Energy renovations: An opportunity for the construction industry?

The building stock represents a significant part of energy consumption outside the emissions trade sector. In warm countries, energy is spent on cooling spaces and heating water; in northern countries, it is spent on heating spaces and water. In countries with cold winters, conditions have forced investments in energy-efficiency. The increased efficiency measures now required, such as a 20 per cent reduction in energy consumption, are significantly more difficult to achieve than they are in countries where the building stock actually wastes energy in terms of unit consumption data. Energy economy studies have been carried out since the energy crises of the 1970s. The final result has been that with the savings achievable from energy consumption, the repayment periods of energy renovations are unreasonably long. This does not motivate house owners, nor does it increase the interest of investors to invest in renovations or improving energy efficiency. Using directives to obligate energy renovations will emphasise the location of the property even more. Depending on the location, the same renovation may constitute 20 or over 100 per cent of the property value. In order to achieve a wide-scale improvement in the energy efficiency of the building stock, a forward leap is required in renovation operations. Small renovations or modifying new construction concepts are not enough to achieve the set goals. This study tests how renovation construction technologies and productivity could be improved by applying means used either in the renovation of fields of industry or that have lead into the birth of new fields of industry. A case study is used as the research method. According to preliminary research, it seems that countries with an industrially constructed building stock will require an entirely new field of business, and new kinds of companies or networks of companies for the near-future energy renovations. In the long term, the construction industry could adopt practices from other fields of industry producing capital goods, where the aftermarket, or renovations, are taken into consideration when planning new investments.