Adrian Joyce, General Secretary of Efficient Buildings Europe, and director of the Renovate Europe campaign, is one of the expert members of the Opengela Advisory Board. He is a professional architect who graduated from University College Dublin in 1984 and has worked in the private sector for 17 years.
In this interview Joyce explains what Renovate Europe is and what its objectives are, discusses the challenges facing the construction sector with the recent amendment of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and outlines the reasons why the Opengela model is proving so successful at European level.
You are the director of Renovate Europe, one of the international organisations on the Opengela Advisory Board. Could you tell us in more detail what this Campaign is about?
The Renovate Europe Campaign, founded in 2011, is a political communications campaign whose objective is to call for the rapid acceleration of deep energy renovation in all member states of the EU to bring the annual deep renovation rate to 3% per year and to maintain that rate until 2050.
The Campaign, which is industry-led, enjoys the support of 51 partners from a broad range of stakeholders in the construction sector. This includes the member companies of Efficient Buildings Europe, which is the legal entity behind the Campaign, several EU industry associations, city networks, research organisations, trade unions, and 18 national partners.
The actions of the Campaign revolve around the promotion of the multiple benefits that deep energy renovation will bring to individuals, businesses, and to society at large. These include social, economic, and environmental benefits ranging from improved indoor environmental quality to the creation of local quality jobs and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
What is the biggest challenge in the building sector in general and according to the amended Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)?
The biggest challenge to the achievement of our goal is the lack of motivation among building owners to request that their buildings are renovated. The legal framework exists, the technical knowledge exists, financing is available, and yet the rate of energy renovation remains stubbornly low. This may be because the level of awareness of the benefits of renovation is too low, or because owners are apprehensive about the complexity of undertaking a deep energy renovation.
The recast EPBD recognises this challenge and seeks to address it by the introduction of several novel measures in its clauses. Among these is the requirement that each member state prepares a National Building Renovation Plan (NBRP) that contains the actions and timeline by which the building stock in the member state will be brought to zero emission standard by 2050. For commercial and public buildings, this means that mandatory minimum energy performance standards must be reached at building level by set dates in the near future.
For residential buildings, the requirement placed on member states in to improve the average energy performance of the residential buildings in their countries by a fixed percentage by a fixed date in the future.
Crucially, the EPBD requires that all member states incorporate the views and expertise of affected stakeholders in the preparation of the NBRP’s and the Renovate Europe Campaign intends to ensure that its partners find a means to have their voices heard in all member states as those NBRP’s are in preparation. It is our view that the more consensual the content of the NBRP’s is, the higher the chance that the energy renovation will increase.
What do you think are the main reasons why the Opengela model is being so well received in Brussels? In which ways is inspiring?
The Opengela model has been well received among Brussels-based stakeholders because it is structured with the customer journey at its heart. The model carefully examined the living conditions in the Region and, over a number of years, realised that the establishment of physical drop-in one-stop-shops would be the best way to reach building owners and occupants. It then went on to establish a number od these drop-in facilities in the places where the need for renovation was the highest.
Beyond this feature of the Opengela model, the local administration realised that having better, more detailed data on the state of the building stock would significantly help it in planning for a broader renovation of the residential building stock within its administrative area. To answer this need, the project commissioned an innovative company to produce a mapping of the buildings in the Region using satellite data to produce virtual energy ratings for the performance of the building stock.
Then, in a truly innovative step, the project has undertaken an exercise based on the virtual energy performance mapping, to project the effort that would be needed to energy renovate all buildings that were scanned to achieve long-term goals. This was done in such a way that the quantity of products and materials that would be needed was calculated. This brings certainty to manufacturers on the future market for their products and allows them to undertake expansion of their production facilities with assurance and confidence.
Why is the European Commission increasingly promoting one-stop-shop projects such as BIRTUOSS (Opengela model)?
Put simply, the European Commission has seen that the one-stop-shop model as proposed and implemented by projects such as Opengela work. They are appreciated by owners, by businesses and by the local administrations that are required to implement renovation obligations.
The evidence gathered by Opengela on the effectiveness of physical one-stop-shops located where they are needed most has been especially convincing as it clearly demonstrated that online services cannot reach everyone and cannot deliver the full ranges of services required to give confidence to buildings owners in the renovation process.
How important is collaboration between different stakeholders as is happening with BIRTUOSS (Opengela model)?
Cooperation between all affected stakeholders is of fundamental importance as hinted further above. Being able to engage with others to deeply explore the characteristics of deep renovation breaks down barriers, increases knowledge, and creates trust in the renovation process. Without this local contact and shared dialogues, everything related to energy renovation can seem daunting and inaccessible.
Add to this the increased exchanges between public bodies and businesses in the spirit of a public-private partnership and the formula quickly becomes a winning combination.
Opengela has funded innovative tools such as the Building Passport and the Digital Logbook developed by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in collaboration with Cíclica Arquitectura SCCL, how important do you think the development of these initiatives are for the efficient use of energy and the renovation of buildings?
The use of this innovative approach has eased the burden on both administrations and building owners. There is no longer a need to visit every property during the planning phase. Indeed, the “hand-off” digital approach delivers valuable information more quickly and earlier in the planning process, speeding decision making and allowing for a prioritisation to be established as to which buildings or neighbourhood to tackle first.
Developing this approach and extending it to other member states will be crucial if we are to achieve the 3% deep energy renovation rate that the EU needs to meet its medium- and long-term energy and climate goals.
Do you think that replicating the Opengela model at the European level in the short term could accelerate the Renovation Wave? And how would be the best way to replicate it?
Yes, I am convinced that replicating the Opengela Model across the other members states of the EU in the short term would be most helpful to the achievement of the objectives of the Renovation Wave, and the first step in that process has been achieved through the recast of the EPBD as members states are required to establish a network of one-stop-shops in their territories that is geographically well spread.
We will find that as other member states look at the Opengela Model, they will find that certain modifications to the structure and/or to the services provided will be needed to reflect national or local characteristics. Therefore, establishing a description of the essential core features of the Model that should always be included in any new network would be most helpful.
In closing, I would like to wish the partners of the Opengela Model every success in continuing to expand the Model to other territories across the EU.
