On 18th of June BUILD UP EU hosted the EUSEW 2020  policy session "Energy transition: new business models to de-risk investments and kick start the EU building renovation wave". QUEST was presented by the Project Coordinator, Stefan Plesser (synavision)

The webinar addressed address a key current challenges, such as mainstreaming energy efficiency finance through innovative mechanisms. The deployment of private investments for enchancing energy efficiency and renovation is a pivotal factor being addressed by EU policy makers that, in order to reach the Paris Agreement and 2050 targets, want to make green investmentsmore attractive for private capital (eg. via the taxonomy  initiative setting up criteria for sustainable investments).
Several H2020 funded projects are also tackling this challenge by setting up innovative business models and tools to de-risk energy efficiency investment and attract private capital.

The session was chaired by the REHVA President  Frank Hovorka, who asked for a "boiler room to meeting room" mindset cheange, aiming to make the quantifiable data about buildings energy efficiency undesrtandable for business makers and investors. The speakers addressed the topic during two panel debates, one focused on energy efficiency de-risking models and methodologies (chaired by Valerie Pleinemaison, EFIEES), and a second one about innovative business models (chaired by Filippos Anagnostopoulos, IEECP). The project QUEST, in partnership with REHVA, had its concept and scope showcased by its  project coordinator, Stefan Plesser (synavision), who highlighet how, in order to get quality into this kind of renovation projects we need to apply quality management tools. There are still doubts from the investors regarding the actual quality of the project at delivery and each retrofit that does not perform is a lost economic opportunity: hence, it is really important, for increasing the investors confidence, to prove them the value of quality management services.