EUKI Interview: How to Boost Building Managers’ Retrofitting Skills

With the Retrofit HUB project, you broke new ground. What was your idea?

Ana Smola: Before we started the Retrofit HUB project, we had already been raising awareness of the building sector’s potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions among professionals such as architects and civil and mechanical engineers for quite some time. However, we then realised how important it is to also target the residential sector, including homeowners, building managers and tenants. With the Retrofit HUB project, we wanted to increase their understanding of what decarbonising the building sector means and how they can contribute. So we provided them with reliable information on energy-efficient renovation and viable practical approaches.

Where did you see the most pressing needs?

Aleksandar Jelovac: Building managers already knew the basics about energy renovation. If we look at the situation in Croatia, this was especially the case from 2014 onwards, when energy renovation subsidy schemes were first launched. However, the detailed process of how to renovate buildings was not clear to many building managers and we identified gaps in their communication with homeowners. In addition, very few building management companies in Croatia actively pushed forward energy renovation in apartment buildings. Most of them focused solely on general maintenance. So we wanted to encourage them to actively engage with homeowners to renovate their buildings.

What was your approach to initiating this mindset shift?

Ana Smola: First, we interviewed building managers, but also other professionals such as architects, civil and mechanical engineers and public officials to get an understanding of their mindset and level of knowledge and to identify the most pressing needs. Based on this assessment, we developed a training programme specifically for building managers and other interested parties – with the necessary adaptations for each country context. The focus was on sharing knowledge of the regulatory framework and building technical expertise and the skills to manage the entire process of energy renovation from communication to financing.
Another approach was to convince our target group that lowering monthly energy bills and increasing the market value of a property are only two of the incentives for retrofitting. We showed that decarbonisation to mitigate climate change and improved indoor air quality are other essential benefits.
In addition, we conducted case studies and workshops to assist homeowners, building managers and renovation experts in creating the best solutions for specific buildings and financing the projects.

Was there anything surprising that you found out?

Aleksandar Jelovac: In Croatia, we realised that instead of proactively planning renovations, people wait for opportunities to apply for public funding. These schemes were not always continuously available when we launched the Retrofit HUB project and you never knew when they would start. This difficulty in planning was one of the main shortcomings of public funding programmes that most of the people involved in the project emphasised. Although national and EU subsidies are still available, they do not meet all the various needs and may well end in or around 2030. This is why we promoted bank-financed solutions in which owners bear the costs themselves.
The interviewees also revealed the complexities of renovating an apartment building. At least 50 per cent of tenants or owners have to agree to the renovation plans and you can imagine how much their interests vary. Compared to young tenants, many older owners don’t see any great value in renovations. With an increasingly ageing population, this could become a major obstacle.

What were your main outcomes?

Ana Smola: It was good to see that many owners and tenants realised after the renovation that their quality of life had improved. They shared their positive experience with their neighbours, friends and families, which led to a ripple effect, encouraging others to renovate their buildings as well.
It became clear that good cooperation and communication between homeowners, tenants and building managers are essential. This is the only way to ensure that the entire process stays on track. The building managers have a key role to play here and we were able to reach more than 230 of them in Croatia, Hungary and Poland and equip them with the skills to take on this role. I should stress that this was a unique approach.

The project ended in 2024. Which results are still tangible today?

Ana Smola: It was one of our key ambitions to create long-lasting impacts. The Energy Efficient Retrofit Guidebook published by the Retrofit HUB project is still available and is currently being revised to provide anyone interested with essential and up-to-date information. The data collected during the project also serve as a good basis for policy planning.
In addition, we should not forget that renovating larger buildings takes time and the visible effects are slow to emerge. However, we are seeing more and more applications for national subsidies, which is a good indicator that change is taking place.
Aleksandar Jelovac: At the Green Building Council Croatia, we are continuing the Retrofit HUB work within other projects. We organise many conferences, workshops and training programmes, which are attended by more than 3,000 people per year; local decarbonising strategies are always on the agenda.
One of our current projects builds on the EUKI Retrofit HUB project but mainly targets homeowners. With another project, we are establishing a one-stop shop where homeowners and companies can find all the information they need for their energy renovation. We want to use this online platform to spread the word. We are also giving more priority to single-family houses so that we ultimately include the entire residential sector. The Retrofit HUB project provided a crucial foundation for this commitment.

Ana Smola and Aleksandar Jelovac work at Green Building Council Croatia. Ana is a landscape architect and works as a project manager, while Aleksandar Jelovac is a counselling therapist by profession and is head of programme.

Your activities focused on Croatia, Hungary and Poland. What were the benefits of this transnational approach?

Ana Smola: The three countries face comparable challenges in decarbonising the building sector. Together, the Green Building Councils in the three countries adopted a highly efficient approach based on awareness-raising campaigns and training programmes, with all the benefits of sharing knowledge, skills and experience.
The Green Building Councils are non-governmental organisations based in more than 80 countries around the world. We have similar objectives and a practice of partnering on various EU projects.
The project workshops were organised locally, but we held an international workshop at the end to share experiences and learnings from all three countries.

What were the main lessons learned from this project?

Aleksandar Jelovac: Try to be creative to reach people! Patience is also very important for everybody involved, because the renovation process is so complex and coordination takes time. In addition, we have learned how important it is to get started and provide a few positive examples that inspire neighbours and other owners to do something good for the climate, the environment and the planet as a whole.
Ventilation turned out to be a very important topic. Mould and humidity in rooms are common effects of insulation measures if apartments aren’t adequately ventilated. However, concerns that energy renovation might cause these issues were quite easy to dispel.
It needed some perseverance to convince building managers of the benefits of energy renovation. Many of them were hesitant at first: they were worried about how much extra work this would mean for them, especially with limited staff and financial resources. But after a while they became increasingly interested and many of them decided to spring into action.

Thank you, Ana and Aleksandar, for sharing your thoughts with us.