Analysis: Energy requirements are often met during renovations
Reference: The Danish Energy Agency
How much does the Danes renovate and how good are we at complying with energy requirements when renovating?
This has been analysed on behalf of The Danish Energy Agency and The Danish Transport, Building and Housing Agency.
How we solved the case
Energy efficient buildings are essential to reach the ambitious climate targets set by the Danish Government. Hence, The Danish Building Code requires that energy optimisations should be done when doing renovations. The Danish Energy Agency and The Danish Transport, Building and Housing Agency wanted to know the extent of building renovations and to what degree the energy requirements of the building code is complied with.
Viegand Maagøe has been asked to analyse this question in collaboration with Wilke. We carried out the analysis including all actors of the constructions by updating a method proposed by SBi in 2014.
Viegand Maagøe was responsible for the analysis and the following:
- Update of the method.
- Data processing.
- Transverse analysis of data.
- Preparation of a report with the conclusions as well as recommendations.
Wilke was responsible for the completion of market research and processing of the answers of nearly 4.000 respondents within 5 categories: homeowners, property managers, municipalities, advisors, and craftsmen.
As part of the analysis, the results of the surveys were discussed among the actors of the construction industry at two panel debates.
Throughout the process of conducting the analysis, the methods and results were discussed at meetings with the two customers to ensure a solid affiliation and a high, professional quality when solving the case.
Reference: The Danish Energy Agency
Contract period: 2019-2021 (Viegand Maagøe)
Energy requirements are often complied with when renovating
The analysis has been completed to the satisfaction of the customers and showed that the energy requirements are complied with in approximately 75 percent of all renovations. When municipalities and bigger properties are renovated the degree of complying is higher than for single-family houses.
The homeowners emphasize economic concerns as the main reason for not complying with the energy requirements. They do not believe it to be profitable to re-insulate as much as required, and they would rather use their money differently.
Furthermore, the analysis showed that the energy requirements are more often complied with when professional advisors has been involved in the renovation process, or if the property owners show a greater knowledge of the building code.
The analysis gives some recommendations to ensure better compliance with the energy requirements when renovating:
- Economic subsidy scheme for energy renovations
- Better information about the energy requirements
- Greater focus on the energy requirements at vocational training
- Third party control of bigger renovation projects
