Eco-Building Solutions

Marta Szigeti Bonifert

Executive Director

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Eurobarometer results (January, 2011)

• The wish list of EU citizens:– Stability of energy prices: the respondents’

first

priority (29%)

– Renewable energy: Europeans’

second priority (27%)

– Security of energy supply: the third priority (20%)

– Energy efficiency: the fourth priority (16 %)

• Is it the right approach???

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Energy Efficiency for the 2020 goal

• “Energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings represents about 40% of total final energy use. It is responsible for 36% of the European Union’s total CO2 emissions”

• Goals of 20-20-20 to reduce primary consumption and greenhouse gas emissions 20% and increase renewable energy use 20%, by 2020.

• The EC will simplify Directive 2002/91/EC on the Energy Efficiency of buildings, extend its scope, strengthen its provisions and give the public sector a greater role applying the directive’s energy performance standards to a greater number of buildings.

• Directive stated that buildings over 1000 m2 involved in major renovation work should meet specific energy performance standards

– this 1000 m2 benchmark will be removed competently

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Energy efficiency in CEE

• Decades of subsidized energy prices • High energy intensity• Old and very poor building stock from the energy

perspective• Large proportion built with industrial technology• Use energy inefficiently and contribute to GHG

emission• District Heating (DH) widespread, but also in need of

modernisation (both company and user side)• Financial barriers to make EE projects

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Energy efficiency in buildings

• Why is it important?– Buildings: huge potential for EE improvement

– Improving efficiency leads to decarbonising energy and reduction

of GHG

emissions at a relatively low cost

– Negative cost potentials in the buildings sector in economies in

transition are

larger than those in all other sectors combined

– Expected positive impact is to create a large number of ‘green/low carbon jobs’

in their relevant sectors in the use of

• new innovative technologies (RES) and

• green/low carbon services

• The cooperation of the Regional Environmental Center and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea aims to answer these challenges

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Residential buildings sector

Ownership structure:– Flats occupied by owners– Some private flats rented– Social housing

Building types:– “Panel buildings”

-

one-fifth of

building stock built with industrial technology during the 60s-80s

• no individual measuring in most cases, using district heating –

too expensive

– Multi-family brick buildings - conventional technology

– Single-family houses -

conventional technology

Village House (Budapest)•15 stairs•884 flats•3000 citizens•Retrofitted 2 years ago

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RRGF –

Key characteristics

• RRGF (Radiant Retrofitting Grant Frame)

– Moving away from asset based financing

– Works in socially deprived areas and finances the fuel poor

– Portfolio and community approach -

spreads risks

– Programme is designed around participants’

needs

– Build on experience

-

Low risk profile

– Start with small scale –

bottom up approach

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RRGF – Basic terms

• 5% portfolio guarantee – Provides first loss coverage– Covers losses up to 5% on the portfolio– Portfolio is built by the sector –

lower acquisition cost

– Provides access to market niche

• Loan terms– Single rates to the whole programme is preferable– Risk sharing facility –

reflected in interest rates

– Standardised

procedures –

lower administrative cost – reflected in borrowing costs

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RRGF –

Continuity of insulation & air tightness

Before After

<cat

Before, REEMA panels After retrofit EWI -100mm

Air pressure test

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Clean Development Mechanism

• Relevant, applicable tool for non-Annex I Parties (SEE countries) to get financing for EE projects including building sector

• CDM is connected to sale of carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol (one of the flexible mechanisms of the KP)

• CDM ensures achieving in real GHG emission reductions

• Future of CDM –

on the table (modified version of CDM might be used after 2010)

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Regional Environmental Center ─

REC

• “…

is an international organisation with a mission to assist in solving environmental problems (…)”– The REC is legally based on a charter signed by 30 countries and

the EC

– Multi-stakeholder international Board– 190 staff (some 30

nationalities)

– Offices in 17 countries– 100% project based organization

• over 200 running projects• 10 –

12 million €

annual turnover

– Operates in various regions:• EU Members of Central and Eastern Europe• EU Enlargement countries, candidates and potential candidates• Eastern Partnership Countries • EU27• Operation beyond the REC Country Office Network

Why the REC is needed?

