Energiesprong represents a paradigm shift from traditional repair-and-maintain retrofit to a whole-house energy performance service. Originating in the Netherlands, it is a proven model for delivering net-zero energy homes through an industrialised approach, fundamentally anchored by a 30-year, legally binding performance guarantee.
The model reframes retrofit from a construction project into a replicable product. By standardising the design, optimising ventilation strategy, and leveraging off-site manufacturing (OSM) for facades and service pods, it aims to achieve superior quality control and minimal tenant disruption.
Application & Relevance to UK Building Regulations #
Energiesprong provides a scalable solution to the challenges posed by the UK’s existing housing stock—the greatest obstacle to national decarbonisation. While adhering to the spirit of Approved Document L and the risk-based approach of PAS 2035, it offers the technical certainty that prescriptive regulations often fail to deliver.
-
Professional Standard: For architects and specifiers, understanding Energiesprong is now essential for defining best-practice building performance and mitigating the pervasive performance gap in deep retrofit projects.
Successfully delivering the Energiesprong guarantee requires a highly specialised, integrated ventilation strategy. As the performance risk is so high, the ventilation system must be fully designed and proven as part of the initial service pod or thermal envelope, ensuring compliance with Approved Document F (Ventilation) from the outset, not as an afterthought.
Additional Relevant Terms for the Glossary #
These terms are critical for understanding the mechanics and regulatory context of the Energiesprong model in the UK.
-
Performance Gap: The measurable discrepancy between the predicted energy performance of a building (at design stage) and its actual performance in use. (Energiesprong is designed specifically to close this gap.)
-
PAS 2035 / PAS 2030 (Retrofit Standards): The UK’s overarching framework for the whole-house, risk-managed approach to domestic retrofit. Compliance is mandatory for government-funded projects.
-
Net-Zero Energy (NZE): A building where the total amount of energy used annually is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on site (typically via PV panels).
-
Off-site Manufacturing (OSM) / Modern Methods of Construction (MMC): The technique of fabricating large building components (like insulated wall panels or service pods) in a factory environment for rapid assembly on site, crucial for the speed and precision of Energiesprong.
-
Thermal Bridge / Cold Bridge: A weakness in the building fabric where heat loss is significantly greater than in the surrounding materials, often due to a break in the insulation layer. Deep retrofit models like Energiesprong must meticulously eliminate these.
-
Approved Document L (ADL): Part of the Building Regulations that governs the conservation of fuel and power in new and existing dwellings. Energiesprong targets performance significantly beyond current ADL minimums.
-
Service Pod: A key component of the industrialised approach, often an external, prefabricated module containing all technical systems (heating, hot water, ventilation, and power generation connections) to minimise internal disruption.
Last Updated on 18 November 2025 by Bradley Pallister