 Ralf Lippold Sep 19, 2017 09:51  | Dear OpenExp-Team, Quite a thrilling idea you are proposing which would, given the already existing building infrastructure in Europe, a massive impact on CO2 output. Even though nothing can be changed on the proposal until the semi-finalists will be announced, what other positve forces have you encountered in the meanwhile to bring your idea up to scale? All the best for the waiting time and the progress of your proposal Ralf |
 Yamina Saheb Oct 9, 2017 01:46  | Proposal contributor Dear Ralf, Thank you for going through our proposal and for your email. In the meantime, we had the opportunity to demonstrate through the analysis of the Smart Finance for Smart Buildings Initiative and the French case study the need for a paradigm shift in policy design to renovate Europe. Our discussion paper and presentation are available at the link below: https://www.openexp.eu/events/smart-finance-smart-buildings Hope you will find them useful. Best, Yamina
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Ralf Lippold Oct 16, 2017 03:44 | Hi Yamina, Thanks a lot for your message, and the shared link. Indeed it is a challenge to shift existing paradigms. Good to know others like you having the courage to move ahead with new ideas. Best regards, Ralf |
Ralf Lippold Oct 23, 2017 05:43 | Dear Yamina, Congratulations being amongst the semi-finalists!Reading through the judges' comments I wonder whether there are any general (in progress) regulatory rules that pull the transition towards ZEB (zero-energy-buildings) further in Europe, namely the EU27 (without the UK)? If yes, then it would be interesting to list examples like Vauban-Freiburg (where I think some efforts in the direction of ZEB are already undertaken) and ReGenVillages in Almere, Netherlands, to pull in interested parties to scale from the prototypes to general solutions and standardized processes. Ralf |
Yamina Saheb Nov 5, 2017 04:42 | Proposal contributor
Dear Ralf, Thank you for your emails and suggestions. There are indeed several efforts in Europe aiming at zero energy buildings. However, most of the existing efforts are about new buildings and predominantly residential buildings. For example, Vauban-Freiburg, which is to my knowledge, the first large scale new development aiming at delivering low energy consumption building (the concept of ZEB came later). Vauban-Freiburg was also the first project to experience small-scale passive house. However, the renovation of the existing building within Vauban-Freiburg project has an energy consumption higher than the one of the passive standard. Vauban-Freiburg has also pioneered a real involvement of citizens in urban development and monitored this involvement. All this was done prior to the revision of the EPBD in 2010 and the inclusion of the requirement to make all new buildings nearly zero energy by 2021. Since, the adoption of the directive, stakeholders have been experimenting the construction of new buildings at the zero standard in several member states. As of today, there are only few countries in Europe where the construction of new buildings at the zero standard level will be still challenging by the time the requirement will enter into force. From my perspective, the challenge in Europe is about renovating existing buildings to the zero standard level. It is challenging because contrary to new built, market actors are more fragmented in the renovation sub-sector which is dominated by small enterprises. This increases the transition costs and the on-site intervention. Thus, discourage citizens taking the decision to renovated their buildings and lower their ambition. Furthermore, renovating at zero standard is not required by any national or European law. In this context, it is also unclear who is responsible for delivering the final result and why would they target renovation at zero energy standard. Our proposal is based on a comprehensive analysis of all the barriers (literature review and interviews with policy-makers and stakeholders) in the implementation of zero energy standard when renovation work is undertaken. The main novelty of our proposal to address all these existing constraints at the same time. Best, Yamina |
Ralf Lippold Nov 7, 2017 07:18 | Hi Yamina, Many thanks for your background information in your reply, especially on Freiburg-Vauban. As a passionate preserver of old buildings (including new uses) and a passion for new innovative solutions, I wonder whether a shift in focus on how to enable ZEB could lead to feasible action. In general, ZEB efforts would focus on reducing the radiation of heat (put in energy) from buildings. What if the focus on changing wall systems, windows (all the passive forms of reaching a ZEB) would shift towards (largely) on new solutions for sustainable energy production at a local (community) level? As the #COP23 (that is the used hashtag on Twitter over the next two weeks) has just started in Bonn where 25,000 officials will talk about how to reach the Paris Climate Agreement Goals, it may be a perfect "time window" to bring
Even though Dresden has a solar potentiality kataster, and the Free State of Saxony a kataster of the wind energy installation potentiality across the country there are still little to no mainstream solutions available to citizens or organizations (like home developers) to install such at ease and standardized ways. As I like your proposal personally very much (see my proposal from 2011 on my profile, where we envisioned to transform an unused railroad engine shed into an innovation accelerator applying the latest in new green energy producing technology) I am looking forward to seeing your proposal come up from the bottom of the list of the semi-finalists to the top ;-) so other people become aware of the idea, and share their thoughts. Ralf |
 Caroline Liu Nov 25, 2017 09:50  | Thank you for submitting your contest proposal. A Climate CoLab Impact Assessment Fellow who specializes in buildings has conducted an impact assessment of your proposal which you can find under the “IMPACT” tab. Please review the documentation and model parameters. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can contact Mario Coelho at mariucoelho.
Impact Assessment Fellows |
Yamina Saheb Nov 26, 2017 11:32 | Proposal contributor Hi Caroline, Thank you for your email and for the assessment of GHG emissions reduction of my proposal. I checked the Impact tab. I can see only the results. Any guidance to access the methodology and the model parameters would be welcome. Best, Yamina |
Yamina Saheb Nov 26, 2017 11:46 | Proposal contributor Hi Ralf, Thank you for sharing your ideas about how to make our proposal known. I am working on publications for different audiences. I also look forward to see the finalists list. To my knowledge, those interested by our proposal have the possibility to support it directly through this web platform. Best, Yamina |
 Mario Coelho Nov 27, 2017 01:53 | Hi Yamina, I am not sure you are able to access the methodology as a whole. But here I try to explain you. The European Union has a BAU scenario for Buildings emissions, as follows: 2015 2020 2030 2040 2050 662 688 724 724 724 In your proposal, you demand that policy and market change should be done so that all renovations in the Buildings within EU are in order to make them ZEB. So, considering that this will happen, all renovations in EU's building stock will make them ZEB. In the calculation spread sheet we have a few parameters to access only. Which are how quick will the project be implemented (slow - which would take us to around 60% of buildings by 2050 according to a s shaped curve) and how much of reductions it will take into the emissions of the buildings renovated (-95%) Best, |
Yamina Saheb Nov 28, 2017 03:56 | Proposal contributor Dear Mario, Thank you for getting back to me on the calculation of GHG emissions reduction. As you may know, 95% emissions reduction by 2050 is aligned with the highest target of the EU 2050 decarbonisation roadmap. This confirms that we have to stop with all these shallow renovation programmes which we are promoted today. It also means that to be carbon neutral, we need to renovate more than 60% of the building stock at ZEB level. Best, Yamina |
 Hans Nilsson Jan 6, 2018 10:49 | Energy Efficiency is not difficult - only complicated! It will require organisation for a delivery process that involves several actors, just as proposed in this "project". There is a need to develop an institutional approach such as this. |
