Use Cases - ReLIFE-Project-EU/relife-wiki GitHub Wiki

Use Cases

Introduction

This page presents illustrative use cases for the ReLIFE Platform. Each use case describes a realistic scenario, the type of user involved, which tool is most appropriate, and what kind of outputs to expect.

The ReLIFE Platform is designed to support renovation decision-making at different scales — from a single homeowner exploring upgrades to an ESCO managing a large portfolio, to a regional agency planning a renovation strategy. The use cases below reflect these three distinct contexts, one for each of the platform's three tools.

[!NOTE] The ReLIFE Platform is under active development. Use cases involving the Renovation Strategy Explorer (RSE) describe intended future functionality. Refer to each tool's wiki page for current implementation status.

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Use Case 1: Homeowner Evaluating Renovation Options

Tool: Home Renovation Assistant (HRA)

UC1 Context

A homeowner living in a 1970s single-family house in Austria is considering renovation to reduce energy bills and improve thermal comfort. She has a limited budget and wants to understand which measures to prioritise and whether the investment makes financial sense before contacting a contractor.

UC1 Goal

  • Identify the most impactful renovation measures for her building type and location.
  • Compare the expected energy performance improvement (including EPC class change) across renovation scenarios.
  • Assess financial viability using indicators such as ROI, NPV, and payback period.

UC1 Workflow

  1. She opens the HRA and enters the building location and basic characteristics (building type, construction period, number of floors).
  2. The tool matches her building to a reference archetype and pre-fills technical parameters.
  3. She selects renovation measures to evaluate — for example, external wall insulation and a heat pump — and reviews the baseline vs. renovated energy results.
  4. She enters cost assumptions and reviews financial indicators.
  5. She uses the persona-based ranking to compare scenarios according to her priorities (e.g., minimising upfront cost vs. maximising long-term savings).

UC1 Expected Outputs

  • Baseline and post-renovation energy performance estimates.
  • EPC class comparison between the current state and the renovated scenarios.
  • Financial indicators (ROI, NPV, IRR, payback period) for each scenario.
  • A ranked list of renovation options based on her chosen priorities.

[!IMPORTANT] The HRA is a decision-support tool. Results should inform conversations with certified energy auditors and construction professionals, not replace them.

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Use Case 2: ESCO Prioritising a Social Housing Portfolio

Tool: Portfolio Renovation Advisor (PRA)

UC2 Context

An Energy Service Company (ESCO) manages a portfolio of 60 social housing buildings across three regions. It has a fixed renovation budget for the coming year and needs to identify which buildings to prioritise. Buildings vary in age, size, and current energy performance.

UC2 Goal

  • Screen the full portfolio and identify the buildings where renovation investment yields the highest energy and financial return.
  • Understand the portfolio-level investment requirement and expected energy savings under different financing assumptions.
  • Produce outputs that support internal reporting and discussions with financing partners.

UC2 Workflow

  1. The analyst prepares a CSV file containing the required building data (location, floor area, construction year, building type, etc.) and uploads it to the PRA.
  2. She selects renovation measures to evaluate across the portfolio and configures the financing scheme (e.g., Debt with specific loan terms).
  3. The PRA runs the analysis building by building and aggregates results at portfolio level.
  4. She reviews per-building energy and financial outputs and uses the portfolio summary to identify top candidates for intervention.

UC2 Expected Outputs

  • Per-building energy results (baseline vs. renovated) and financial indicators.
  • Portfolio-level aggregated outputs (total investment, expected savings, financial risk indicators).
  • A basis for prioritisation and further project-level due diligence.

[!IMPORTANT] The PRA is a screening and prioritisation tool. Individual building results should be validated through detailed project-level audits before committing to investment.

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Use Case 3: Regional Agency Modelling a Renovation Strategy

Tool: Renovation Strategy Explorer (RSE) (planned)

UC3 Context

A regional energy agency is tasked with developing a medium-term renovation roadmap for the residential building stock in its region, in support of national climate targets. It needs to assess the investment required, expected CO₂ reductions, and changes in EPC distribution under different renovation scenarios and policy assumptions.

UC3 Goal

  • Model the energy and investment impact of alternative renovation strategies (e.g., deep renovation of the worst-performing stock first vs. shallow renovation at scale).
  • Compare scenarios across different time horizons (2030, 2050).
  • Produce evidence to support policy recommendations and funding applications.

UC3 Workflow

  1. The analyst selects the geographic scope and configures renovation strategy parameters (target volume, measure mix, time horizon, phasing).
  2. The RSE runs scenario analysis across the regional building stock.
  3. She compares scenarios using aggregated outputs and exports results for reporting.

UC3 Expected Outputs

  • Scenario comparison: investment requirements, energy savings, CO₂ impact, and EPC distribution trends.
  • Outputs structured to support policy reporting and EU compliance documentation.

[!IMPORTANT] The RSE is not yet available. The platform currently shows a "Coming Soon" page for this tool. This use case describes the intended functionality once the RSE is released.

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How To Cite

Please refer to the How To Cite section on the Welcome Page.

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Authors And Reviewers

Author: Francesca Conselvan

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License

The ReLIFE open source projects are licensed under the EUPL-1.2 license. Please check each repository for project-specific details.

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Acknowledgement

This work is carried out within the ReLIFE project and is co-funded by the European Union (CINEA) under Grant Agreement No. 101167067.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.

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