IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i24p6988-d295284.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renovation Strategies for Multi-Residential Buildings from the Record Years in Sweden—Profit-Driven or Socioeconomically Responsible?

Author

Listed:
  • Kristina Mjörnell

    (RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, 412 58 Gothenburg, Sweden
    Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Paula Femenías

    (Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Kerstin Annadotter

    (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden)

Abstract

An important part of the multi-family housing stock in Sweden was built during the record years 1961–1975 and is in need of extensive renovation to be modernized. The stock is also at the center of political discussion of how to sustain ‘good housing for all’, especially in the rental sector. These renovation needs coincide with present energy targets and provides an opportunity to combine renovation with energy efficiency measures. Common for many of these buildings are that neglected maintenance has led to technical shortcomings, such as high energy use and low thermal comfort due to bad insulation, unsatisfactory air tightness and leaky windows, inefficient heating systems and insufficient ventilation, and moisture damage due to leaking building envelope and leaking pipes. However, the people living in these buildings are not willing to or cannot afford to pay the higher rents that extensive renovations would entail. Earlier research has highlighted the broader societal problem of energy renovations, but also that of housing companies’ priority of measures with short payback times, and those that give the possibility to raise rents. However, recent observations indicated a tendency towards more holistic approaches to housing renovation, and this study was initiated to investigate how public and private housing companies deal with renovation levels, rent increases and related social problems. The main conclusions are that sustainability and social responsibility are moving up on agendas in the public sector, but also, apparently, in the renovations strategies among the private companies. What is also seen is a trend moving from extensive total renovations to more tenant-adapted and step-by-step renovations. Renovation options which do not entail such large rent increases are increasingly being seen. Implications are that housing owners favor gentle renovation with reasonable rent increases of 10%–20%, which at the same time, may be a drawback for reaching energy efficiency targets.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina Mjörnell & Paula Femenías & Kerstin Annadotter, 2019. "Renovation Strategies for Multi-Residential Buildings from the Record Years in Sweden—Profit-Driven or Socioeconomically Responsible?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:24:p:6988-:d:295284
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/24/6988/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/24/6988/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baek, Cheonghoon & Park, Sanghoon, 2012. "Policy measures to overcome barriers to energy renovation of existing buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3939-3947.
    2. Mikael Mangold & Magnus Österbring & Conny Overland & Tim Johansson & Holger Wallbaum, 2018. "Building Ownership, Renovation Investments, and Energy Performance—A Study of Multi-Family Dwellings in Gothenburg," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Atkinson, Jonathan G.B. & Jackson, Tim & Mullings-Smith, Elizabeth, 2009. "Market influence on the low carbon energy refurbishment of existing multi-residential buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2582-2593, July.
    4. Ástmarsson, Björn & Jensen, Per Anker & Maslesa, Esmir, 2013. "Sustainable renovation of residential buildings and the landlord/tenant dilemma," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 355-362.
    5. Lovisa Högberg & Hans Lind & Kristina Grange, 2009. "Incentives for Improving Energy Efficiency When Renovating Large-Scale Housing Estates: A Case Study of the Swedish Million Homes Programme," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Hoppe, Thomas, 2012. "Adoption of innovative energy systems in social housing: Lessons from eight large-scale renovation projects in The Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 791-801.
    7. Hamil Pearsall & Isabelle Anguelovski, 2016. "Contesting and Resisting Environmental Gentrification: Responses to New Paradoxes and Challenges for Urban Environmental Justice," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(3), pages 121-127, August.
    8. Stefan Bouzarovski & Jan Frankowski & Sergio Tirado Herrero, 2018. "Low‐Carbon Gentrification: When Climate Change Encounters Residential Displacement," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 845-863, September.
    9. Linus Malmgren & Kristina Mjörnell, 2015. "Application of a Decision Support Tool in Three Renovation Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Michelsen, Claus & Rosenschon, Sebastian & Schulz, Christian, 2015. "Small might be beautiful, but bigger performs better: Scale economies in “green” refurbishments of apartment housing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 240-250.
    11. Liane Thuvander & Paula Femenías & Kristina Mjörnell & Pär Meiling, 2012. "Unveiling the Process of Sustainable Renovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-26, June.
    12. Hans Lind & Kerstin Annadotter & Folke Björk & Lovisa Högberg & Tord Af Klintberg, 2016. "Sustainable Renovation Strategy in the Swedish Million Homes Programme: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-12, April.
    13. Guy Baeten & Sara Westin & Emil Pull & Irene Molina, 2017. "Pressure and violence: Housing renovation and displacement in Sweden," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(3), pages 631-651, March.
