[EN] Are you interested in our TURNKEY RETROFIT one-stop-shop? Here are some tips on how you can replicate the service in your country!
The TURNKEY RETROFIT project develops an integrated home renovation service, enabling homeowners to improve the performance of their building. Solutions4Renovation is developed as a homeowner-oriented burden-free renovation journey aiming to transform the complex and fragmented renovation process into a simple, straightforward, and attractive process for the homeowner. The service is now accessible through a user-friendly digital platform (Solutions4Renovation), which is already running in France and currently implemented in Spain and Ireland. Replicating a service in another country requires adaptation to each local context and this article will run you through the different steps to ensure successful replication.
With the experience of the implementation being carried out in France, Ireland and Spain, this article runs through the essential steps identified to implement the TURNKEY RETROFIT integrated renovation service in different European countries. These guidelines present the different steps of the replication process to avoid any bottlenecks based on our experience. The aim is to have this document as a basis to implement the TURNKEY RETROFIT service in interested countries and for that purpose these guidelines have informed and described actions to take, an order to follow and the possibility to identify beforehand the main obstacles and barriers encountered based on the previous experiences.
First and foremost, it is key to involve and engage local actors. Adapting the integrated renovation service requires the collaboration of local actors to ensure the service caters to local needs. The adapted service must also resolve and overcome existing barriers that exist in developing and tailoring a one-stop shop model for the local context.
A typical renovation journey, carried out by an all-inclusive one-stop shop model, consists of the following 7 steps:
- Initial contact with the client: pitching the idea, listen to needs and preferences
- Project drafting: from initial analysis, preliminary definition of the renovation project to the definition of the final project and budget
- Contractual relationship: signing of the contract
- Renovation planning: scheduling of works, selection of professionals and of materials/components
- Construction phase: preliminary preparation works, renovation works, monitoring
- Finalization of renovation: deficiency check, end of work
- Post–renovation follow up: quality and compliance check
To provide solutions and cover all phases of the renovation process, the TURNKEY RETROFIT service contains the following services, which are tailored to each country:
- Information and guidance about (deep) energy renovations
- Tools for online diagnostics (energy performance, thermal comfort, etc)
- Tailored recommendations of the renovation works
- Cost estimation of the renovation works
- Estimation of potential attainable subsidies
- Tool for scheduling the renovation works to minimize construction disorder and delays
- Contacts with professional advisors and contractors
What are the steps to follow to replicate and adapt the service in your country?
- Look at the (local) big picture
Analyse the environment in which this service would run, including the external factors that influence its operation and the possibility for success. This task is essential as it determines the implementation strategy which needs to be tailored for the different markets. The results of this analysis feed into the development of the business model (see next step).
- The contextual conditions of the country in which you want to implement the TURNKEY RETROFIT service, including building stock composition, available subsidies, the long-term climate plan of the city, potential user needs etc.
- Identification of current services that are addressing the demand for energy renovation of homes country/region in which you want to implement the service. Which are the potential competitors or collaboration partners. How can our service contribute to make energy renovations more attainable in this region?
Design your business model: once you have a grasp of the local context, you need to identify the added value offered by the TURNKEY RETROFIT service, and which stakeholders should be involved:
- What do we want to offer with this service?
- Identification of the key stakeholders
- Identification of clients (owners, property managers)
- Identification of suppliers, necessary profiles
- Identification of key partners to collaborate with
The following methodologies/tools have been used to define the business model:
- Business Canvas Model
- Customer journey map tool
- User story mapping tool
- Design Thinking
- Add libs
- Invite the local experts to the table
Form a group of experts from local and regional organizations, representing the main actors needed to build and manage the service, including construction value chain, financial institutions, local authorities etc. In the TURNKEY RETROFIT project, local experts gathered into ‘Local Implementation Groups’, where they contributed throughout the different stages of development during workshops and meetings.
- Use all the information gathered in the analysis to start tailoring the adaptation to the specific interests in the country, and the local stakeholders and context.
- Defining the business model with the local implementing group.
- Develop the integrated renovation journey that suits the specific needs and possibilities of the region.
- Identify the main barriers and develop a strategy to address them.
- Selection of the most appropriate TURNKEY RETROFIT service
- Definition of the most suitable implementation model of the TURNKEY RETROFIT service and its digital platform
- Identification of the most suitable one-stop-shop business model
The third step relates to the digital platform.
- Design, Develop and/or Adapt the TURNKEY RETROFIT Platform
As a first step, it is important to define the target user by identifying the different types of renovation projects. When the user is defined, it is time to design the customer journey in a way that it ensures a smooth renovation process for the users. With this purpose it is useful to fragment it in small elements (“bricks”) that can be understood, developed and adapted independently:
- Customer Journeys: It is important to identify this journey for the targeted country as it determines the need for each “bricks” or tools to be developed.
- “Bricks” (or tools): Digital services that provide tools or informative content guiding homeowners in their renovation process.
- Links to the existing renovation service platforms (if any): Indeed, if some web sites exist in the country and propose services that are useful for the user, links to those platforms are added. For example, in France, Heero is an existing online platform that provides digital tools that guide the owners through their renovation process (audit/diagnostic, choice of the works to be done, calculation of the cost and the subsidies, link to a professional). At the end of this digital process, an advisor calls the owner to finalize the journey, gives extra advice and launches the project. ReformAnerr in Spain provides the same tools and advice but in a more direct way: owners give their contact details and a ReformAnerr advisor calls them to guide them through the customer journey.
- Interface and design: adapted to the cultural codes (images, language, references, etc.).
- Last but not least…
These steps need to be coupled with a study of the financial model as well as a robust marketing plan to ensure the sustainability and success of the adapted service.
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When implementing the Turnkey Retrofit service in France, Ireland and Spain, it appeared that it is essential to take into account the specificities of the local context. Renovation processes differ from one country to another in terms of types of stakeholders involved and the stage in which they intervene.
Many factors influence the success of a service, from the political framework (strategies and measures locally in place) to the social factors (awareness and knowledge about the benefits of renovation among the population). Moreover, the efforts required to implement the TR service are not the same in a country where companies and public entities have the interest as well as the material and economic means necessary for its implementation.
Finally, it is crucial to create and maintain a network of partners and collaborators that are involved from the beginning, both in the conceptualization and development of the service, and in its operationalisation phase.
