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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE EUROPEAN UNION POLICY CONTEXT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK FINANCIAL ENGINEERING CITIZENS INVOLVEMENT ENERGY PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCLUSION
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Disclaimer: the sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.
1. Technological developments
Technological possibilities for energy efficient renovation are developing fast. Availability of techniques is not a guarantee that they always will be used in the best and most effective way. CASH partners have made some suggestions regarding energy refurbishment of social housing in cities. General justification: Any renovation plan includes the choice of approach, target, energy sources, technical installations, devices and their adequate sizing. It also requires the implication of stakeholders throughout the process. The renovation approach, whether global or on a step by step, is indeed a major issue. Many stakeholders, in particular communities and social landlords, often ask themselves if they should act on a limited number of buildings to achieve expected EE renovation targets (80 kWh/m.year) or if they should intervene on few of the components (i.e. insulation and glazing or energy supply and equipment, etc.) over a large number of buildings. Careful decision should be taken so as to keep along with the municipal energy reduction goals, available financial resources, other obligations to fulfil, as well as the time lag between major renovations (average of 20 to 30 years).
C i t y H all of Ec hir olles wher e the kic k- of f meeting of the CAS H net wor k was held in S eptember 2 010 .
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Concrete suggestions: -M ake a survey on the heat energy demand (heating and domestic hot water DHW). -L ook for potentials of reducing demand (through insulation, water saving devices). -M ake a comparison calculation of different heating systems (only boiler, boiler and CHP, heat pump, biomass heating systems -stoves, boilers-, district heating), comparing not only acquisition, installation and maintenance costs, but fuel dependency and emissions (CO2 and others) - keeping in mind that prices for different fuels may develop differently in the future. -M ake a long term 15-20 years calculation. To avoid ad-hoc decision making, Social landlords and house owners should make a structural renovation plan, where technical, social and economic aspects as well as environmental aspects play a role. The grey (hidden) energy, including the energy required in transporting and in recycling the different materials / technology at the end of their life cycle, should be taken into account in their selection.
3. Financial instruments
In order to improve the financing possibilities for energy efficient large-scale renovation operations, the CASH network has proposed a series of recommendations, presented as the Frankfurt resolution. General justification: It has been estimated that the comprehensive energy renovation cost for a dwelling, is in average 23,000 Euro1 (in France). In order to reach the European CO2 reduction goals for housing, approximately 70 to 180 million housing units in the European Union (EU) need to be renovated according to low energy consumption standards. This would require from 1,500 to upwards of 4,000 billion Euros of energy refurbishment investments in the residential sector before 2050, which represents roughly 27% of the energy consumption in the EU. How can this be achieved? To reach national and international climate and energy goals, more funds and greater contributions are needed from Europe and from national governments for all homeowners. The available financial instruments should be: based on long-term planning, be better coordinated. Concrete suggestions: - National and regional revolving funds (supported by additional fees on rent or energy bills) can be an important instrument, favouring long-term and large-scale projects. - Independent third-party managing entities should be created or supported to organize technical, financial and organizational aspects and monitor the measures. They could act as a facilitator between landlords/owners of the housing units and tenants. The role can be taken by local/regional foundations or energy service/supply companies or even by tenants organizations. - To implement energy improvement in an integrative and optimum way, measures to reduce other running costs for water, electricity and waste -the second rentshould be included. - European funds such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) should not only be provided for energy measures in general, but should also be focused on social housing with an integrative approach (energy, living environment, maintenance and integration).
2. Legal Framework
Based on the barriers, needs and enabling factors, CASH partners have identified recommendations for an effective energy efficiency legal framework, agreed in the following Brindisi Manifesto. General justification: As we showed in the introduction, there are many EU legislative texts that applied to the renovation of social housing in cities. Not only the EU directives on energy or the Structural Funds regulation but also for instance the Public Procurement Directive or national regulations on rent setting. Cities and Managing authorities have to implement this legislation and gain expertise of how to make it positive for local projects. Concrete suggestions: - Create local clusters on green social housing. Local clusters may be developed for the whole supply chain of energy efficient renovation from supplier, planners, architects via installer, to users. In such a cluster Quality management can be developed, using energy labelling. - Flexible mechanism for rents to fit to local context (deprived neighbourhoods) and a form of protection from rent increase for existing social rents should be ensured.
4. Citizens involvement
Key recommendations for an effective citizen involvement in Energy Efficiency (EE ) renovation process and in the reduction of energy consumption are provided by CASH partners through the Bridgend resolution. General justification: Combating climate change needs ambitious policies and Urban Climate Policy can only be effective with citizen participation, for the following reasons. Firstly, in the housing sector much energy can be saved, not only with technical measures, but also with behavioural change. Studies show that around 10% of energy can be saved only by routine behaviour change (switching off lights, lowering temperature, etc.). Secondly, many technical energy efficiency measures will be less effective if the related behavioural change is not carried out. Thirdly, there is the investment-behaviour. The choice to invest in buying energy efficient household appliances is depending on the knowledge and awareness of the public. For these three reasons citizens involvement is an indispensable and essential part of any climate change policy. Concrete suggestions: CASH partners give the following advice: It is important to involve citizens at all stages of a policy, for instance : - from the planning phase and during all stages of the renovation process for the co-conception of energy efficient renovation to ensure an appropriation of the equipment and systems and the proper functioning of the renovated EE buildings. - In the co-creation of schemes with tenants not only to improve the energy efficiency of homes but to improve citizens health and their environments in neighbourhoods to give ownership and empower tenants to include energy efficiency measures and change behaviours. To reach that objective, CASH partners suggests for instance to use of a mixture of innovative tools favouring exchanges between all stakeholders, such as independent energy advisors, trained champions, ambassadors of energy, trained to change behaviour and attitudes and educate citizens in realising the benefits of energy efficiency renovation.
