Initiatives for the energy renovation of single-family houses in Denmark evaluated on the basis of barriers and motivators

The renovation of single-family houses in Denmark is progressing only slowly. Changes in current policy are needed if the political goal of a fossil-free building sector as part of a fossil-free society is to be achieved. Known barriers and motivators for energy renovation are identified, and arranged in a framework with three main fields (Information, Finance and Process), with a total of 14 sub-areas. With this framework, current Danish policy is analysed to identify shortcomings, found to mainly exist in connection with financing and decision support. Using experience from other countries, suggestions are made for improvement in four areas: (1) focus on non-energy benefits rather than investment, (2) enhancement of subsidy system, (3) including relevant renovation plans in the energy performance certificate (EPC), and (4) long-term regulation on the maximum allowed energy consumption of houses.