Webinar recap - Driving the renovation wave together: Synergies and lessons across EU projects

This webinar, organised by CLR, brought together experts from six EU-funded projects to explore innovative approaches, challenges, and lessons learned in accelerating building renovations for sustainability, energy efficiency, and social inclusion.

Super Shine showcased community-led renovation in social housing, emphasising co-creation, innovative financing, and social inclusion across three lighthouse districts. The project underlined the importance of resident engagement, trust-building, and tailored communication. CLR focused on empowering energy communities through bottom-up approaches, tackling technical, legal, and financial barriers. Capacity building and policy integration emerged as critical for scaling impact. Multicare introduced plug-and-play prefabricated facades for rapid, resilient upgrades, highlighting recyclability and adaptability to hazards. Evento presented a digital one-stop-shop platform for performance-based renovation, integrating energy performance contracts and real-time monitoring, while addressing challenges in data interoperability and certification. Chronicle offered digital tools for low-cost building assessment and dynamic logbooks, aiming to motivate renovation through actionable insights and standardisation. InPerso shared research on how smart meter feedback can drive energy-saving behaviours, stressing user-centric design and personalised feedback.

Across all projects, common themes emerged. Engaging communities and building trust remain essential for success. Persistent technical, legal, and financial barriers call for holistic support and policy alignment. While digitalisation is advancing, interoperability and standardisation continue to pose hurdles. Replicability and scalability depend on adaptable models, clear governance, and ongoing communication.

Experts urged integrating citizen-led and community-based renovation into national and EU frameworks, broadening definitions for energy communities and one-stop shops, and linking funding to verified outcomes. Professional certification based on real results was also highlighted as a priority.

The projects will continue refining tools, sharing insights, and advocating for supportive policies to accelerate Europe’s renovation wave.