Greater potential energy savings can be achieved in the large stock of existing dwellings than in the relatively small proportion of newly built dwellings. Although the energy performance of existing dwellings is much poorer than new dwellings, the stock of existing dwellings is very large in a ‘mature’ built environment of most developed countries. In the past decade, awareness of the potential energy savings has spread widely among the many stakeholders involved. Nonetheless, most regulations and instruments are still aimed at achieving sustainable newly built construction. An evidenced-based overview of the current state of the residential building stock is provided for eight northern European countries along with current renovation data. Comparisons are made on the characteristics, physical quality and developments of the residential building stock. Existing policies and incentives to reduce energy use and CO₂ emissions are analysed for their impacts on the existing building stock as well as the barriers preventing successful sustainable renovation. Common denominators in the current state of renovation of residential building stock are used to identify possible future instruments and incentives that are needed to overcome current barriers. C'est dans le parc important des logements existants plutôt que dans le pourcentage relativement faible des logements de construction récente qu'il y a le plus de possibilités de réaliser des économies d'énergie. Bien que la performance énergétique des logements existants soit bien moindre que celle des logements neufs, le parc des logements existants est très important dans un cadre bâti parvenu « à maturité », tel que celui de la plupart des pays développés. Dans la dernière décennie, la sensibilisation aux économies d'énergie pouvant être réalisées s'est largement répandue parmi les nombreuses parties prenantes impliquées. Néanmoins, la plupart des réglementations et des textes réglementaires visent encore à obtenir une durabilité dans des constructions neuves. Un panorama, fondé sur des données probantes, de l'état actuel du parc bâti résidentiel est fourni pour huit pays d'Europe du Nord, accompagné des données actuelles en matière de rénovation. Des comparaisons sont faites concernant les caractéristiques, la qualité physique et les évolutions du parc bâti résidentiel. Les politiques existantes et les mesures incitatives destinées à réduire l'utilisation d'énergie et les émissions de CO₂ sont analysées quant à leurs effets sur le parc bâti existant, ainsi que les obstacles qui empêchent de réussir une rénovation durable. Les dénominateurs communs propres à la situation actuelle en matière de rénovation du parc bâti résidentiel sont utilisés afin d'identifier les futurs textes réglementaires et les futures incitations possibles qui sont nécessaires pour surmonter les obstacles actuels. Mots clés: qualité des bâtiments, parc bâti, performance énergétique, politique énergétique, économies d'énergie, politique du logement, rénovation, durabilité, qualité thermique

Current practices show that the goals of energy saving and CO₂ reductions for creating an energy-neutral building stock can only be reached by strict and supportive governmental policies. In Europe the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) are driving forces for member states to develop and strengthen energy performance regulations both for new buildings (via building approval procedures) and the existing building stock (via energy performance certificates or labels). The effectiveness of these current governance instruments and their impact on actual CO₂ reductions are found to be inadequate for ensuring actual (not hypothecated) energy performance is achieved. To realize the very ambitious energy-saving goals a radical rethink of regulatory systems and instruments is necessary. Building performance and the behaviour of the occupants is not well understood by policy-makers. Alternative forms of governance are needed that have more impact on the actual outcomes. Supportive governance to stimulate near-zero renovations in combination with performance guarantees is a promising approach. Furthermore, engagement with occupant practices and behaviours is needed. To ensure accurate outcomes-based governance, a better understanding of building performance and behaviours of occupants must be incorporated.

The implementation of energy retrofit of residential buildings faces many risks around the world, especially in China, leading to low retrofit progress. Stakeholders’ proactive risk management is the key to the smooth implementation of retrofit projects but is normally affected by risk perception. Perceived risks instead of real risks are the motivators of their proactive behaviours. This paper aims to understand and address the present risk perception of stakeholders in order to drive effective proactive risk mitigation practices. Based on a risk list identified through a literature review and interviews, a questionnaire survey was then made to analyse and compare different stakeholders’ perceptions of each risk by measuring the levels of their concern about risks. It is validated that all the stakeholder groups tend to mitigate risks perceived highly proactively. Proactive risk management of risk-source-related stakeholders deserves more attention and responsibility-sharing with transaction costs (TCs) considerations contribute to the enhancement of risk perception. More responsibilities of construction quality and maintenance is taken by the government and contractors should be clarified, and the government should also be responsible for assisting design work. Effective information is beneficial to the decrease in homeowners’ risk perception that can motivate their initiative of cooperation.

