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- Haavik, Trond, et al.
(författare)
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New business models for holistic renovation solutions of single family houses
- 2011
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Single family houses represent the biggest potential for energy savings within residential buildingsin the Nordic countries. In earlier research project [1] it highlighted that there is a missing linkbetween the single family house owner and various segregated offers of single solutions forrenovation and/or energy efficiency installations. In the two international research projectsSuccessFamiles and One Stop Shop, establishment of new business models as pilots for bridgingthis gap are now being monitored.Two of the pilots as “one stop shops”, a retailer chain in Finland and a daughter company of aNorwegian manufacturer of insulation, are described and discussed.A key issue for any business model which offers an integrated service from analysis of the houseand recommendations for measures is the trustworthiness of the supplier.As a holistic energy efficient renovation project is a “new” and unknown service to single familyhouse owner and at same time a costly investment, it is important for the suppliers to findadequate ways of communicating through each phase of the buying process. There are variouschallenges in each of the phases which have to be solved differently.
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| 4. |
- Mahapatra, Krushna, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Report on business models for one-stop-shop service for sustainable renovation of single family house, Deliverable D3.2 : Successful Sustainable Renovation Business for Single-Family Houses – SuccessFamilies
- 2011
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Nordic countries significant primary energy efficiency potential exists in houses built before 1980. These houses are more than 30 years old and need to be renovated. This provides an opportunity for implementation of energy efficiency measures, but the renovation market is dominated by handicraft-based individual solutions. There is a need for one-stop-shop business models where an overall contractor offers full-service renovation packages including consulting, independent energy audit, renovation work, follow-up (independent quality control and commissioning) and financing. There is a significant business potential for such a model as the renovation market for single-family houses could be in the order of hundreds of million Euros per year in each Nordic country. Homeowners will get an improved quality renovated house with little risk or responsibility which usually is the case with traditional renovations, the energy cost will be reduced, market value of the house is likely to increase, mortgage banks will have a safer asset and there are societal benefits in terms of reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emission. However, there is uncertainty over who will be responsible for guarantee of the renovation work if the service provider goes bankrupt. Insurance companies could be involved to address this issue.The aim of the report is to analyze and develop one-stop-shop business models to offer full-service renovation packages in the Nordic countries. The report will contribute to identify potential models that can be tested in pilot studies and will be an important source of market information for companies planning to develop a one-stop-shop concept.A comparative assessment of models proposed in the Nordic countries shows that different type of actors may play the key role in a one-stop-shop for energy efficient renovation of single-family houses. In some models the service provider collaborates with financing institutions to provide renovation financing. There are differences on how customers are contacted, while the similarities are more on how the service is provided. A main challenge is how to secure independent advising.Even though there is strong business potential for one-stop-shop energy renovation concept, still it has been somewhat difficult to start or run such a business. One of the main reasons is the uncertainties about the customer base. One way to attract more customers is to offer subsidies for energy efficiency measures. In Denmark, Sweden and Finland there are tax deductions for labour cost for home renovation and other household work. An amendment to such programs to incorporate specific requirements regarding energy efficiency of implemented measures could be a way to increase homeowners’ interest in energy efficient renovation.A guarantee on energy or energy cost saving may encourage energy efficient renovation of houses as energy cost saving is one of the most important factors in the homeowners’ decision to implement energy efficiency measures. But, at present it is less likely that such guarantee will be given as the full service energy renovation concept is yet to be tested and not enough experience exists regarding energy savings potential in the context of varying household energy behaviour. However, such concepts exist for industrial and public buildings (the ESCO concept) and are emerging for residential buildings. Highlighting the energy (e.g. cost reduction) and non-energy benefits (improved thermal comfort or indoor air quality) of energy efficiency improvements may create customer interest in energy efficient renovations.One way to kickstart the market is to provide public funding for few demonstration projects to test different business models, e.g. those identified in this report. Such projects will bring together actors interested in one-stop-shop concept and they will gain some experience. In such demonstration projects the full-scale energy renovation actions could be realised in shorter timeframe than in traditional piecemeal renovations. Advertisement of results of successful demonstration projects may attract more customers and entrepreneurs.Existing models in Denmark and Finland include financing by the service providers in collaboration with financing institutions. Still, mortgage financing is the most cost efficient option to finance energy efficiency renovation of single-family houses (Mahapatra et al. 2011). However, the need to selffinance the amount not covered in the mortgage loan may not encourage homeowners to go for energy efficiency renovation. This could be addressed if government provides soft loans or subsidies to cover the investment cost beyond the mortgage (base) loan. Attention should be given to the limitation of mortgage financing for energy efficient renovation of recently bought houses. Banks may consider an energy efficient renovation plan prepared by an entrepreneur and pre-evaluate the postrenovation value of the house in collaboration with real estate agents. This valuation could form the basis for the bank to confirm the homeowner and the entrepreneur that certain amount of investment cost would be covered by mortgage refinancing.
