Interviews on Residential Building Stock Deep Renovation in Belgium

Belgium should increase the deep renovation rate of existing residential building stock at least to 3% a year to achieve the EU objectives of decreasing by 80% the Green House Gas Emissions before 2050. Since the first thermal legislations (between 1985 and 2000, depending on the Region), efficiency and comfort of newly built houses have met higher standards. But the renovation rate of residential buildings remained stable in the last 20 years. Only 25000 renovation permits are issued each year, in which a small amount of them are highly energy efficient. Literature review has showed that drivers and barriers of deep renovation are many and varied, sometimes contradictory and often underestimated. Conducted interviews with experts who study different facet of renovation present some others viewpoints on this subject. According to their own specific experience, each interviewee thinks differently on possible solutions. The poster set out the interview analysis. Some points are very close to the literature review, such as the environmental and economic issues of the residential renovation, while other results are solely extracted based on the interviews’ results.

Amongst others, the necessity to maintain and improve the existing building stock to new standards takes an important place. The regulation appears to be a good driver as much as a barrier, depending on the local legislations and buildings context particularly in Belgium where the diversity of the building stock is very important. Public policies seem to be the first tools to unlock the renovation rate even if the development of new financial model and the information of stakeholders are also highlighted. This analysis increases the comprehension of the renovation topic on a new level, including some adjacent ideas that lead to better understanding of the existing barriers and possible strategies to overtake them, so that to involve everyone in the renovation strategy definition to promote the most efficient one.