Life Giga Regio Factory scales industrialised deep renovation across Europe. Building on Energiesprong, it deploys prefabrication, open‑source tools, training, and integrators to aggregate demand, scale net‑zero retrofits, cut emissions, improve housing quality, and create local green jobs.
(Note: Opinions in the articles are of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union)
According to the European Commission, more than 85% of the 2050 building stock is already built. Achieving climate goals is foremost about cutting fossil fuels from existing stock. The slow current pace of improving our existing building stock, the limited energy efficiency of retrofits carried out, and most countries still connecting new builds to fossil fuel infrastructure and using carbon-intensive construction materials, are not getting us anywhere near fast enough to cut GHG emissions from European building stock.
Therefore, Europe is facing a dual challenge: drastically reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of life for millions of citizens. The building sector, which accounts for around 40% of energy consumption and one-third of CO₂ emissions, stands at the heart of this transformation. Deep renovation of housing is therefore not an option; it is an environmental, social, and economic imperative. However, the scale of the challenge - millions of homes to be renovated by 2050 - requires us to rethink our methods.
Picture 1. Accelerating renovation in Europe: from EPC 2020 to EPC 2050.
In the context of the EU strategy ‘A Renovation Wave for Europe – Greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives’, which aims to double annual energy renovation rates in the next ten years and renovate 35 million inefficient buildings by 2030, the industrialisation of renovation emerges as a strategic solution. By relying on prefabricated components (facades, roofs, technical modules, energy pods, etc.) and proven processes (digitalisation, Lean management, continuous improvement), it helps reduce construction time, minimise disturbance for occupants, improve implementation quality, and ensure long-term performance. It also paves the way for a low-carbon approach, integrating bio-based materials, logistics optimisation, and waste reduction.
In 2014, the Netherlands pursued a market-driven strategy to scale deep housing renovation, backed by €40 million, that led to the Energiesprong approach and its Market Development Team (MDT), composed of experts developing tools, networks, and infrastructures necessary to drive the market change. By activating major European markets with different buildings and climate typologies in a 'domino' manner - Germany, the UK, France, and Italy – Energiesprong built large-scale demand and spread industrialised renovation solutions across Europe.
Picture 2. Energiesprong E=0. @eneriesprong
The deep-renovation market can only progress if all major barriers are tackled simultaneously. Energiesprong has therefore focused on coordinating stakeholders and building mutual trust around a shared objective. Despite rising demand, the construction sector has struggled to improve productivity, learn from experience, or standardise approaches, which keeps costs high. At the same time, homeowners face a complex, lengthy, and opaque purchase process, with uncertain performance outcomes and a sector reputation that does little to inspire confidence.
The market is stuck in a classic chicken-and-egg situation: without a strong supply, demand will not grow - and without demand, supply will not scale. To expand the share of net-zero deep renovations, demand must be increased through stable, well-organised volumes, while better, more industrialised and cost-efficient solutions are developed. The overarching challenge is to make the offer far more appealing: easy to purchase, affordable, quick to install, and reliable over time. Therefore, there is a need to shift from a project-based mindset to a product-oriented approach: develop solution catalogues and standardised, industrialised pricing.
Picture 3. Market organisation as seen by Energiesprong. @energiesprong
Since its inception, Energiesprong has aimed to transform the retrofit market by aggregating projects and using digital tools and offsite manufacturing to deliver replicable, mass-customised renovation packages. Streamlined installation, performance guarantees, and integrated financing make these solutions more attractive, reliable, and cost-effective. What also became evident at this stage is that the method for grouping buildings to organise aggregated demand needs significant improvement. Creating homogeneous building packages proved challenging, raising questions about which criteria to use - age, typology, urban context, or social characteristics - to ensure consistency and feasibility.
The Life Giga Regio Factory builds on this approach, focusing on France and Germany while initiating new markets in Italy and Belgium. By better organising aggregated demand, developing industrialised prefab solutions, and planning for large-scale production facilities, the project seeks to take the next step in market uptake and support the creation of regional giga factories across Europe. Connections with advanced markets like the Netherlands, the UK, and international initiatives in the US and Canada will also support wider replication.
The project aims to leverage three main drivers: a) a better organisation of aggregated demand batches, b) a more effective development of industrialised mixes of prefab solutions, and c) planning the next stage of industrial progress, where scaling demand will enable the construction of giga factories in each EU region.
Picture 4. A 12-partner project strengthening industrialised renovation in France and Germany, while kick-starting markets in Italy and Belgium. @Life Giga Regio Factory project
The Life Giga Regio Factory project developed an open-source retrofit tool to help housing organisations create more homogeneous batches of buildings, enabling cheaper and higher-quality industrialised renovations. By combining detailed knowledge of building typologies with circular and biobased materials, and innovative techniques from leading providers into a comprehensive library of renovation solutions, the tool analyses portfolios, identifies similar building types, and assesses opportunities for regional aggregation at A or B energy levels. It also estimates costs, economic viability, environmental impacts, and renewable energy potential, supporting informed decision-making.
