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Barriers & Challenges to nZEB

Bringing about change within any sector is a challenge; transforming energy use in European Public, Cooperative and Social Housing dwellings to adapt to the new energy landscape is a particularly complex one.

The obstacles to delivering nearly-Zero Energy Building were identified through surveys conducted among Public, Cooperative and Social Housing providers carried out by National Federations represented by Housing Europe within the first phase of the ‘POWER HOUSE nearly-Zero Energy Challenge!' initiative and through discussions with external experts in the field. The feedback received indicated that a variety of barriers and challenges exist, which can be broadly categorised into the following five key areas:

Technical barriers – there is still a major lack of skills and expertise throughout the construction sector, as well as uncertainty as to how new technologies perform;

Economic & Financial barriers – the lack of access to affordable finance to carry out new construction or retrofit existing stock to meeting nearly-Zero standards is also a major barrier;

Legislative barriers – the lack of definition of nZEB, a lack of policy coherence and legal structures to address energy retrofit in divided ownership are all key issues to be addressed;

Social & Organisational barriers – saving energy is not simply a technical issue, but it also depends on the lifestyle of residents and correct stock management;

Credibility barriers – a lack of mainstream examples of good practice and robust data from nearly-Zero homes has fostered an atmosphere of confusion and misinformation.

It was recognised that the two key areas of work to be carried out, i.e. new construction of nearly zero energy buildings and refurbishment of the existing stock, present different barriers and challenges to delivery. Each of the barriers listed above applies to a greater or lesser degree, and in different ways, to both areas of work.

The identified obstacles and issues to be addressed served as a starting point for the definition of the POWER HOUSE TaskForces WorkProgrammes in order to help Public, Cooperative and Social Housing providers in their path towards a fair energy transition!