Given its large share of the total energy consumption in the EU (~40%), the building sector has a major role to play in the energy transition. However, the current average renovation rate in the EU is around 1% per year.
This means that renovating the entire EU building stock would take roughly 100 years. Acceleration of the renovation rate requires new organisation and financing models. Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) are seen by many as perhaps the most promising model to boost the market. However, this model has fallen short of realising its potential. Perhaps the most challenging market for ESCOs is the housing market. In exactly this market, WDW has developed a very successful EPC model that has in a short time built a solid reputation in the Dutch market: The WoningAbonnement (WOAB)1 The DistrictEES project aims to realise an EPC-based renovation of three entire districts, financed by private investors. DistrictEES builds on the most successful EPC model of The Netherlands, loosely translated as ‘EnergyEfficiency Subscriptions’
DistrictEES provides private home owners, social housing associations, public building owners and commercial building owners with a tailor made District Level based solution to increase the conversion into energy efficient buildings
The project will have significant impact on the market, both in terms of direct energy savings and in terms of the showcase element that comes with a district level renovation. Attracting private investors enables rapid replication and upscaling of the concept in The Netherlands and across the EU, the ultimate
objective of WDW.
The fragmented nature and small scale of renovation projects are increasingly problematic due to the currently tight construction market. Construction companies are only interested in larger projects that are geographically clustered.
For these reasons, WDW is eager to scale up to a volume that is sufficiently large to attract private investors and to be of interest for the construction sector. More specifically, WDW wants to cluster the projects geographically by targeting entire city districts. A feasibility study by WDW has revealed that the integralrenovation of three city districts will allow for enough critical mass. Attracting private investors enables rapid replication and upscaling of the concept in The Netherlands and across the EU, the ultimate objective of WDW.
In The Netherlands, there is currently a strong desire in the Dutch society, as well as the government, to accelerate the phasing out of the natural gas grid in The Netherlands. This movement is driven not only by climate change concerns, but lately also by earthquakes in the north of the country, due to natural gas extraction. Maintaining a capital intensive gas grid for just a few end users is not a sustainable business model. For these reasons, a district level renovation is the only efficient approach to energy efficiency investments in the Dutch building sector. This mechanism can also be observed in countries outside The Netherlands, where district level grids for natural gas, heating or electricity demand a district approach to renovation.
The overall objective of the DistrictEES program is to develop a business model that accelerates the energetic renovation into natrual gas free housing and buildings
