Local authorities (LAs) play an essential role in diffusing home energy renovation measures. However, there are rare business models developed for local authority actions. This paper aims to develop a critical review of the way that local authorities developed business models for pop-up centres where consultants can encourage home energy renovation measures. From 2017 to 2021, participatory research was conducted in collaboration with seven LAs from the UK, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Although local authorities could use business model approaches for the development of pop-up home renovation consultancy centres, we noticed that LAs could not apply specific strategies to fit various customer segment groups. Therefore, a traditional business model needs to be investigated further for local authority activities.@en

The Triple-A project aimed to install demonstration exemplars of a variety of low-carbon technologies to increase awareness and adoption of these (building/construction) technologies by homeowners. Through this, the adoption of low-carbon technologies became normalised and created ambassadors for the technologies who can influence other homeowners. This document aims to outline the process used to implement these demonstration homes and provides examples and guidance from the experience of the project partners. The demonstration exemplars implemented ranged in their approaches but were grouped into four different types: • Model A: Utilising new and innovative technologies. • Model B: Whole house or nearly-zero carbon retrofit. • Model C: Large scale or community wide mass retrofit. • Model D: Longer term phased retrofit. These models were explored using a structured approach, taking into account various aspects. These stages are discussed in more detail throughout this document, which includes the lessons learnt at each stage:  Identifying suitable target areas in 8 local authority regions for single-family home renovations  Exploring citizen segments in target areas and related engagement opportunities  Identifying suitable financial incentives for engaging single-family homeowners  Testing installation of technologies through demonstration homes  Evaluating CO2 reduction of demo exemplars and awareness raising @en

In the current context of energy transition, practices for reducing energy consumption are encouraged by many local authority schemes, in particular for households. Homeowners are called upon to change their energy practices to save money, while ensuring better comfort in the home. Home Energy Monitoring or Management Systems (HEMS) are tools that homeowners can use to increase their energy awareness. Municipalities hope that – by providing HEMS to homeowners - this will lead to the adoption of energy-saving measures. This study therefore aimed to explore how LAs can adopt HEMS distribution actions, and if the adoption of provided HEMS by homeowners can affect the energy use behaviour and willingness of homeowners to adopt also other low-carbon technologies. The study used innovation adoption theory and a qualitative research method on the adoption of HEMS, supported by quantitative insights. It uses the insights from seven Local Authorities (LAs) from four countries (Belgium, France, The Netherlands, UK), who evaluated their actions to have homeowners adopt HEMS, as well as the energy behaviour in target areas using demo exemplars. The study first categorises HEMS types based on the factors that might affect the adoption of home energy renovation measures. Second, it investigates adoption parameters according to each adoption phase for local authorities, as well as homeowners. Third, it analyses homeowners experiences through an ex ante and ex post HEMS installation survey. Finally, it assesses the recommendations suggested by participating local authorities. The study finds that HEMS actions can be embedded in other LA actions regarding sustainability awareness raising and housing renovation. LAs particularly value that HEMS can support them with more accurate real-time energy use and comfort data. However, HEMS should be carefully selected and tested based on cost efficiency, ease of installation, compatibility with the energy management and legal system, simplicity of the feedback and supporting administration and data access arrangements. The majority of homeowners who installed the HEMS were (highly) satisfied with the HEMS installed in their house and already convinced before the installation that the HEMS would help them to save energy. More than half of the individuals also reported energy-related behavioral change. About 30% of the individuals invested in energy-saving measures, while 70% had not adjusted anything. The adoption of HEMS can support homeowners’ behavioral change but does not necessarily lead to adoption of renovation measures by homeowners. On the one hand, homeowners are likely to change their behaviour if they would get options beyond simple digital meters, on the other hand LAs find their role to help homeowners adopting more advanced HEMS as a complex one-off experiment. Collaboration is key for upscaling the adoption of HEMS.@en

