9. September 2025

Press Release: Launch of LIFE Renew it

LIFE Renew it has officially launched. Over the next 36 months, the project will pilot collective self-retrofit models in neighbourhoods across several EU countries, including France (Besançon), Spain (Centelles and Getafe) and Germany (Berlin), actively involving residents in renovating their homes to make deep renovation more affordable, inclusive and socially embedded. Across Europe, 34 million people face high energy bills and poor housing conditions, while municipalities and housing...

Utrecht – “Flat with a future”

thomas409661
Dec 30, 2020
2 min read

An ambitious project:

The complete renovation of an outdated Intervam flat on the Camera Obscuradreef in Utrecht, the Netherlands. After a successful pilot with 8 homes that were made net zero in 10 weeks, construction company VIOS refurbished a total of 252 apartments and 15 new homes in the same neighbourhood to net zero energy homes. This was just the starting point for the Housing Organisation Mitros.

Goals:

Extend lifespan by 50 years
High energy measures
Design, completion, management and maintenance on the one hand, and agreement on the other
Multi-year maintenance plans € 1,350 including VAT per home per year
Resident satisfaction > 8

In addition, all homes also included a new kitchen, bathroom and toilet. New stucco, interior paintwork, interior doors, H&S work, switchgear, and new interior installations throughout. Asbestos must be remediated and we completed 15 new homes. The successful project has received a lot of media attention and, at the end of 2019, it received an award at the prestigious Green Solutions Awards in the Sustainable Renovation category.

Technical specifications:

Performance guarantee: 10 years
Energy use before the renovation: 225 kWh/m2 per year
Energy use after the renovation: 50 kWh/m2 per year
Divided over energy use:
Heating: 10,9 kWh/m2 (including ventilation)
Warm Water: 14,2 kWh/m2
Cooling: 0 kWh/m2
Household consumption: 24,8 kWh/m2
Energy savings: 175 kWh/m2 per year
Production of energy through solar panels to achieve net zero energy: around 50 kWh/m2 per year

Most important elements:

Ventilation by means of balanced ventilation with a Heat Recovery Unit
CO2 controlled (system D)
Air-water heat pump
PV (solar panel) Insulation
Entire shell thermally insulated:roof: Rc= 6closed façade: Rc = 4,5open façade, triple glas: U-value = 0,5ground floor: Rc = 4,5cold bridges removed by local insulation and thermal breaks