Wednesday morning, 14 June, 9:00-12:30 hrs the European Housing Network (Eurhonet), along with the European Federation for Living (EFL), will organize ‘Energy efficiency in social housing‘, a joint presentation of two projects on energy renovation: DREEAM (by Eurhonet) and TRIME (by EFL). We asked organizer Alessandro Cesale about DREEAM and Eurhonet’s participation in the ISHF.
What is Eurhonet, and why are you participating in the International Social Housing Festival?
Eurhonet is a network of 36 public and social housing companies from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the UK. Each member of Eurhonet shares the same ambition: improving its professional practices and performance by sharing skills and developing a common view of excellence.
We are taking part in ISHF because sharing experiences and conceiving, implementing, testing, disseminating and benchmarking models of best practice is in the DNA of our network. We also want to raise the profile of the sector and show to the broader public how good housing is key for our communities and we believe that the International Social Hosing Festival is the ideal place for this.
At the ISHF, you will present the DREEAM project, ‘scaling up energy efficient renovation’. What exactly is DREEAM?
DREEAM is a 4-year-old, EU-funded project aiming to demonstrate that ambitious, large renovation projects at the neighbourhood scale result in higher energy efficiency gains, which then allows for better integration of renewables and is more cost-effective.
As part of the DREEAM project, over 250 dwellings across the 3 pilot sites in Sweden, Italy, and in the UK will be renovated to a nZEB standard. An ambitious 75% of energy demand reduction is targeted in all pilot buildings. I would suggest watching this short clip for a better understanding of the project:
DREEAM is a pan-European project. Can you give us a concrete example of the advantage of researching energy efficient renovation on such a large scale?
Working at a pan European level (with pilots in Sweden, Italy, and in the UK ) will allow the consortium to understand differences and produce a flexible and adaptable tool that could be realistically used by any housing company and city that manages large portfolios of residential buildings. The concrete result is a renovation toolkit offering solutions and services that can be applied across Europe.
You will present the DREEAM project at the ISHF. What will visitors learn at your event?
Beside technical aspects, participants will learn the importance of involving and training tenants in order to achieve the energy saving goals set.
What are you expecting of the International Social Housing Festival?
I think it is a good opportunity to assess what housing companies are concretely doing to respond to the current challenges the sector is facing, particularly those linked to refugees, migration, and segregation. I believe the festival will also represent an excellent opportunity to network.
What other ISHF events are you planning to attend?
I will definitely attend ‘Best practices of inclusiveness, migration and refugee housing‘, the joint event we are organising with EFL in the context of our Social Integration Topic Group on the 14th of June, as well the Housing Europe Conference on the 15th. There are indeed many other interesting events I would like to attend…
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picture by Vera van Duivenvoorden
Housing Futures 