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17 Different countries:

• Different problems? Common challenges!– Climate change topic quickly raising on the

international and European political agenda– Carbon-intense economies– Low awareness about the economic opportunities

provided by the low-carbon growth – Low awareness on the necessity and ways to adapt

to a number of adaptation challenges (heat waves, see level rise, increasing incidents of storms, floods, droughts, etc)

– Educated and capable but insufficient human capacities on all governance levels

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REC’s priority issues for activities

• Promotion of Low Carbon Economies and Sustainable Energies– assistance in identifying mitigation options and assessments of

national mitigation potential in various sectors, assessments of

the technologically most viable and economically most feasible options to promote a low-carbon society and green regional development

• Policy assessments, analyses and recommendations, facilitation of implementation of EU Directives related to energy.

• Financing possibilities, information dissemination, awareness raising, and the change towards sustainable energy behaviour– EE: focusing on the building sector and efficient household appliances

RES: focusing on application of renewables in buildings, connections to the grid / transmission, the efficient operation of the whole

system

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Danube Strategy and RES/EE

• REC 2011-2015 Strategy for RES/EE linking to DS• Acting as a bridge between the 14 participating countries (8 EU

MS + 6

non-EU)• Close cooperation with the EU, the Hungarian (for DS) and the upcoming

Polish (for BSS) Presidencies• Providing expertise in developing and implementing regional projects in

line with DS priorities contributing to achieving tangible results. Possible activities:– To promote energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in buildings and

heating systems including by renovating district heating and combined heat and power facilities

– as required by Energy Performance of the Buildings Directive and

Renewable

Energy Directive– To facilitate networking and cooperation between national authorities in

order to promote awareness and increase the use of renewable energies– To provide local stakeholders consultative support with issues relating to

mitigation of climate change and energy efficiency

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REN

EWA

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EN

ERG

Y ENER

GY

EFFICIEN

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ATTITUDE&

BEHAVIOUR

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Building capacities across…..

• Multi-media environmental education curriculum kit –

Green Pack

– Secondary school teachers and their students – Focus on particular aspects of environmental

protection and sustainable development • 35.000+ teachers -

3.500.000+ students -

in 18

countries….

• Cross-sectoral approach –

Sustainable Development Academy– A comprehensive (~ 1 month!) educational

programme on the “three pillars”

of sustainable development initiated by the Italian Government

– SEE CEE Black Sea Region Kazakhstan Russia

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Eco- Building Programme

• Awareness raising project aiming at expanding the application of ecologically sustainable building practices both for retrofitting of existing buildings and in new construction

• Financed by the Italian Government –

Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea

• Eco-building solutions among the many different stakeholders are addressed through awareness-

raising activities • This in turn will increase demand and lead to the

expansion of the eco-building market

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Eco- Building Programme

• Examples for Eco-friendly building initiatives:– Ministry of Tourism and Ministry

of Spatial Planning and Environment of Montenegro, in Podgorica

– Projects in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjian, including the Sino-

Italian

Centre for Environment and Energy

• Using the latest in environmentally friendly building technology, materials and design

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Eco- Building Programme

• REC’s

Zero Emission

Building• The biggest SOLAR POWER plant in

Hungary (close to 30 kW maximum capacity)

• High efficiency envelope– minimise heat loss in winter, prevent heat

gains in summer and maximise the exploitation of natural lighting

• Lighting system– a „light shelf”

diffuses natural light throughout the interior

• Photovoltaic– The PV system generates close to 30 kWh

• Heating ventilating and air-conditioning– Ground source heat pumps

• Architecture– a modern and integrated approach

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REC contribution to European programmes:

• Intense -Intelligent energy saving measures for municipal housing in CEE countries The project focuses on enhancing the implementation and enforcement of the energy-related EU legislation in new MS with special emphasis on municipal/local level implementation (www.intense-

energy.eu)

• USE Efficiency

-

Universities and Students for Energy Efficiency project is to create a common stream for energy efficiency systems in university buildings. www.useefficiency.eu

• Trainrebuild-

accelerate the implementation of EU legislation on buildings (i.e. EPBD Recast, ESD, NEEAP) is addressing the retrofit of a wide range of “residential buildings”, spanning from individual to multi-family houses and from private to social housing

www.trainrebuild.eu

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Conclusions

• Large cost-effective EE potential in CEE

• National EE support programs –needs improvement

• CDM (?) key opportunity –– Increased environmental integrity

– Reduction in energy costs

– Expanding focus to conventional buildings

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We have (globally, nationally and…..) the knowledge and the technology but we need

minds, hands and feet to take action.

LEADER(SHIP/SIFT)

—We offer as REC, based on our experience, our

contribution to help to take the next transformational steps –

help to make policy to

action

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Welcome to the REC!