During the European sustainable energy week 2025 (EUSEW) session “Affordable and Energy-Efficient Homes for All,” that took place online June 11, 2025
Maria Font, Project Coordinator at Fundació Europace, presented the REVERTER project, which develops Deep Renovation Roadmaps to reduce energy poverty in vulnerable households through the deployment of One-Stop Shops (OSS).
The presentation highlighted three key barriers that hinder energy renovation:
- Lack of awareness and knowledgeamong vulnerable households about energy efficiency and its benefits.
- Bureaucratic complexity, which discourages engagement with available renovation programmes.
- Financial constraints, including upfront costs, delayed subsidy payments, and ineligibility issues.
To address these challenges, REVERTER has implemented local and digital OSS in several pilot regions (including Spain, Bulgaria, Latvia, Greece, and Portugal), offering:
- Personalised information and advice
- Simplified administrative processes
- On-the-ground outreach through ambassadors and community events
A strong focus was placed on training and social marketing strategies to increase awareness and engagement within communities. These include workshops, webinars, local campaigns, and promotional materials in public spaces.
The presentation also addressed structural financing challenges, such as distrust in public schemes, misalignment of funding timelines, and lack of eligibility due to property ownership issues. Concrete examples from pilot regions illustrated how these systemic barriers prevent subsidies from reaching those in need.
The talk concluded with a call for better coordination between local actors and funding bodies, and the importance of long-term, inclusive planning to make deep renovation accessible to all.