SEATTLE: The Energiesprong (Energy Leap) initiative involves completing wrapping houses with insulated panel-facades that snap on like Lego. Insulated roofs adorned with 24 high-efficiency solar panels each are fastened on top, while heat pumps, hot water storage tanks and ventilation units are stored in garden sheds.
The prefabricated refurbishments come with a 40-year builder’s guarantee that covers the entire loan period, and a 5.25% return is guaranteed to participating housing clusters.
But the renovations can only be done if all residents in a block agree to it, and that spurred the invention of an unlikely environmental incentive: free bathrooms, fridges and Ikea kitchens, with electric cooking.
Minor complaints from residents about the refurbishments have included noise from garden shed installations and increased awareness of internal house sounds, as floorboards become proportionately louder when outside noises are muffled.
Construction companies take 3D scans of houses to offer factory-produced refurbishments tailored to each house’s dimensions…