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the quality control systems for constructions in seven countries in Europe with the purpose to trace innovative approaches and best practices that can serve as examples for other countries.Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a series of research projects carried out over a number of years. The research results were updated in 2016 with a desktop research project in seven European countries. The results from this latest project form the heart of this paper. The information is organised into tables that describe and analyse the main features of the quality control systems of the countries (e.g. scope, focus and main characteristics of the procedures and quality demands on building professionals).Findings: Several similar trends can be recognised in the quality control systems of the various European Union (EU) countries. Quality control is getting more and more privatised and the control framework is setting checks and balances throughout the construction process. Other findings are that scope and focus of the statutory control is unbalanced. Within the control processes emphasis is put on the safety aspects of complex constructions. Far fewer demands are made on the quality of the builders. Re-orientation of the building regulatory framework seems to be needed.Research limitations/implications: The paper only focusses on European countries where private quality control is established and on selected topics. The findings are based on desktop research and not on the practical experiences of the stakeholders involved in the countries studied.Practical implications: The paper draws some important recommendations for policymakers in the building regulatory field. It suggests both an enhancement of the effectiveness of the quality control procedure as well as the commitment of builders to comply with the regulations.Social implications: The quality of constructions is essential for the wellbeing and safety of its users, its occupants or its visitors. This applies to the whole range of quality aspects: structural- and fire safety, health, sustainability and usability aspects. The analyses and recommendations of this paper aim to contribute to an improvement of the overall construction quality.Originality/value: The paper makes an original contribution to the (limited) literature that is available in this field. The results can be used to situate the quality control systems of each member state within the EU, to assess the main trends, and it can be used as a guide to develop strategic choices on possible improvements in each country.

Building energy renovations contribute significantly to energy sustainability and environmental protection. These advantages have increased the importance of renovating existing residential buildings in many countries. In China, the government has supported the energy-saving renovation of existing urban residential buildings since 2007. However, quality failures, which do not meet the technical requirements, occur during construction processes in building energy renovation projects. Although quality failures are regarded as a crucial problem in building energy renovation projects, the identification of quality failures and their sources, likelihood, impacts, and causes remain mostly unknown. This paper investigates the nature of quality failures in building energy renovation projects. A total of 25 quality failures were first identified through five cases, and interviews with six experienced construction professionals in China. A questionnaire survey was further conducted to evaluate the frequency of quality failures. The results show the nature of quality failures that arise during construction and their sources, occurrence frequency, causes, and impacts. The research reveals that quality failures are caused by defaults by workers; inadequate checking procedures; incomplete construction site surveys; inaccurate design work; fraud of construction companies; and inefficient cooperation between different departments. Above all, the behaviors of the main actors are responsible for poor construction quality. Additionally, emphasis on quality control during the renovation preparation stage is critical to ensure that quality failures are reduced in numbers and severity.

The housing sector is responsible for a more than a quarter of the total final energy consumption in the EU. As the majority (70%) of the EU-housing stock is owner occupied and largely consists of single family dwellings it is understandable that many countries focus their energy saving policies on homeowners. Complementary to the national policy frameworks, regional and local authorities implement locally based policy instruments targeting specific groups and individual homeowners. In order to enlarge the effectiveness of their policy instruments and to reach the energy saving goals, frontrunner local authorities in particular are searching for ways to reach homeowners. Consultancy centres and pop-ups can be a way to make individual homeowners more aware about their energy use and stimulate them to apply low carbon technologies. The research results not only show that a wide range of business models are available to develop, structure and organise these consultation centres and pop-ups, but also that they indeed could play an important role in accelerating the energy performance of owner occupied housing. Through a pop-up or consultancy centre, public and private parties can join their forces to reach, stimulate and support the individual needs and wishes of homeowners during their customer journey to realise an energy efficient dwelling.