“Since our services are free of charge, the funding from the region and local governments is crucial.”

In European cities, residential buildings account for about 31% of total GHG emissions (according to the 2023 Covenant of Mayors assessment). The sector represents a huge potential for energy and CO2 savings. Since the European Union aims at a Zero-emission building stock by 2050, homeowners will have to energy renovate. The problem is that for homeowners energy renovation is not a priority. In general, it costs lots of money and it’s a hassle. When they start to seriously think about it, they get lost in the jungle of complex technical measures, quotes from suppliers and ever-changing subsidy programmes. Many homeowners simply do not have sufficient funds to (pre)finance energy renovation works nor have they access to a bank loan.

A growing number of European cities and regions open local One-Stop Shops for home energy renovation which give access to ambitious, high quality, safe and simple energy renovation to all their citizens. Under one roof, One-Stop Shop offer a large palette of services – from the initial advice, energy audit and project design, through the selection of companies and financing solutions to the coordination of renovation works and monitoring. A complex and risky project becomes simple and safe.

Moreover, opening a One-Stop Shop has become mandatory since the adoption of the latest EU Energy Efficiency Directive and Energy Performance for Buildings Directive: “Member States shall establish at least one one-stop shop for the energy performance of buildings per 80 000 inhabitants or one per region or in a location that can be reached within less than 90 minutes of average travel time.” (for more details, refer to Article 18 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive).  

In Brussels-Capital Region, several organisations have been providing advice and support on home energy renovation for more than 30 years. In 2017, they merged into one single organisation: Homegrade – the regional One-Stop Shop. In the framework of the European EU Peers campaign, Energy Cities interviewed Didier van Severen, General Manager of Homegrade, who told us the story of his One-Stop Shop and the role the region and local governments have been playing in setting and running it.

Tell us about your One-Stop Shop

Homegrade is a nonprofit organisation, 100% funded by the Brussels region and its local governments. We provide free of charge information and support services to private households in Brussels region (more than 1 million inhabitants). We primarily focus on energy renovation, but we can cover all aspects related to housing. We have experts on heritage buildings, urban planning, co-property, acoustics and other technical issues. This transversality is crucial for homeowners. For example, you cannot insulate if you don’t ventilate, you cannot do whatever you want if your house is classified as a heritage building.

Our objective is to help removing barriers the private households face when they stand in front of the complex renovation process. Because we are 100% funded by local governments, we do not want to  compete with the private sector – we do not provide support during renovation works and we do not substitute to an architect. We give tailor-made advice and support homeowners at the start of their renovation process (which is already very time consuming) and we remain neutral in our advice, thereby creating trust of homeowners. The disadvantage is that we cannot accompany them until the end of their renovation journey.

What is the role of the Brussels-Capital Region in the creation of your OSS?

Since our services are free of charge, the funding from the Brussels-Capital Region and local governments is crucial. Our Board of Directors is composed of the representatives of different political parties and public administrations. They guarantee the cross functionality of our housing services. 

We act as a first line buffer for political decisions and provide valuable feedback from the field to the public administration.

Do you have any message for your local, national or European policy makers?

We are highly dependent on local governments’ policies and communication. The continuity and consistency of government policies is crucial to create trust amongst private owners. The grant system cannot simply stop from one day to another as it happened in 2024 when the government realised that it had largely exceeded the grant scheme budget. This creates distrust in public support and incentives. If we want to achieve our environment targets, we need long-term planning of energy renovation policies and tools, such as our One-Stop Shop…

Continue reading the full interview here.

Discover more about the Brussels-Capital Region’s “Renolution” – a revolution in renovation of public and private buildings.