Users’ experience and their opinions are getting important in the design process. This chapter focuses on user-centred design thinking in workplace design and management. The concept of user-centred design is originally developed in fields other than architecture, such as ergonomics, industrial design, and computer science. Recently, user involvement in workplace research/management is essential to satisfy users’ needs and requirements. The most successful strategy is the design that meets the needs and requirements of real people. User-centred design thinking in workplace design/management promises a model that satisfies employees and is capable of increasing productivity. This theory can be key to supporting users’ needs and contributing to meet their goals. This chapter aims to explain the terms of user-centred design (UCD), design thinking (DT), and user-centred design thinking (UCDT). In addition, this chapter will describe several UCDT processes. The last section discusses the contribution of UCDT to workplace research.@en

Local authorities engaged in the Interreg 2 Seas project Triple-A aim to achieve an acceleration of the market in the owner-occupied single-family home renovation sector by increasing awareness of – and enabling access to – energy-saving technologies. This report describes local authorities' experiences of developing and using pop-up consultancy centres in target areas to increase awareness and access. The main research question is: What are the key factors for local authorities to develop pop-up consultancy centres to create awareness and provide easy access of low-carbon technologies to homeowners? The report discusses the local policy context and illustrates types of pop-up consultancy centres developed by seven local authorities in the 2 Seas Region (covering specific coastal parts of Flanders, Northern France, Western Netherlands and England). The pop-ups are further classified into two types: short-term mobile and long term fixed-location pop-up centres. It then describes developed pop-up centre examples and local authorities’ approaches for the development of pop-up consultancy centres based on a business model development scheme and criteria. Besides, qualitative data are assessed to evaluate the functional and financial effectiveness of the pop-up centres. The report thus reflects on practical requirements for pop-up consultancy centre development by local authorities and suggests recommendations for practitioners from other local authorities wishing to pursue pop-up development in their region or city.@en

Local authorities (LAs) play an essential role in diffusing home energy renovation measures. However, there are rare business models developed for local authority actions. This paper aims to develop a critical review of the way that local authorities developed business models for pop-up centres where consultants can encourage home energy renovation measures. From 2017 to 2021, participatory research was conducted in collaboration with seven LAs from the UK, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Although local authorities could use business model approaches for the development of pop-up home renovation consultancy centres, we noticed that LAs could not apply specific strategies to fit various customer segment groups. Therefore, a traditional business model needs to be investigated further for local authority activities.@en

Web portals have the potential to promote sustainable environmental ideas due to the capacity of digital media, such as easy accessibility, openness, and networking. Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for activating carbon savings in homes, and they are key actors when it comes to providing neutral information to their citizens. Local authority web portals may thus create environmental awareness, particularly regarding owner-occupied single-family home renovation. Nevertheless, the experiences of LAs developing web portals have rarely been studied. Therefore, this paper analyses the development process of various LA web modules and investigates how LAs foster modular web portals to stimulate the adoption of home renovation with parameters to assess LAs’ actions in terms of the management of web-modules development. A homeowner renovation journey model is applied to map current local authority developments. Case study research and interviews were done to analyse and evaluate the adoption of modular web portals developed and tested by six local authorities in four countries in Europe. Based on the development and use of the modular web portal, lessons have been derived emphasising the importance of co-creation, integrating with offline activities, and a strategic management plan@en

The topic of this research is developed based on my motivation towards architecture design and society. My question in the built environment is are people happy to stay in a good energy-labelled building. If we consider the users in the renovation design phase, how can the design approach be different from how we are doing now. This thesis is, therefore, written in consideration of people who work in an office. It deals with four sub-topics related to office renovation: energy consumption, indoor climate and users’ thermal comfort, personal control, and user satisfaction. This research is targeted at the architects or facility managers who are interested in userfocused office design, energy efficiency, or office renovation. The results contribute to developing design principles for office renovations with integrated user perspectives, that improve users’ satisfaction and comfort, as well as energy efficiency. I expect the design principles resulted from this research will not only contribute to an increase in the value of a building but also serve as a stepping stone for user-focused office designs or user-related aspects of the built environment.@en