Picture 5. LGRF open-source retrofit tool (up). Building portfolio analysis for aggregation (down). @Life Giga Regio Factory project
Beta tests of the consortium on collective housing in urban areas helped refine clustering and aggregation strategies. Designed as a flexible, open-source platform, the tool allows experimentation across diverse portfolios and retrofitting scenarios, from full industrialised solutions to partial upgrades, ensuring adaptability and scalability for future renovation initiatives beyond the project’s lifetime.
Another key component of Life Giga Regio Factory objectives is to help construction and industrial companies develop complete industrialised net-zero energy renovation offers, fostering a cultural shift toward product-based solution libraries across operational teams. The project tackles a key bottleneck in the European retrofit market: the lack of coordinated, replicable, and scalable solutions.
To address this, the project promotes system-wide transformation linking prefabricated solution suppliers with integrators, who orchestrate the entire value chain - from design and digital modelling to offsite assembly, onsite installation, and long-term performance monitoring. This integrator role remains rare in many countries. Life Giga Regio Factory mapped and benchmarked over 250 companies across France, Italy, Germany, and Belgium, evaluating their industrial maturity, project integration, scalability, digitalisation, and engagement with Energiesprong-style models. These integrators are essential for an affordable and replicable approach, but they must be carefully trained, supported, and trusted.
Picture 6. Total solution integrators in LGRF. @Life Giga Regio Factory project
The project’s Training Kits are a cornerstone of this transformation. They convert profiling and mapping insights into actionable, field-tested, and customisable coaching tools, bridging capacity building with solution consolidation. Designed to work both at a European scale and adapted to national contexts, the kits ensure integrators fully understand what they are implementing and how. Life Giga Regio Factory prioritises collective coaching formats - workshops, cross-sector sessions, and group diagnostic tools - to ensure fairness, transparency, and peer learning while maintaining ecosystem neutrality. These efforts are supported by a resource library that can be adapted to the maturity level of each region and company.
Picture 7. LGRF support and training programme.
Life Giga Regio Factory developed a cross-country profiling approach to assess the industrial maturity of manufacturers and solution providers. Companies were evaluated on five axes - industrialisation, project implementation, scalability, digital readiness, and interoperability - and scored from 1 to 5. Functional roles were also categorised, from manufacturers to digital orchestrators.
A configurable business plan tool supports suppliers in consolidating costs, planning investments, and linking production industrialisation to cost reductions as demand scales. The approach encourages thinking in terms of products rather than individual projects, enabling strategic prioritisation of support actions, identifying strengths and gaps, and laying the groundwork for public mapping and supplier analysis.
Picture 8: LGRF Business plan tool for production industrialisation - data anonymised (left). Référentiel de la rénovation hors-site (right) @Offsite Renovation Guide.
To enable replication and scale, Life Giga Regio Factory created a strategic manual, 'Offsite Renovation Guide' (in French), based on inspiring experiences in France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy. Targeted at construction companies, solution designers, manufacturers, and potential integrators, the guide provides practical resources, operational recommendations, and examples to organise the value chain, standardise solutions, and build a sustainable European renovation ecosystem.
The guide introduces a shared terminology, classifies offsite renovation solutions, and offers fact sheets, solution catalogues, design guidance for Energiesprong projects, and business model comparisons. Available for free on the Energiesprong website, it represents the first results of a collective, systemic innovation process, aiming to inspire, educate, and engage new actors to contribute to a mass market for deep renovations.
Beta testers in the Life Giga Regio Factory project - including project owners, social housing associations, and industrial solution providers - played a key role in refining the project’s resources and tools. By testing deliverables, providing feedback, and challenging assumptions, they helped ensure that the outputs are practical, relevant, and useful for actors in the offsite renovation market.
Picture 9. Credit Buildup Retrofitt (left). Credit Est Métropole Habitat (right).
By supporting numerous building owners and renovation companies, the Life Giga Regio Factory programme has accelerated collective off-site renovations, resulting in an estimated 4,000 tCO ₂ eq of annual savings and measurable impact through carefully monitored KPIs
Picture 10. LGRF estimated impact at the end of the project. @Life Giga Regio Factory project
The Life Giga Regio Factory project will continue to have an impact through open-source tools maintained by the Energiesprong Global Alliance (EGA), enabling replication and improvement across Europe. New projects, such as LIFE Street HP Reno, LIFE AREC Reno, LIFE Reno Tides, and LIFE Cosme Reno, build on its approaches with collective buying schemes and district-scale renovations. Market Development Teams (MDTs) will continue supporting social and private housing, fostering regional group purchasing, training, and methodological replication.
The project was highlighted in a joint publication by the European Commission and the Solar Impulse Foundation entitled 'ENERGY €FFICI€NCY: The Silent Money Maker,' at the COP30 in Brazil, in 2025.
Last but not least, long-term sustainability will be reinforced through collaboration with governments, EU policymakers, and other European projects, while the project’s partner network will remain an active knowledge-sharing platform and community of practice.
Picture 11. Images © LIFE Giga Regio Factory consortium.
Picture 12. Images © LIFE Giga Regio Factory consortium.
Explore more about LIFE Giga Regio Factory and Energiesprong approach:
LIFE Giga Regio Factory partners:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Life programme under grant agreement N°101077258 LIFE21-CET-BUILDRENO-LifeGigaRegioFactory
