PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Renovation for a FOCUSed strategy on vacant homes and affordable housing solutions (REFOCUS) is a three-year project aimed at addressing the challenges faced by four key groups of property owners with vacant homes. These owners often face barriers to energy retrofitting and mobilizing their properties for the rental market. The main objective of REFOCUS is to create a comprehensive Hybrid One-Stop Shop (OSS) model, offering 360º support throughout the customer journey. The model adopts a proactive demand generation approach, focusing on the entire energy retrofit process of vacant homes and their return to the rental market, ideally within the affordable housing sector. The project will be initially piloted in two Catalan municipalities, Olot and Sant Joan de les Abadesses, where the model will be tested and refined. Following this, REFOCUS will scale the pilot across Catalonia, with plans to replicate the model in other regions of Spain and expand its reach across the EU. The project aims to support at least 640 property owners with vacant homes, energy retrofitting and mobilizing over 378 properties into the affordable rental market. Additionally, REFOCUS aims to achieve a reduction of 2.2 GWh/year in primary energy consumption and a decrease of 227 tons of CO2 annually. REFOCUS’ sustainability strategy aims to demonstrate the potential of public-private partnerships to overcome significant barriers in the retrofit and rental markets. The strategy also seeks to prove the cost-effectiveness of the Hybrid OSS model by combining various business models, including CAEs, impact bonds, and project or rental fees. In addition to the comprehensive HOSS service, the project will generate exploitable tools and procedures for OSS operation, along with a “Replication Toolkit.” This toolkit will include step-by-step guides, case studies, and resources to support the replication of the project’s models, ensuring broad adoption by stakeholders across different regions.
