Boosting the Renovation Wave with Modular Industrialized Renovation Kits: mapping challenges, barriers and solution strategies

Scaling renovation needs more than better technology

In this publication, we examined how modular, industrialised Zero Energy Renovation Kits could help Europe’s Renovation Wave. To renovate millions of homes deeply and quickly, the sector needs delivery methods that are repeatable, affordable and able to meet demanding energy targets. These kits can combine envelope upgrades, building systems, appliances and renewable-energy generation to move an existing building towards net-zero energy use.

Modularity is appealing because separate subsystems can be standardised and combined in different configurations rather than designed from scratch for every project. Offsite prefabrication can improve quality and productivity, while decoupled interfaces can make maintenance, upgrades, refurbishment, reuse and recycling easier later on. This matters when parts of a building have different lifespans. The approach can also connect BIM, digital twins, automated production and coordinated installation.

The market still rewards the old way of renovating

Technical potential has not automatically created market uptake. In a moderated workshop with six Horizon 2020 projects—DRIVE0, STEP UP, ProGETonE, INFINITE, PLURAL and ENSNARE—we mapped 32 technological, market, financial, legal and institutional barriers. The most fundamental was not a lack of innovative products, but the absence of a level playing field. Procurement habits, regulations, conventional businesses and traditional processes still favour the familiar delivery model.

Too many decisions are based on the lowest initial cost rather than total cost of ownership. Modular kits may cost more upfront but lower operating costs through better energy performance and more efficient work. If those later benefits are ignored, viable solutions remain confined to demonstrations and early adopters. Moving responsibility upstream to system suppliers can also threaten established revenue models, creating resistance even when a new approach works well.

Our response is systemic. Product modularity has to be matched by modular processes and supply chains. Craftspeople and specialists need training, digital tools need to connect design, engineering, production and installation, and procurement, finance, regulation and education need to reward total value instead of price alone. Industrialised kits can speed deep renovation, but only when the institutions around them are also redesigned to let them succeed.