Renovation activities by home-owners. Analysis of energy and non-energy renovation activities and possible connections

Abstract

In order to achieve a sustainable built environment by 2050, the European building stock needs to be retrofitted. Also in Belgium, with 75% of the residential buildings built before 1980, deep energy renovation is stimulated. The Flemish government premises long term goals for the energy performance of the existing building stock in the Renovation Pact (2014). To be able to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the Renovation Pact, knowledge of the actual renovation rate is indispensable. Since years, a renovation rate of 0.7% to 1% is communicated as an argument that renovation should be stimulated. However, there is little empirical evidence for this figure and how it reflects the actual energy renovation activity. Furthermore, non-energy renovation activities are considered as possible gate for home owners towards energy renovation, but little is known about these renovation activities. Since 2013, a yearly survey is done by Essencia Marketing, a marketing agency specialized in the construction sector, on the renovation activity of Belgian households. A representative sample of 1000 households indicates their renovation activity in the previous year through an online questionnaire on structural works (façade, wall, roof, etc.), technical works (HVAC, electricity, etc.) and energetic works (insulation, windows, etc.). For the period 2012-2018, the results show that each year almost 2,1% undertakes a deep energy renovation activity (excluding decorative works). To better estimate the energy renovation activity in Belgium, the paper will firstly discuss the different types of renovation works home-owners execute, and determine the share of energy related renovations. This will be confronted with official statistics on (energy) renovation. Then the non-energy renovation activity will be discussed to determine the share of renovations that could serve as a gate to promote deep energy renovation. This could inform policy makers on policy actions to stimulate combined renovations.