Up-scaling the DOMUS Home Renovation Program to Girona province by adopting a Self-Sustaining model with innovative financing and cross-sector collaboration

The European Commission has developed the European Green Deal strategy aiming at transforming the EU into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. A first step towards this goal is the ambitious 2030 Climate Target Plan aiming to reach at least a 55% reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Central to the goal is the decarbonisation of the building sector, responsible for around 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the UE region. The challenge is that 75% of the housing stock is inefficient, and 85%-95% of this building stock will keep existing in 2050.

GiDOMUS aims to accelerate the energy retrofit of residential buildings by establishing a comprehensive support mechanism that will streamline the homeowners’ journey, train professionals, generate awareness among citizens, and aggregate already existing support initiatives to amplify their impact.

This will be achieved by scaling-up the already existing DOMUS program, a One-Stop-Shop-based Integrated Home Renovation Service program driven by Fundació Europace in Garrotxa and few other areas, currently relying on limited public funds from municipalities. GiDOMUS will upgrade it by integrating a Self-Sustainable Business Model that leverages private funding to cover the entirety of its operational costs. The model incorporates proven financing methods like Result Based Financing and Sponsorship. Additionally, innovative financing instruments such as crowdlending mechanisms and an improved methodology for CAEs accreditation will be employed to secure funding for energy retrofit projects.

The developed GiDOMUS model will be implemented and demonstrated through the establishment of seven Front Offices in the capital cities of the Girona province. Ultimately, it is designed to serve as a blueprint for replication in other provinces of Catalonia and throughout Spain.

• Replication and scalability.
• Contributing a social perspective and addressing energy poverty in defining the GIDOMUS service.

GiDOMUS embodies a visionary approach that underscores the pivotal role of specially designed OSS Front Offices (FO) in advancing energy rehabilitation. These offices are instrumental in engaging citizens, equipping them with valuable information and fostering harmonious collaboration among all stakeholders involved in the rehabilitation process.

GiDOMUS goes beyond the conventional scope by introducing an enhanced IHRS embedded within a self-sustaining business model. This comprehensive approach also establishes a framework for facilitating public-private partnerships (PPP) and capacity building, thereby enabling the streamlined implementation of an all-encompassing solution for energy transition offices.

Hence GiDOMUS specific objectives are:

1. Create an attractive self-sustainable business model for the medium and long-term operation of the already existing DOMUS Program, leveraging private financing mechanisms to ensure operational autonomy without the need for subsidies.
2. Promote public-private financing in rehabilitation projects by incorporating crowdlending models, Energy Savings Certificates (CAEs), or other financing schemes while emphasizing the aggregation of opportunities.
3. Improve OSS operation through a novel set of KPIs, semi-automated audit tool, and dedicated OSS personnel training, enabling standardized procedures for diagnosis, monitoring, and validation.
4. Establish an ecosystem that cultivates collaboration with local retrofit programs and augments the capabilities of key market players through a tailored Capacity Building program.
5. Craft subservices to generate demand for energy retrofit projects, engage a wider diversity target group, and promote social inclusion and gender equality.
6. Implement and validate the GiDOMUS program by opening 7 Front Offices throughout the whole Girona Province, incorporating financing mechanisms, capacity-building, and other tools to fine-tune its utmost effectiveness.
7. Provide a strategy for scaling the model’s reach and expand to cover the entirety of Catalonia and Spain, fostering broader accessibility and increasing its impact.
8. Dissemination and replication via regional/country-based initiatives that are led by dedicated consultancies to share knowledge and inform public authority staff as well as private promoters.

• RENOVERY
• ReLIFE