Retrofitting

As the built environment contributes to 40% of global emissions, it is of the utmost importance to increase energy efficiency and the use of (decentralised) renewable energy sources. This contributes to both the Paris Agreement and additionally to numerous Sustainable Development Goals.

With 80% of the current building stock in Europe likely to still be operational in 2050, systemic and scalable deep retrofit (near zero net energy/CO2 emissions) solutions have a vast potential to contribute to a low/zero carbon, built environment. An integral part of the pathway are innovative and systemic retrofit solutions that go beyond ‘business-as-usual’ in today’s market.

For the needed change, which requires a tripling of the retrofit rate from 1% to 3%, small incremental steps are not going to suffice. Rather, we need a “whole systems change”. This system includes national and European governments and their various and sometimes conflicting policies and regulations; the fragmented supply chains of manufacturers, subcontractors, builders, architects and consultants; national energy infrastructures, utility companies, a growing number of energy collectives and energy service companies; the urban space with city councils, departments, mayors, housing corporations; banks, retrofit funds, and many more.

Urban renewal programmes that are fundamentally driven by a local community will create the opportunity to comprehensively address the challenges of deeply retrofitting buildings and creating new energy supply systems that deliver social value first and decarbonisation second.