Accelerating the Energy Transition in the Built Environment: From Research to Urban Transformation -Insights from the 4TU Energy

Cities account for a substantial share of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the energy performance of housing stock is central to whether climate neutrality targets are achievable. Yet the energy transition in the built environment is proceeding far too slowly, constrained by fragmented governance structures, misaligned financial incentives, the complexity of retrofitting existing stock, and a persistent gap between technological innovation and practical diffusion. This lecture presents research from the 4TU Energy consortium -a collaboration across four leading Dutch technical universities -to diagnose these barriers systematically and identify what conditions are necessary to accelerate change. It argues that closing the gap between research and urban transformation requires integrating technical solutions with social equity considerations, coherent multi-level policy frameworks, and genuine cross-sector collaboration -making the energy transition not just a technical challenge but a question of urban governance.