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This report focuses on the different actors in the marketplace which offer products or services connected to renovation of houses. Which abilities do the different actors have for contribution to establish a one stop shop which offers a holistic renovation concept? Also complementary businesses such as for example banks are included in the analysis. Further, opportunities and threats are identified for different clusters of one stop shop. The structure and how the actors in the market act are quite similar in the Nordic countries. Therefore we believe that the development of strategies for the different countries may be similar to a great extent. The various types of actors in the renovation business occur at different stages in the value chain. The traditional first line services such as carpenters, retail stores, heat pump agents, plumbers, electrician, etc. come in direct contact with the customer when the house owner needs assistance in solving a specific “problem” or need. This is a golden moment for the SuccesFamilies project to address through these actors a more holistic energy efficient renovation to the house owner; to present the one-stop-shop solution. To do so SuccessFamilies has focused on the “time window”: which opportunities could be used to communicate more energy efficient renovation? What type of renovation is needed? Based on this SuccesFamilies has singled out both the different opportunities which seem to be the best situations to stimulate energy efficient renovation as well as the characteristics of the house owner influencing the ability and willingness to carry out an energy efficient renovation. The building stock analyses from the Nordic countries show that the segments with the biggest potential for high ambition renovation is Houses built in the 1960 and 70s, Houses built before 1940 pre-war (except in Finland) and houses from the post-war period in Finland. With some minor exceptions the different governmental regulations and voluntary standards are quite similar in the Nordic countries. They represent a common opportunity in stimulation of energy efficient renovation. The one-stop-shop should offer tailor made services for sustainable renovation of a single family house. This should include the building envelope, insulation, window, materials, heating and ventilation system, and even financing. The one-stop-shop should have the knowhow about competent firms who can offer the additional services, price knowledge and how to organize the work in a cost-effective way, in the right order and to the wanted quality. These complete service packages, which represent the one-stop-shop solution, might differ depending on which industry has the leading part in the different pilot studios. In addition to a range of common strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, all the different service package models have their own unique characteristics regarding strengths and weaknesses, in addition to facing different opportunities and threats. Nevertheless the most important factor seems to be that no actor alone possesses an overall competence to supply a holistic solution. Trustworthiness of the actors is another important factor to take into consideration when developing a one-stop-shop solution. The overall threat is the fact that a simple cost focus leads to limited renovation and reduce interest for high ambition renovation. The strategies and actions chosen to introduce and sell energy efficient renovation to single-family house owners should present all non-economic benefits as well as the economic benefits, which have been proven equally important to the house owners which carried out an energy efficient renovation.

There are significant potentials to improve energy efficiency of single-family houses in the Nordic countries. Technical solutions exist, but there are market and financial barriers to implementation of such measures. The aim of this report is to identify financial barriers to implement energy efficiency measures in Nordic single family houses and to discuss options to address those barriers. In the initial phase of a market formation, the targeted potential customers (the “innovators” who are few in numbers) usually have capacity to invest in energy-efficient measures. However, such measures, though cost effective in a life-cycle perspective, often incur high investment cost and majority of the consumers tend to stick to the least efficient products. Moreover, a lack of awareness about the possible energy efficiency measures, including their benefits, and the uncertainty regarding the level of energy savings due to a lack of standardised measurements and verifications protocol may not encourage, both the customers and financiers, to go for energy efficiency investments. Financiers perceive energy efficiency projects as risky investments maybe because of their small size, difficulty to control energy use behaviour of the occupants and the difficulty to predict future energy prices. The options to finance energy efficiency renovations include homeowners’ own resources, mortgage refinancing, flex loan, personal loan, financing by service providers, preferential loan, subsidies/grants, credit cards, and financing supported by guarantee on energy savings. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is less likely that the one-stop-shop service providers in Nordic countries, at present, will give any guarantee on actual savings in energy use or cost. But, such a concept is emerging in some European countries and could be an option in future. The best option to finance energy efficiency improvements in Nordic countries seems to be that onestop- shop service providers collaborate with commercial banks to offer mortgage refinancing. Such a mechanism is convenient for the homeowners, and banks will have a less risky asset in their portfolio. In situations where homeowners cannot avail additional mortgage financing, e.g. those who recently purchased a house and used the limit to such loans, banks may consider an energy efficient renovation plan prepared by an entrepreneur and pre-evaluate the post-renovation value of the house. This pre-renovation valuation could form the basis for the bank to confirm the homeowner and the service provider that certain amount of investment cost would be available from mortgage refinancing. To cover the cost that exceeds the amount available from mortgage financing (or base loan), national governments may consider to provide soft loans or subsidies. In countries where tax deduction on home renovation is available, amendments should be made to such programs to incorporate specific requirements regarding energy efficiency of implemented measures. Also, higher tax deduction could be offered for energy efficiency improvement than for other renovation. Moreover, a simple tool to inform the homeowners about the cost-efficiency of energy renovation investment would be that banks and utilities collaborate to send a joint invoice which contains the monthly cost of mortgage loan and the energy cost.

