The renovation of the home utilizes such elements as solar and prefabricated panels and is designed to be executed quickly
A Netherlands-based consortium called Energiesprong brokered a deal between affordable housing associations and builders to retrofit 111,000 homes in the Netherlands to net zero energy levels. Net zero energy means that, on an annual basis, a home does not consume more energy for heating, hot water, lighting, and appliances than it produces. The retrofits are financed by the energy cost savings; the renovation of the home utilizes such elements as solar and prefabricated panels and is designed to be executed quickly, within about a week. The home comes with a 30-year energy performance warranty from the builder.
Energiesprong is a government-funded, not-for-profit program to drive energy efficiency in buildings. Rather than focusing on incremental improvements and “to do what is possible,” its focus is “to create what is needed.” Since buildings are seldom renovated more often than once every 30 years, the need to implement deep energy retrofits is now.