Experiences of consortia for scaling up nearly zero-energy renovations of single-family homes

Abstract

On average 64 % of the dwellings in Europe are owner-occupied. Although there is an enormous potential to reduce their energy use and hence CO2 emissions, the current average renovation rate is just around 1,2 %. The development of one-stop-shops is expected to increase the market uptake of home renovation. Developing emerging frontrunner consortia of SMEs, this research looks into opportunities and barriers for stimulating business development to develop the supply of integrated nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) renovations of single-family homes.
Experiences were collected from frontrunner consortia that want to offer nZEB renovations to owners of single-family homes. Using a business model canvas approach, the main barriers and opportunities were compiled from business development meetings with 24 consortia from five countries. Furthermore, a year after finalizing this exercise, the researchers evaluated the outcomes of the business development.
Based on the findings from the emerging consortia, the research identified key issues that are important for business model development. For reaching early adoption of nZEB single-family home renovation, effort is still needed for developing collaboration of SMEs, for improving customer interfaces and for dealing with barriers that emerge after business model development. Consortia are advised to pay specific attention to the use of the business model canvas for structuring their ideas, to discuss the opportunities to jointly develop one-stop-shops, and to seek collaboration with “independent” actors to reach out to larger groups of homeowners. Policy could support emerging consortia as the chances for successful market introduction are high.