Setubal (Portugal)
The SUPERSHINE Portuguese fellow district is located in Setúbal, a municipality of 230 km² with a population of 123,684. The city has already promoted energy certification for most of its social housing dwellings, to support broader building rehabilitation efforts. In the Brejoeira neighbourhood, the energy certificates provided information to identify interventions to improve energy efficiency in 26 homes.
Through SUPERSHINE, Setúbal received tailored guidance and tools to implement smart neighbourhood and energy-efficient renovation approaches, enabling the city to plan interventions that improve building performance, reduce energy costs, and enhance comfort and social inclusion. These efforts strengthen the municipality’s capacity to carry out large-scale, sustainable renovation in social housing.
Financial Graphs
This figure shows a positive investment case for Portugal under the shared savings model, with the strongest results achieved when all interventions are bundled together. The combined package delivers a return on investment of 12.03% for social housing and 10.13% for the ESCO, both clearly above the 6.11% benchmark. Among individual measures, wall renovation performs best, reaching 9.46% for social housing and 9.96% for the ESCO. Roof and floor interventions generate moderate returns, while window upgrades are the weakest standalone measure, at 2.74% for social housing and 4.45% for the ESCO. Overall, the chart confirms that a whole-building renovation approach creates the most attractive financial outcome in the Portuguese case.
Energy Poverty Graphs
This chart shows that renovation reduces the share of household income spent on energy in Portugal. Before renovation, energy expenditure accounts for 27.14% of income, falling to 20.91% after renovation. Although the post-renovation level still indicates a considerable burden, the reduction is meaningful and points to improved affordability for residents. The figure shows that energy renovation can help reduce the financial strain caused by high household energy costs.
This figure shows a major improvement in energy efficiency after renovation in the Portuguese case. Energy consumption falls from 966.74 kWh/sqm before renovation to 474.12 kWh/sqm after renovation, representing a very significant reduction in building energy demand. This suggests that the renovation measures can substantially improve thermal performance and reduce the amount of energy needed to keep homes comfortable. The reduction also supports lower bills and better environmental outcomes.
This chart highlights a strong improvement in household comfort after renovation. Before the renovation, 33.20% of residents are unable to keep their homes cool in summer and warm in winter. After renovation, this share drops to 19.43%. The figure shows that energy efficiency improvements can make homes more liveable and resilient, while also reducing one of the most visible impacts of energy poverty on everyday life.
Lighthouses
Lighthouse districts are in three cities: Trieste (Italy), Herning (Denmark) and Riga (Latvia).