Through the Interreg2Seas Triple-A project, seven Local Authorities (LAs) identified and developed a set of modules for strengthening LA web portals for increasing awareness and easy access for housing retrofit, to encourage homeowners across four European Countries (Belgium, France, Netherlands and UK) to adopt different low-carbon technologies. This report evaluates this development. First, literature research provides the role of local authorities on fostering home renovation as a trusted party and the importance of modular LA web portals. A home renovation journey model was applied to facilitate developing web modules and introducing a list of suitable web modules to support homeowners. Secondly, the qualitative data, collected through LA experiences, are analysed based on strategic, technical, financial, and project management parameters. The results show the lessons learnt and practical challenges for developing modular web portals from the phase of planning and launching to sustaining. Next, quantitative analysis results present the impact of newly launched web modules on web portal visits. The data, collected monthly from 2018 to 2020, were compared to the LAs’ activities to promote the web portals. Lastly, this research suggests lessons learnt, challenges, and recommendations for practitioners of LAs to strengthen local authorities’ web portals for increasing awareness and easy access to low-carbon technologies.@en

Purpose: This paper highlights the importance of user satisfaction in office renovation. A user-focussed renovation approach can enhance user satisfaction in offices and their functional quality while meeting energy performance goals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate users’ needs and the physical and psychological factors affecting user satisfaction, as input to office renovation projects. Design/methodology/approach: The selected articles are collected from Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. Searching was limited to the main key terms of office, work environment, and user satisfaction and comfort. The important factors were searched through empirical-based international literature mainly. Based hereupon, a guide will be developed for the analysis and evaluation of user satisfaction in office renovations. Findings: From a comprehensive overview, the findings present ten main factors to increase user satisfaction in office renovation. These are associated with physical and psychological satisfaction and comfort. In addition, the influential factors were categorised into three levels based on needs theories to organise the hierarchy of priorities. Practical implications: This research adds to the body of knowledge about which factors are important for user satisfaction, based on what previous research has found in that field. This is important to improve the sustainability in use. Originality/value: User satisfaction is often studied through separate aspects: health and indoor climate vs functionality and productivity. This paper examines overall user satisfaction of workplaces by integrating the perspectives of physical and psychological conditions, and by providing insight into the priority of satisfaction factors.

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Personal control is one of the influential factors for user satisfaction and environmental comfort due to its physical and psychological impacts. This paper aims to identify the relationship between the degree of personal control over indoor environmental conditions and user satisfaction with thermal and visual comfort. Trying to answer the question, field studies on user control were conducted in 5 office buildings in the Netherlands. Occupants assessed their perceived satisfaction online by means of a questionnaire. Based on the dataset, Pearson's Chi-Square test was conducted to investigate the relationship. The results showed that a higher controllability leads to more satisfaction in terms of thermal and visual comfort. The research also revealed the psychological impact of personal control on user satisfaction by showing differences in perceived satisfaction according to “no control” and “do not have” between thermal and visual comfort. Personal control of ventilation was the most significant factor influencing the satisfaction with thermal comfort. These findings provide support to workplace management and to the design of personal environmental control systems.@en

Occupant satisfaction with IEQ (indoor environmental quality) is influenced by many physical and psychological factors. This paper reports the results of a study that investigate influential office design factors on occupant satisfaction relating environmental dimensions such as thermal and visual comfort in workplaces and predicting which design parameters may bring better satisfaction to occupants. Five office cases in the Netherlands with 579 office occupants were studied using questionnaires, and interviews with facility managers and architects. Different statistical analysis tests were conducted to summarise satisfaction factors. Results show that ‘desk location’ and ‘layout’ contributed most to occupant's satisfaction with thermal and visual comfort regardless of seasons. In summer, ‘orientation’ was exceptionally considered as an important factor for satisfaction with thermal comfort. This study revealed that categorical and regression analyses are required to predict profound outcomes when the data are nominal and categorical variables. This study contributes to develop design solutions, which could improve occupants' environmental satisfaction in workplaces.@en