The Nordic single-family house renovation market is dominated by a craftsman based approach with individual solutions, traditional warehouses ”do-it-yourself-shops” and some actors marketing single products. To speed up the implementation of sustainable renovation of single-family houses there is a great need for full-service packages including consulting, contract work, follow-up, financing and operation and maintenance. There are few Nordic examples of such service models for renovation of single-family houses which entered the market recently. The success of these concepts is yet to be evaluated.

This report focuses on analyses of the most promising existing sustainable renovation concepts, i.e. full-service concepts and technical concepts, for single-family houses. As a basis for the analyses a detailed building stock analysis was carried out. Furthermore, as a basis a general working method for proposals on package solutions for sustainable renovation was described. The method consists of four steps, going from investigation of the house to proposal for sustainable renovation, detailed planning and commissioning after renovation. It could be used by teams of consultants and contractors and the idea is to help the homeowner with design and decision making process. The building stock analysis shows that detached single-family houses account for large share of the total number of dwellings in all Nordic countries. Final energy use for space heating and hot water is in the range of 135 to 200 kWh/m2. Electric heating (and oil heating) of single-family houses is very common in the Nordic countries, except for Denmark where oil/gas boiler and district heating is mostly used. Natural ventilation is widespread in Denmark and there is tradition for mechanical ventilation in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Houses in Norway, Sweden and Finland are typically built with wood as a main construction material, but the insulation and/or finishing materials differ. In Denmark bricks are used as a dominant construction material for cavity walls. The typical single-family houses identified to have large primary energy saving potential almost descend from the same time period in each Nordic country. The first segment is houses built in large numbers in the 1960 and 1970 before tightening of the insulation standards in the building codes in the late 1970’s due to the oil crisis. The second segment is houses built before 1940 pre-war (except for Finland) where a large part of them has been renovated, but energy renovation of those houses today would still account for a large energy saving. The third segment is houses from the post-war period in Finland, houses that are all individual but built in the same way, using the same materials. Existing full-service renovation concepts in the Nordic countries have just recently entered the market and are not well established and their success is yet to be evaluated. The success is strongly influenced by the current renovation market that is dominated by a craftsman based approach with individual solutions, traditional warehouses ”do-it-yourself-shops” and some actors marketing single products. Companies may improve concepts by a more integrated approach and application of the full range of technical solutions to ensure the homeowner a sustainable renovation to a reasonable price. Energy efficiency calculations for individual measures for each of the typical single-family houses in the Nordic countries have been made, and also some examples of cost analysis based on the criterion of cost of conserved energy (CCE) that takes into account the investment and running cost and savings during a defined relevant reference period, e.g. 30 years. Another method that could be used to illustrate the economic implications is “annual economic balance”, i.e. savings minus repayments on a mortgage credit loan, which may be relevant for homeowners who want to utilize cheap long-term financing based on equity. Different technical renovation scenarios consisting of energy efficiency measures have been tested for the typical single-family houses with large energy saving potential in each of the Nordic countries. Energy efficiency measures in connection with renovation of single-family houses have the potential for very large energy savings. In general the analyses show that typical single-family houses can be renovated to the level of energy performance required for new houses today or in some cases to low-energy level. Reaching passive house level may be challenging in old houses. Passive house level was not reached in any of the analysed cases. The potential is particularly high for houses with electric heating where installation of a heat pump and water-based heat supply system will reduce primary energy use and heating cost with about 70%. When an efficient heat supply system is in place, then mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (VHR) can result in small energy savings and the quality of indoor environment will usually improve. The primary energy efficiency effectiveness of VHR depends very much on energy supply system, the air tightness of the building envelope and the electricity required to run the system. Positive impact on the indoor environment can be expected. Thermal comfort will be improved by insulation and air-tightness measures that will increase surface temperatures and reduce draught from e.g. badly insulated windows. A ventilation system with heat recovery will also contribute to a good thermal comfort by draught-free supply of fresh air and assure an excellent air quality. Overheating can effectively be avoided by external movable solar shadings and/or higher venting rate by use of e.g. automatically controlled windows.