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| 6. |
- Minocherhomjl, Sheroy, et al.
(författare)
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Sequence and expression analysis of gaps in human chromosome 20
- 2012
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Ingår i: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press. - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 40:14, s. 6660-6672
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The finished human genome-assemblies comprise several hundred un-sequenced euchromatic gaps, which may be rich in long polypurine/polypyrimidine stretches. Human chromosome 20 (chr 20) currently has three unfinished gaps remaining on its q-arm. All three gaps are within gene-dense regions and/or overlap disease-associated loci, including the DLGAP4 locus. In this study, we sequenced ~99% of all three unfinished gaps on human chr 20, determined their complete genomic sizes and assessed epigenetic profiles using a combination of Sanger sequencing, mate pair paired-end high-throughput sequencing and chromatin, methylation and expression analyses. We found histone 3 trimethylated at Lysine 27 to be distributed across all three gaps in immortalized B-lymphocytes. In one gap, five novel CpG islands were predominantly hypermethylated in genomic DNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes and human cerebellum. One of these CpG islands was differentially methylated and paternally hypermethylated. We found all chr 20 gaps to comprise structured non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and to be conserved in primates. We verified expression for 13 candidate ncRNAs, some of which showed tissue specificity. Four ncRNAs expressed within the gap at DLGAP4 show elevated expression in the human brain. Our data suggest that unfinished human genome gaps are likely to comprise numerous functional elements.
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| 7. |
- Reisner, Walter, et al.
(författare)
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Single-molecule denaturation mapping of DNA in nanofluidic channels
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 107:30, s. 13294-13299
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here we explore the potential power of denaturation mapping as a single-molecule technique. By partially denaturing YOYO (R)-1-labeled DNA in nanofluidic channels with a combination of formamide and local heating, we obtain a sequence-dependent "barcode" corresponding to a series of local dips and peaks in the intensity trace along the extended molecule. We demonstrate that this structure arises from the physics of local denaturation: statistical mechanical calculations of sequence-dependent melting probability can predict the barcode to be observed experimentally for a given sequence. Consequently, the technique is sensitive to sequence variation without requiring enzymatic labeling or a restriction step. This technique may serve as the basis for a new mapping technology ideally suited for investigating the long-range structure of entire genomes extracted from single cells.
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| 10. |
- Tommerup, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Existing sustainable renovation concepts, Deliverable D1.1 : Successful Sustainable Renovation Business for Single-Family Houses - SuccessFamilies
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Nordic single-family house renovation market is dominated by a craftsman based approach with individual solutions, traditional warehouses ”do-it-yourself-shops” and some actors marketing single products. To speed up the implementation of sustainable renovation of single-family houses there is a great need for full-service packages including consulting, contract work, follow-up, financing and operation and maintenance. There are few Nordic examples of such service models for renovation of single-family houses which entered the market recently. The success of these concepts is yet to be evaluated.One successful full-service package described in the report is a campaign by an energy company in Sweden who convinced 78% of 456 owners of houses with resistance heaters to connect to its biomass based district heating network. The campaign was successful because of its package offer and information provision with emphasis on economic aspects and functional reliability.The existing technical renovation concepts, typically focussing on application of only a few of the available technical solutions, have not been successful in realizing large scale energy efficiency gains. Renovation of single-family houses might be carried out based on design solutions with good combinations of the possible range of technical solutions including e.g. “passive (insulation) measures” and “solar measures” in order to reach a low primary energy level. Key aspects of reaching a low primary energy level in connection with renovation are described in the form of typical energy renovation measures and technical principles of low energy renovation including recommended extent of measures.Full service and technical renovation concepts should make it easy, simple and secure for the consumer to invest in a low energy renovation of their house. The building sector needs easy to use knowledge and initiatives which ensures that they can offer solutions which fulfil the demand for quality, economy and a simple process. To speed up the implementation of sustainable renovation of single-family houses, society needs to stimulate the process including better incentives structures, e.g. increased tax on energy and/or subsidy programmes. Combined with an outlook for rising global energy prices, sustainable renovation of single-family houses then has the potential to become an important market area in the future.
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