A firm specialized in energy upgrading of housing. Their mother, Glava, is Norway’s market leader in the production of insulation materials.
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The Story of Bolig Enøk
Bolig Enøk is a firm specialized in energy upgrading of housing. Their mother, Glava, is Norway’s market leader in the production of insulation materials.
Bolig Enøk is also a partner of Enova in offering Energy Efficiency audits for private homes. These audits are subsidized, that is, when an audit is conducted, 50 % of the costs are subsidized. Also, the home owner can get subsidies for the execution of the measures, improve the energy efficiency of the homes and get a new label for their improved home.
The entrepeneur's journey
Originally, Bolig Enøk only performed the energy audits of the houses. They position themselves as a consultancy agency for energy efficient upgrading. The actual implementation of measures was / is performed by contractors/ constructors. This market is very fragmented and hard to get grip on from a home owners’ perspective. Also, a large amount of Norwegian homes is of the same type (typical detached homes from the 70’s and earlier) and need to be modernized. Most of the people who obtain these kind of houses will do so before they move in. In other words, there is a lot of activity in the upgrading-of-houses- market, be it not aimed at energy upgrading, but at modernizing a house. Their position (being a partner of Enova, training others to perform the audits and being part of the Glava company) as well as the presence of the subsidies and the growing activity in the upgrading of houses market, motivated the company to become active in the market of implementing the measures themselves. The audit is the starting point for the customer. This way, they become a trusted partner to assist the customer in the blurry process of making retrofitting decisions by providing simple, standardized and therefore cheaper solutions for upgrading their homes. The user buys a modern, upgraded home (good living), and on top of that he benefits from lower energy costs and a better energy label
Capabilities
Bolig Enøk didn’t actively do research to understand their client’s needs. However, performing many energy audits provided them with a lot of users’ knowledge. Also by training contractors and constructors to perform audits they learned a lot about the suppliers’ side of the market. They meet the home owner in his early plan making stage, which makes them understand the buying process of their client (the customer buying journey) and they do know how to conceptualize this into a more comprehensive offer. They’ve sensed two pains in the upgrading of housing journey: the incomprehensive, blurry process of choosing the right contractor, deciphering the quotes and not knowing if the work is done correctly. By taking the role of advisor, the user can trust the suggested report and the standardized measures.The other pain is the low interest in energy efficiency. By providing total retrofit solutions at relatively low costs (by standardizing) the customer is helped with a simple and clear process, a retrofitted house, which is energy efficient as an extra benefit. Orchestration: The process of modernizing a house is a complex and frustrating journey to many home-owners or house-buyers. By offering a solution that is a more coherent, pleasant experience indicates that the orchestration capability is well developed. Because this proposition is still very young, there is not much knowledge if the user will perceive this solution as smooth and pleasant. Bolig Enøk focusses on the performing of the measures, and the subsequent registration of the house in order to receive an update housing label. After this, the interaction with the user stops and. The concept of standardizing the measures suggest an ambition to target a larger group with a fair priced solution. Bolig Enøk seems to take a ‘good’ position in the service orientation. They’re already in the business, have a patient ‘mother’ which gives them time to grow and learn in the market.
Analysis
Several context elements ‘helped’ Bolig Enøk:
Policy objective: increase energy efficiency by increasing the rate of energy upgrading. Subsidy scheme for ambitious energy upgrades is introduced.
Building regulation: stricter energy requirements (new buildings), spill-over to older buildings? Stable and low energy prices again after some periods with higher and more variable prices some years ago the fragmented market of constructors was turned into a business opportunity.
Bolig Enøk can be described as a smart matcher, which means that they know how to anticipate to current market situations (under the umbrella of a patient mother). They’re still offering a one off solution and don’t integrate the customer use phase in their offering.