Renovating a building can be complex and time consuming. For building owners, the lack of knowledge about what to do and in which order, is a main obstacle to improving the energy performance of their building.
The iBRoad project worked on lifting these barriers by developing an Individual Building Renovation Roadmap for single-family houses. This tool looks at the building as a whole, and provides a customised renovation plan (iBRoad-Plan) over a long-term horizon (5-30 years).
The roadmap makes it possible to improve a building’s energy efficiency gradually, taking into account the occupants' needs and specific situation (e.g. financial situation, composition of the household, etc.). By planning ahead and future-proofing technical requirements, the roadmap also helps avoid 'lock-in' –whereby present choices limit the future renovation potential.
The iBRoad-Plan is combined with a repository of information –a building logbook (iBRoad-Log)– on aspects like energy consumption and production, executed maintenance and building plans. The logbook can be an extremely useful tool for home-owners and occupants in gathering building related information in one place, for energy auditors and contractors who require technical building information to suggest and implement improvements, and for policy makers to plan targeted instruments to support decarbonisation of the building stock.
Together, the building renovation roadmap and logbook represent iBRoad's specific proposal for a Building Renovation Passport (BRP) now mentioned in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Renovation Wave Strategy, in support of long-term, step-by-step renovation.
The iBRoad project analysed and built upon relevant initiatives to identify the elements, develop an integrated concept and produce modular tools, suitable for differing national conditions.
The tools were adapted for testing in Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, plus Germany for the logbook. The testing entailed setting the national parameters, training professional auditors, and implementing the methodology for producing the roadmaps and logbooks to suitable buildings.
Based on testing insights and the broader examination of the feasibility and replicability of the iBRoad concept, the project proposed specific policy approaches to implement BRPs on a wider scale, and considered the potential for extending iBRoad beyond single-family houses.
Development and implementation of the iBRoad concept relied, in parallel, on direct engagement with stakeholders. Similarly, iBRoad outcomes were extensively shared, sparking interest and providing the tools to those interested in applying them further.
