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European energy policies call for an increased share of renewable energy sources and a more active role of the energy consumer. This is facilitated by, amongst others, buildings becoming energy flexible hubs, supporting smart energy grids with demand response strategies. While there is abundant technical research in this field, the related business and policy development is less well documented. This research scopes existing policy programmes and identifies opportunities and barriers to business development supporting energy flexible buildings. Using examples from seven European countries, this work reviews influencing niche management factors such as existing policy instruments, business development cases and identified stakeholder concerns, using literature research, narrative analysis and stakeholder research.National policy pathways show many differences but confirm that European buildings might become active players in the energy market, by providing energy storage, demand response and/or shifts in the use of energy sources. Slow sustained business development for energy flexibility services was mainly identified in the retail industry, and for energy service companies and aggregators. The direct involvement of end users in energy flexible buildings is still difficult. Stakeholders call for policy improvement, especially concerning the development of flexible energy tariffs, supporting incentives, awareness raising and more stakeholder-targeted business development.

Europe expects the housing sector to evolve towards 'nearly zero-energy' dwellings. Meanwhile, general terms and research, marketing and legal definitions considering such dwellings have already been introduced. Appraisal of existing definitions is now needed for further policy development. This paper examines what nearly zero-energy terms can be expected to be adopted in Belgium and the Netherlands. The research method uses an interview method based on innovation diffusion theory. The analysis traces the regional adoption trajectory of relevant definitions and examines the opportunities and barriers for the inclusion of existing definitions in regional energy policy. The analysis shows thatwhilst international prominence of the terms 'net zero energy' and 'net zero carbon', in addition to 'low energy' and 'passive house', is observed-in Belgium and the Netherlands 'passive house' and 'energy neutral' are preferred. The research findings indicate that the adoption of already existing definitions for nearly zero-energy houses will depend on the region and can prove a very complex process with several conflicting issues. Terms should be clearly defined and used at all political and marketing levels. It is recommended to enhance the relative advantage, demonstrability, visibility and compatibility of favoured definitions by policy initiatives.

In the EU, housing retrofit rates have to increase to about 2.5-3% of the housing stock per year to achieve policy goals. The development of new business models and collaboration of SMEs in a fragmented market is expected to result in an increase in home renovations. This study presents a way to better understand the usefulness of the business model as a market device for collaborating firms for realising home energy renovations, by analysing literature and action research observations. Joint innovation decisions during business model development were traced back for 24 groups emerging from the supply side in five European countries. Commonalities for all groups were analysed to understand the usefulness of the business model. The business model development experiences show that effort is still required to support SME collaboration and to introduce basic marketing knowledge within SMEs, particularly to identify the customer segment and its values and to clarify the effectiveness of existing communication channels. Business models appear to be very useful for collaborative vision formation and networking and for clarifying the need of customer-oriented approaches that include project management and structured guidance of homeowners. However, they do not readily lead to the introduction of collaborative businesses, for which action plan are needed. Collaborating companies are advised to pay specific attention to identifying quality assurance and independent advice for home energy renovations. The research acknowledges the success of action-based research approaches to support collaborative business development and recommends its future use to speed up market development.

Purpose – The study ' s purpose is to review and discuss limitations of “strategic niche management” (SNM) success factors in relation to the experiences of an enterprise network to improve niche development for integrated design concepts. Design/methodology/approach – The emergence of a successful passive house innovation network in the Flemish Region is described. The innovation journey of the network is related to success factors detected in SNM literature regarding market niche development. Findings – The study identifies additional success factors for systemic innovation, such as involving small- and medium-sized innovators and demonstration projects and using a dedicated regional enterprise network. Research limitations/implications – The qualitative analysis specifically reflected on SNM success factors such as envisioning, learning, and network composition and formation. The study confirms the importance of these success factors by means of one detailed innovation journey. It identifies additional success factors and discusses opportunities to improve the relation of SNM literature with other seminal fields. Practical implications – Government seed money is important in providing a breakthrough in enterprise network initiatives. A focus on architectural innovation instead of technology innovation is to be preferred for stimulating integrated design concepts. Originality/value – The paper addresses the relevance and limitations of SNM success factors during the formation of enterprise networks. The study shows how an integrated design approach was used to cluster innovation opportunities and to inspire innovation development and collaboration for know-how development between multiple players.

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