The RenovActive concept offers a simple, innovative and affordable solution to the renovation challenge. It is an example of how to transform European housing into healthy and sustainable living space.
These were the main criteria set up for the RenovActive project in Anderlecht, Belgium. The aim of the renovation project was to test the Active House principles in social housing and single-family homes where cost, comfort and energy efficiency have to go hand in hand. The main goal of RenovActive is to prove the financial viability of Active House renovation in social housing schemes across Europe. The estimated renovation costs associated with RenovActive met the tight budget framework of social housing in Brussels and the requirements set up in the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) standard.
Dividing the concept into seven individual building elements makes it possible to create an exact match between the financial plan of the project and the different requirements of the housing company. The affordability is based on the proven quality of each element as well as the different solutions’ ability to be reproduced, allowing economies of scale to take effect.
After the RenovActive House was handed over to its first tenants in May 2017, the concept was then replicated in the surrounding Bon Air community. Following the inauguration of the first house in May 2016, the authorities gave permission to implement the renovation concept in 86 similar homes, owned by Le Foyer Anderlechtois. The majority of these homes will experience exactly the same transformation, including the construction of a central staircase with automated roof windows at the top, a better inclusion of daylight, improved insulation and an intelligent hybrid ventilation system, combining natural and mechanical ventilation.
The Bon Air district is located in an old garden city and contains public housing as well as a large number of private properties. Le Foyer Anderlechtois has 225 houses of the same building type in the area.