Purpose: Employees’ satisfaction and productivity is one of the main interests of employers. Psychological comfort can cause dissatisfaction with their work. Thus, it is important to understand what factors contribute to employees’ satisfaction in workplaces. The purpose of this paper is to identify the weight of contribution of each design parameter on increasing psychological satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: The study included 579 employees in five offices in The Netherlands through an online survey. The typologies of offices vary in terms of office layouts, orientations and façade. Additionally, a parameter of desk location was included as this factor may be associated with user satisfaction. Kruskal–Wallis H test, categorical regression, and logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the impact of these design parameters on psychological user satisfaction. Findings: The results revealed the impact of design parameters on the psychological satisfaction. The parameters of office layouts and desk locations were the significant predictor factors for the probability of satisfaction variables (e.g. privacy, concentration, communication, social contact and territoriality). The parameters for optimal satisfaction were found in cellular office, north-west oriented workstation and 4 m away from a window. Originality/value: Psychological comfort is an inevitable aspect in user satisfaction studies. This paper, therefore, measures and predicts the relationship between design factors and employees’ satisfaction through case studies in The Netherlands. The findings help designers, architects, planners and facility managers to develop user-focussed office design principles supporting employees’ work performance.

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A comfortable indoor environment is one of the primary conditions of buildings. A majority of studies have attempted to compare occupant satisfaction of green-certificated offices and conventional offices. However, comparison of occupant perception with the adaptive comfort model may show differences and provide recommendations for the globe temperature in comfort. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the seasonal adaptation to indoor temperature, and to report the results of users' thermal perception surveys on energy efficient renovated office buildings. This work compares occupants' perception of indoor thermal quality. Data of indoor temperature were collected for 2 weeks in three seasons: summer, winter, and mid-season. Monitored indoor temperatures were compared with occupants' thermal sensation, preference, and satisfaction regarding thermal comfort. The research found the relationship between indoor temperature and occupants' thermal sensation. Results show that occupants perceived thermal quality better in renovated offices compared to non-renovated ones, but they do not always experience better thermal comfort than people in a non-renovated office.

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Many offices have been renovated to improve building performance. However, the user’s perception after renovation has not been evaluated. This paper presents user satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in façade renovated offices in the Netherlands. The study explored the correlation between facade renovation strategies and indoor climate on the one hand and on the other hand user satisfaction and user preferences. Data were collected in four renovated offices in the Netherlands, which were adapted using different façade renovation strategies. The case study consisted of conducting online surveys and indoor climate monitoring for 2 weeks with loggers. Statistical results demonstrate that design factors such as desk location, workplace orientation, and layout have a strong correlation with user satisfaction of IEQ, unlike window types. The suggested essential design factors for user satisfaction can guide architects and designers to better understand users’ preferences and to reflect on office design.@en

The building sector accounts for more than one-third of the total primary energy use and has significant potential for energy saving [1]. However, various physical and social factors affect the energy performance of dynamic systems, such as the indoor climate condition, the building envelope, maintenance, building equipment, operation, and occupant behaviour [2, 3]. Particularly human factors contribute to a high variance in energy consumption [4]. The occupant is a major leading factor for energy use in buildings, since building systems run to provide comfortable working environments for occupants. Many studies have used kWh/m2 /year to compare energy use of buildings [5]. However, the energy use also needs to be measured by occupancy schedule and density of building users [6-8] how many people work in an office; how many hours do they stay inside. The objective of this study is to investigate how much the energy use per person is different before and after office renovation towards energy efficiency, and to identify user types according to occupancy schedule and whether energy use differs between users.@en

This paper highlights the importance of considering user satisfaction in office renovation. Userfocused design approach in nearly zero energy office (nZEO) renovation is a way to increase user satisfaction and the value of office quality while meeting energy efficiency goal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate considerable measurement factors affecting user satisfaction. It is also to help better understating about user/occupants’ preferences. Measurement factors are studied through literature reviews in relation to user satisfaction of workspaces. The approach aims to give a guide for analysis and evaluation of user satisfaction and to strengthen their importance in an office renovation. The findings present that main measurement factors to increase user satisfaction are not only associated with indoor environmental quality but also with psychological issues such as a feasibility of collaboration, social contact, etc. Additionally, the relationship between measurement factors and hierarchy of user requirements are described.@en