. Furthermore, this paper meticulously analyzes the barriers such as stakeholder conflicts, resident skepticism, funding limitations, divergent perceptions, limited resident participation, and intricate decision-making processes. To solve these identified barriers, some targeted practical solutions are proposed including bolstering the governmental leadership, exploring diversified funding mechanisms, expanding policy implementation agents, improving resident communication, and establishing collaborative multi-party framework. These measures provide practical guidance to facilitate the seamless progression of renovation initiatives. This study aspires to furnish theoretical insights, practical guidance for policy formulation, and actionable recommendations for sustainable urban neighborhood renovation, contributing to the scholarly discourse and practice in this field. ... Read more

The effectiveness of interventions promoting household energy-efficiency investments depends on the diversity of the target audience. In the context of home energy retrofit, where decision-making is complex and influenced by multiple market and behavioural failures, few studies have rigorously analysed real-world homeowner attitudes and behaviours that enable meaningful policy implications. This study addresses this gap by applying model-based 3-step latent class analyses (LCA) to a sample of 1,011 Dutch homeowners with actual retrofit experience, focusing particularly on various motivations and barriers of home energy retrofit. Five motivation segments and three barrier segments are identified, separately. The motivation segments include balanced motivation homeowners (26.7 %), individual utility maximisers (6.8 %), immediate utility seekers (14.7 %), environmental and immediate utility maximisers (6.3 %), and the environmental-financial sensitive majority (45.4 %). The barrier segments are labelled as balanced financial and feasibility barriers (72.3 %), lack of demand (24.3 %), and prominent non-financial barriers (3.4 %). Both segmentation solutions demonstrate high classification accuracy and meaningful substantive interpretation. Furthermore, the segments for motivations and barriers show only marginal correlations, offering complementary insights. The findings enhance the understanding of homeowner heterogeneity in the energy retrofit market and support the design of more targeted incentives, information, and de-hassling programmes. ... Read more

Rising energy prices across Europe have increased concerns over energy poverty. Despite significant scholarly focus on financial relief measures instituted by national governments, locally tailored crisis measures have remained overlooked. This study delves into the Dutch context, where part of the government's response to the energy crisis was decentralised, allowing municipalities considerable discretion in experimenting with energy poverty interventions. It compares two strategies: ‘energy coaching’ services – offering advice on sustainable energy practices – and shallow retrofitting by ‘fix teams’ – installing minor energy-saving measures in homes. The impact of these interventions on residential comfort, sustainable behaviour adoption, and (financial concerns regarding) energy bills is assessed through an extensive survey involving treatment and control groups coupled with detailed administrative data on households and dwellings. Results indicate that, on an aggregate level, local interventions significantly enhanced perceived comfort and reduced energy bills among the treatment groups. Comparing individual interventions, notably, more extensive ones such as fix teams and comprehensive energy coaching were significantly more impactful than those involving a single visit, highlighting the importance of continuous engagement. Additionally, we found that energy poverty status significantly amplified the effectiveness of these interventions, thereby stressing the importance of focusing efforts on vulnerable households. ... Read more

In the context of urban regeneration, community renovation has been a vital approach for improving local living conditions and global sustainable development. Due to the financial burden and uneven regional development, China’s community renovation has gradually shifted from the government-led model to the market-oriented model. However, these projects are subject to various intra- and inter-stakeholder barriers, particularly hidden transaction costs. This study investigates the transaction costs experienced by key stakeholders, including residents, developers, governments, and architects, with a specific focus on the pre-design phase of market-oriented community renovation projects in China. Data on stakeholders’ experienced transaction costs and their origins were collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys and were investigated using content analysis and quantitative analysis. Results show that developers bear the most categories of transaction costs. The most significant transaction costs persist in the interactions between developers and governments, including estimating benefits and costs and receiving project approval. Furthermore, negotiating costs are the primary obstructions that hinder stakeholder collaboration. By tracing the origins of these transaction costs, the study proposes measures to optimize the renovation process by reducing transaction costs. ... Read more