Just Prepare (Putting REsident Practices And REsidential areas at the center of a JUST and effective energy transition in underprivileged neighbourhoods) BE

Project: Second tier

Project Details

Description

Shaping an effective and just energy transition in underprivileged neighborhoods faces significant challenges due to two mismatches: a) between retrofit technologies and the diversity of residents’ energy practices, b) between residents and the actors responsible for planning and implementing energy solutions. The JUST PREPARE project addresses these challenges by combining the technical expertise of engineering sciences with social insights gained from social sciences. This interdisciplinary approach helps to develop the necessary methodological and practical knowledge in four municipalities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Nijmegen, and Gemert), where solutions are co-created in Living Labs with housing corporations, professionals and residents. These solutions are then refined and shared in Learning Labs with municipalities, residents and stakeholders.
Researchers from the Department of the Built Environment collaborate with colleagues from Industrial Design (TU/e) and Radboud University, focusing on the first mismatch between retrofit technologies and residents’ energy practices. In the Netherlands, social housing accounts for one-third of the housing stock, with tenants coming from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and exhibiting a wide range of energy behaviours. Conventional energy renovations typically focus on insulating the building envelope and upgrading energy systems but often overlook the diversity in residents' energy use. This oversight can lead to renovations that are overly disruptive, costly, and mismatched with residents’ everyday realities, resulting in lower retrofit effectiveness and energy performance gaps that may hinder progress toward sustainability goals. To address these challenges, this project maps residents’ energy practices through field studies conducted with social housing tenants in Dutch municipalities. The insights gained about residents’ energy behavior are used in large-scale building performance simulations to develop occupant-centric retrofit measures that align with the diversity of energy practices. By adopting this approach, the project aims to identify hidden opportunities for advancing the energy transition, enhancing retrofit effectiveness and mitigating prebound and rebound effects.

Just Prepare is a project funded by NWO in the KIC-call ‘Energietransitie als maatschappelijk-technische uitdaging’
StatusActive
Effective start/end date1/09/2231/08/26

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