Stronghouse comes to an end…
In early 2020, at the precise moment people worldwide retreated indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stronghouse project was launched with the aim of motivating homeowners and neighbourhoods in the North Sea Region (NSR) to invest in the energy renovation of their houses. And, although the partner meetings, related exchange and activities needed to be adapted to the imposed. global restrictions for more than two years, the project was continuously looking forward. The Stronghouse theme was: “From isolation to innovation & insulation”.
Riding the Renovation Wave
With a heightened awareness of the world around us and the impacts of lockdown, the ambitious EU climate targets became increasingly important and visible to many. The urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions was underlined with the introduction of the European Renovation Wave which stressed the importance of energy efficiency in buildings. Stronghouse partners actively joined the ride on this wave by developing new and improved strategies to finance, organise, implement and adopt products, services and processes to reduce the CO2 emissions of communities in the NSR, while always considering the homeowners' perspective and their diverse needs, wishes and motivations.
Following the Customer Journey
During the initial project phase, Stronghouse partners held hybrid events to improve market access for regional SMEs specialised in energy renovation, created personas to establish user stories and ultimately developed so-called “customer journeys”, which follow the pathway from awareness of the need to improve energy efficiency to actual energy renovation.
Developing & redesigning approaches
Based on this, Stronghouse developed new approaches and redesigned existing ones to enable homeowners to invest in energy efficiency. The partners also developed, improved and implemented a neighbourhood approach to this. A transnational workshop on personas resulted in an enriched perception and understanding of the actors, homeowners and their needs.
Smart Home, sustainable solutions
For Stronghouse partner atene KOM, for example, the project provided a transnational platform to investigate the obstacles and potentials when implementing energy saving solutions for the housing sector based on digitalisation, focussing on making homeowners and their homes smarter and more energy efficient. This has culminated in the development of a Smart Home Manual by atene KOM.
This manual addresses individuals wanting to begin their Smart Home Journey as well as public authorities that want to promote and support housing development projects in their regions that integrate Smart Home components. It contains an overview of the Smart Home concept and the components of Smart Residential Buildings with regard to technology and applications for daily life. The manual relates technologies to energy efficiency in buildings, has some funding examples on both the European and national level in Germany, and much more.
Access the Stronghouse Smart Home Manual here.
Free E-Learning Courses
With a clear focus on the needs and demands of homeowners, atene KOM also developed various e-learning courses, designed to train stakeholders in translating policies, strategies and political statements into concrete support measures for homeowners. Check out the Stronghouse E-Learning Courses and follow several personas on their customer journeys to energy renovation.
Stronghouse success
The success of the Stronghouse collaboration and the amazing results the consortium has achieved, has far surpassed initial goals. We have all learned that ultimately everyone has role to play in the energy transition. By providing support for many aspects and on many levels, we can proudly say that Stronghouse has made a significant contribution to the European goals for CO2 reduction, the EU Renovation Wave and the Green Deal.
View the to hear each partner relate their own Stronghouse story.