    14. De Boeck, L. & Verbeke, S. & Audenaert, A. & De Mesmaeker, L., 2015. "Improving the energy performance of residential buildings: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 960-975.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Karin Staffansson Pauli & Ju Liu & Bo Bengtsson, 2020. "Sustainable Strategy in Housing Renovation: Moving from a Technology-and-Engineering-Focused Model to a User-Oriented Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Guirec Ruellan & Mario Cools & Shady Attia, 2021. "Analysis of the Determining Factors for the Renovation of the Walloon Residential Building Stock," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Jenny von Platten & Claes Sandels & Kajsa Jörgensson & Viktor Karlsson & Mikael Mangold & Kristina Mjörnell, 2020. "Using Machine Learning to Enrich Building Databases—Methods for Tailored Energy Retrofits," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    4. Wim Lambrechts & Andrew Mitchell & Mark Lemon & Muhammad Usman Mazhar & Ward Ooms & Rikkert van Heerde, 2021. "The Transition of Dutch Social Housing Corporations to Sustainable Business Models for New Buildings and Retrofits," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-24, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jenny von Platten & Karl de Fine Licht & Mikael Mangold & Kristina Mjörnell, 2021. "Renovating on Unequal Premises: A Normative Framework for a Just Renovation Wave in Swedish Multifamily Housing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-32, September.
    2. Kristina Mjörnell & Jenny von Platten & Kicki Björklund, 2022. "Balancing Social and Economic Sustainability in Renovation with an Affordable Option for Tenants? A Pilot Study from Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Ju Liu & Bo Bengtsson & Helena Bohman & Karin Staffansson Pauli, 2020. "A System Model and An Innovation Approach toward Sustainable Housing Renovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Johansson, Tim & Olofsson, Thomas & Mangold, Mikael, 2017. "Development of an energy atlas for renovation of the multifamily building stock in Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 723-736.
    5. Kristina Mjörnell, 2020. "The Role of Trans-Disciplinary Research in Sustainable Renovation," Journal of Management and Sustainability, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(1), pages 1-1, July.
    6. Guirec Ruellan & Mario Cools & Shady Attia, 2021. "Analysis of the Determining Factors for the Renovation of the Walloon Residential Building Stock," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Dodoo, Ambrose & Gustavsson, Leif & Tettey, Uniben Y.A., 2017. "Final energy savings and cost-effectiveness of deep energy renovation of a multi-storey residential building," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 563-576.
    8. Stefan Olsson & Tove Malmqvist & Mauritz Glaumann, 2015. "Managing Sustainability Aspects in Renovation Processes: Interview Study and Outline of a Process Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Alaa Khadra & Mårten Hugosson & Jan Akander & Jonn Are Myhren, 2020. "Development of a Weight Factor Method for Sustainability Decisions in Building Renovation. Case Study Using Renobuild," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-15, September.
    10. Åsa Wahlström & Björn Berggren & Josefin Florell & Rickard Nygren & Thomas Sundén, 2016. "Decision Making Process for Constructing Low-Energy Buildings in the Public Housing Sector in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Lind, Hans & Annadotter, Kerstin & Björk, Folke & Högberg, Lovisa & af Klintberg, Tord, 2014. "Sustainable renovation strategy in the Swedish Million Homes Programme: A case study," Working Paper Series 14/2, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.
    12. Henry Muyingo, 2015. "Organizational Challenges in the Adoption of Building Applied Photovoltaics in the Swedish Tenant-Owner Housing Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-28, March.
    13. Heiskanen, Eva & Matschoss, Kaisa, 2017. "Understanding the uneven diffusion of building-scale renewable energy systems: A review of household, local and country level factors in diverse European countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 580-591.
    14. Dodoo, Ambrose & Gustavsson, Leif & Le Truong, Nguyen, 2018. "Primary energy benefits of cost-effective energy renovation of a district heated multi-family building under different energy supply systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 69-90.
    15. Hans Lind & Kerstin Annadotter & Folke Björk & Lovisa Högberg & Tord Af Klintberg, 2016. "Sustainable Renovation Strategy in the Swedish Million Homes Programme: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-12, April.
    16. Per Anker Jensen & Esmir Maslesa & Jakob Brinkø Berg, 2018. "Sustainable Building Renovation: Proposals for a Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Karin Staffansson Pauli & Ju Liu & Bo Bengtsson, 2020. "Sustainable Strategy in Housing Renovation: Moving from a Technology-and-Engineering-Focused Model to a User-Oriented Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    18. Haolan Liao & Rong Ren & Lu Li, 2023. "Existing Building Renovation: A Review of Barriers to Economic and Environmental Benefits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-23, February.
    19. Mustaffa, Nur Kamaliah & Kudus, Sakhiah Abdul, 2022. "Challenges and way forward towards best practices of energy efficient building in Malaysia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    20. Guariso, Giorgio & Sangiorgio, Matteo, 2019. "Multi-objective planning of building stock renovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 101-110.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:24:p:6988-:d:295284. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.