This week, an EU-funded project, HORIS, launched three digital platforms – also called one-stop-shops, empowering homeowners to make energy-saving decisions during home renovation. The launch comes after 18 months of collaborative work by an international consortium of 10 organisations from 4 countries (Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain) which have partnered to develop these platforms to simplify the home renovation process and help consumers identify the best options for their needs.
The EU-funded initiative comes as an answer to increasing energy prices that have affected millions of Europeans in recent years, impacting life quality and leading to the increase of energy poverty rates. Consumers facing this situation are in dire need for support to reduce their energy consumption and costs, to make informed decisions, increase their knowledge on where and how to start the renovation process and find the right quality-proof professionals. Renovating residential buildings and installing energy efficiency measures can help consumers save energy – as well as Europe achieve its sustainability targets. Trust is something you build, one stone at a time. This is where consumer organisations come into play. They are key to improving the lives of consumers, who have put trust in them for over 50 years in the project target countries – Italy, Spain and Portugal. OCU, Altroconsumo and Deco Proteste have partnered with other organisations – research centres, certification providers and consultancies across Europe – to develop, in a unique collaboration, three tools, one each for Italy, Spain and Portugal, called one-stop-shops, providing consumers with all they need to know to kickstart their renovation and take informed decisions.
These free platforms are built on a model operating for over 10 years in The Netherlands by De Groene Grachten and scaled since then to Portugal, Slovenia and Belgium (Flanders), successfully informing homeowners and activating them to implement sustainable retrofitting measures, with direct benefits for the people living, working and using the buildings. The new tools build on the lessons learned and functionalities of these platforms. They provide homeowners with a simplified approach to renovation, a network of qualified and verified practitioners, and much more! The platforms were developed through a project funded by the European Union’s LIFE programme, HORIS, empowering homeowners of several building types during the home renovation process, in Italy, Spain and Portugal. In the two tools, professionals are validated and their services guaranteed, legal and regulatory aspects for home renovation are mapped and technical solutions for home renovation are compiled in optimised packages of renovation measures by country. You’ll also find “quick wins”, easy and low-cost fixes. HORIS created a network of approved home renovation practitioners to help homeowners make necessary upgrades.
The Green Menu provides technical, legal and financial tips as well as information about sustainable retrofitting measures such as solar panels, heat pumps, insulating glass, green roofs and many more. It presents inspiring example projects and directs users to the Self-scan. Visitors can find information on quick wins, insulation and ventilation, electricity, climatization and water. The Self-Scan is the first step in making buildings more sustainable: direct personalised information about public and private financing schemes available for home renovation and specific energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions in each country, after answering a few questions. Building professionals are listed with a short description, the services they provide and the possibility to get in touch through the Self-scan contact form.
HORIS matches financing, legal and regulatory, and technical solutions with specific building typologies and homeowners’ needs to streamline action for home renovation, developing standardised contractual arrangements for home renovation.
The platforms are available heret:
Italy: https://horis.altroconsumo.it
Spain: https://horis.ocu.org
Portugal: www.renovarcasa.pt
The platform developers, DGG, from The Netherlands, have recorded a podcast interview with IEECP, one of the partners of the project, accessible here: on Spotify or Youtube.
Now, will other member states follow this lead?
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 