Renew-It - Deploying Collective Self Retrofit Practice to Lower Cost of Deep Energy Retrofit in Multifamily Buildings

Certain self-retrofit initiatives for housing have begun to emerge within the EU; however, these efforts have so far been limited to individual dwellings and have not yet been applied to collective housing. Expanding self-retrofit practices to collective housing represents a potential avenue for reducing the cost of energy retrofits. While this is not the only lever available, project partners believe it could lower retrofit costs by approximately 15%, facilitate residents’ access to green employment opportunities, and foster a collective sense of pride and a positive urban atmosphere. Residents would not undertake the work entirely independently but would collaborate in a coordinated manner with architects and skilled craftsmen overseeing the process, in close cooperation with local authorities.

To explore and deploy that approach, a consortium of partners from 5 countries (France, Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, Spain) will work to develop:

• Dedicated tasks and skills diagnosis tools to assess potential of a building to be retrofitted in different retrofit scenario;
• Training to teach inhabitants on how to do it with 3 pilot sites in French, German and Spanish;
• Improved business model, financing scheme & governance to leverage new source of funding such as unemployment or educational fund to finance the project and share in a fair way cost & benefit.

Lessons will be learned and results will be shared to scale up the approach and activate widely that leverage for more affordable retrofits.

Project partners:

• Ressorts (Coordinator)
• Ohkw Klimajobs
• Creara Consultores
• Latvian Building Energy Efficiency Facility
• Stichting Global Energiesprong Alliance
• Bureau Door Vof
• Depact Consulting
• Rigas Tehniska Universitate
• Impact Hub Barcelona
• Endule
• Buro De Haan Informatie Technologie
• Commune De Besancon
• Neues Berlin
• Eku Saglabasanas Un Energotaupibas Birojs
• Filao Labs
• Redcat Architecture
• EMSV Getafe
• Loge GBM
• Ayuntamiento De Centelles.

This page was last updated on 26 September 2025. For the most updated information about the project, please visit the project page at the EC funding and portal website.