Energiesprong is a finalist at two prestigious Awards events this summer: the EU Sustainable Energy Week Awards in Brussels and the Ashden Awards in London. At these high profile events Energiesprong will go head to head with other innovative initiatives working to improve lives and the environment.
Towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050
There is a growing urgency to calls for action on climate change. The UK’s Committee on Climate Change is calling for net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Institute of Engineering and Technology, Green Alliance and Sustainable Homes are all pointing to Energiesprong as a viable solution for the refurbishment of older, carbon intensive, hard to heat housing.
Energiesprong – ‘energy leap’ in Dutch – transforms poorly insulated and draughty homes into warm, comfortable, net zero energy homes, for life. It is a revolutionary, whole house refurbishment and new build standard.
Now Ashden and EU Sustainable Energy Week are highlighting Energiesprong as a way forward too. Ashden believes that “retrofitting buildings is one the best ways to reduce carbon emissions quickly”.
Ashden seeks the best in Sustainable Buildings
In the hunt for 2019 Ashden Award winners, Ashden assessors considered 100s of projects driving net zero emissions across the globe. On 3 July Ashden will celebrate just 10 winners as part of London Climate Action Week.
The National Energy Foundation’s (NEF) Energiesprong project was confirmed as a finalist in the Awards’ UK Sustainable Buildings category in May.
Gabby Mallett, NEF’s Director of Operations, commented: “We’re delighted that Energiesprong is gaining traction in the UK and Ashden has spotted its potential. It’s a great fit for the UK reaching its 2050 carbon emissions targets. It’s also a great fit for NEF’s mission to improve the use of energy in buildings.”
NEF has a long history of supporting retrofit innovations in the private and social housing sectors, including award-winning initiatives like SuperHomes and WHISCERS™. As Transition Zero project lead, NEF played the key role in introducing Energiesprong to the UK and other parts of Europe; managing project finances, recruiting a development team, coordinating reporting and promoting Low Energy Renovation. NEF’s involvement in the E=0 project takes this one step further – to demonstration.
Energiesprong supports a reduction in fuel poverty thanks to its high energy performance standard. An Energiesprong retrofit must deliver 21°C year-round temperature in the living room, 40 minutes of hot water a day, plus adequate clean electricity to run appliances. This is delivered without the end user incurring any extra costs, so contributing to a fair energy transition to lower carbon lifestyles.
EU Sustainable Energy Awards prize innovation
Energiesprong is also a finalist for the EU Sustainable Energy Awards which recognise outstanding innovation in energy efficiency and renewables. 12 finalists have been chosen from a shortlist of the year’s most innovative projects for clean, secure and efficient energy. The winner will be decided by an expert jury and a public vote, culminating in an Awards Ceremony in Brussels on 18 June.
Greenflex manages the Energiesprong team in France and nominated Energiesprong for the award as it is innovative on multiple levels, including how improvements are paid for. Money that would normally be spent on energy bills and maintenance pays for the works. Installation is fast and the work is guaranteed for up to 30 years.
Recognising growing demand for net zero energy retrofit
Mass customisation and industrialisation is needed to bring down the cost of retrofit so that it can scale up to respond to the challenge of reducing carbon emissions. In particular, offsite manufacture and assembly of insulated wall and roof panels will be a must to ensure faster retrofits with minimal disruption to occupants. This is where the ambition of Energiesprong is most visible.
Energiesprong teams have been busy building demand for net zero energy retrofit amongst social housing providers in the UK and France. The French team have nurtured a collective agreement between 64 organisations to support the renovation of 6550 homes. In the UK, the rollout of Energiesprong retrofit to 155 homes is already underway in Nottingham. The learning from the Netherlands is that, with sufficient volume, solution providers will invest in the offsite industrial manufacture needed to generate high volume retrofit across Europe.
Celebrating daring frontrunners
Energiesprong relies on strong partnerships and expert teams addressing local regulatory, financial and supply chain barriers to progress.
In France, Greenflex‘s Energiesprong team helped facilitate early pilot projects led by frontrunner Housing Associations Vilogia and ICF Habitat. In the UK, a dedicated local team has similarly supported pilots led by Moat Homes in Maldon and Nottingham City Homes in Nottingham. Solution providers like Melius Homes and ENGIE in the UK and Rabot-Dutilleul Construction and Bouygues in France have all shown a strong lead by taking on the technical challenge of delivering net zero energy retrofits with a 30 year performance guarantee.
A European funding success story
Two EU-funded projects have supported the adaptation of the Energiesprong model for UK and France. The Horizon 2020 Transition Zero project supported the creation of local demand for Energiesprong, starting with the social housing sector. The E=0 project, supported by Interreg NWE, has enabled four Energiesprong retrofit pilots - 2 in the UK and 2 in France.
French pilots in HEM and Longeau are now complete. The UK Maldon pilot (pictured) is nearing completion and a new Nottingham 17-home pilot is underway. A third funded project has been confirmed. Mustbe0, funded by Interreg NWE, will pilot net zero energy makeovers of low rise apartment buildings in North West Europe.
