Learning from best practice low energy housing retrofit

Europe now expects an evolution of the building sector towards „near zero energy? buildings. In Belgium, the passive house concept offers a feasible portal towards 0-energy developments. Meanwhile, for the major market of renovations, we still have to learn-by-doing what is achievable from demonstration projects. Different technological options and concepts (low energy, passive house, zero energy) to reduce the energy consumption have been analyzed in the framework of the Belgian Low Energy Housing Retrofit (LEHR) project. Based on the LEHR research, the paper discusses the Belgian context for 0-energy development, and the feasibility of achieving 0-energy renovations by means of the passive house concept in Belgium. We present a detailed case study and discuss results and lessons considering innovation adoption. The research detected possibilities and hindrances considering the market introduction and early adoption in Belgium of innovative technologies and concepts for reaching near zero energy renovations in Belgium.