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Initiatives that impose new standards and therefore will bring about short-term costs Initiatives that will help cities cope with this short term costs
The first category is made essentially of the legislation related to the energy efficiency and energy performance of buildings. The recently adopted Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) is deemed to be an important step forward to reach the objective of 20% reduction of energy consumption in the EU by 2020 compared to 2005. Some of the most important new provisions with an impact for housing are the following: - Member states are required to implement a set of binding, flexible measures and set a national energy efficiency target - which would have to be 20% energy savings for the EU as a whole by 2020. - Energy companies are requested to reduce their energy sales to industrial and household clients by at least 1.5% each year;
1 http://www.oecd.org/gov/citiesandclimatechange.htm
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- A 3% renovation rate for public buildings which are central government-owned and occupied; - An obligation on each EU member state to draw up a roadmap to make the entire buildings sector more energy efficient by 2050 (commercial, public and private households included); - The new directive also includes additional measures on energy audits and energy management for large firms, cost-benefit analysis for the deployment of combined heat and power generation (CHP) and public procurement. - An article (art.15) refers to the financing mechanisms that have to be set up in order to fulfil the new obligations (in particular national energy efficiency funds) Another Directive has a direct impact on how housing is built, renovated and used: the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The EPBD is the main legislative instrument at EU level to achieve energy performance in buildings taking into account outdoor climatic and local conditions, as well as indoor climate requirements and cost-effectiveness. The main elements are : - Extension of minimum requirements to all new and renovated buildings - Strengthening Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) by: Independent control system for EPCs Publication of the EPCs in all commercial announcements Extension of display (>500m2, 2015>250m2) - Methodology for calculating cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements - Introduction of nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB) for new building by 2018 To have an overview of the implementation of those 2 directives2, we have put the timeline below (MS = Member States) The second category of EU initiatives in the field of climate change and housing refer to the legislation and soft measures that are supposed to help cities coping with the new standards in terms of energy efficiency. The EU structural funds fall under this category as the new provisions3 give new opportunities for regions and cities to support social housing in particular in the field of energy efficiency. There are at least 3 areas where investment in housing could be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund4:
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1 Energy efficiency:
Former objective 2 regions (the most developed EU regions in the EU) will have to dedicate at least 20% of their operational programmes to investment in supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors. In particular investment should be made to support energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in the housing sector; there is therefore no ceiling any more for investment in energy refurbishment in housing, which means that a region is free to invest as much ERDF as they want on energy refurbishment in housing. One have to note that reference is made of housing sector in general, which means that every kind of housing (including cooperative housing) is eligible to support.
2 Social infrastructures:
The European commission foresees the possibility to invest in social housing under 2 circumstance: (a) investing in health and social infrastructure which contribute to national, regional and local development, reducing inequalities in terms of health status, and transition from institutional to community-based services; (b) physical and economic regeneration of deprived urban and rural communities;
3 At the time of writing, the new legislation was still subject of negotiation between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. Minor changes might therefore come up from what was proposed by the European Commission. 4 http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/regulation/pdf/2014/proposals/regulation/ erdf/erdf_proposal_en.pdf
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3. Urban development:
The regulation stresses that at least 5% of the ERDF resources allocated at national level shall be allocated to integrated actions for sustainable urban development delegated to and directly managed by cities. It means that cities will manage at least 5% of the ERDF national pot directly to support urban development/renewal. Furthermore cities will be allowed to support pilot projects and studies to test innovative solutions linked to sustainable urban development. There is therefore a great scope of cooperation between cities and affordable housing organisations. The European Social Fund also gives new funding opportunities for climate change related initiatives in the housing sector, since it could support the shift towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient, resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable economy, through reform of education and training systems, adaptation of skills and qualifications, up-skilling of the labour force, and the creation of new jobs in sectors related to the environment and energy5 Beyond the Structural Funds, we have to mention a soft initiative which works as a catalyst of the efforts of cities to cope with the energy efficiency challenge: the Covenant of Mayors. After the adoption, in 2008, of the EU Climate and Energy Package, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors to endorse and support the efforts deployed by local authorities in the implementation of sustainable energy policies. In order to translate their political commitment into concrete measures and projects, Covenant signatories notably undertake to prepare a Baseline Emission Inventory and submit, within the year following their signature, a Sustainable Energy Action Plan outlining the key actions they plan to undertake. Beyond energy savings, the results of signatories actions are manifold: creation of skilled and stable jobs, not subject to delocalisation; healthier environment and quality of life; enhanced economic competitiveness and greater energy independence. There are currently more than 4000 cities that have signed up to the Covenant of Mayors, including most of CASH partners. To summarise the policy context, we can say that cities are acting in between new collectively agreed constraints from the EU and new opportunities as well. CASH partner cities have developed during the project recommendations addressed to the managing authorities of the funds and more generally EU decision makers on how to make the best use of EU opportunities in that field. The following section presents these recommendations.
5 http:/ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/regulation/pdf/2014/proposals/regulation/esf/ esf_proposal_en.pdf
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TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
What to do? Which technology to use? W hich energy- efficient renovation approach to adopt? Is certification needed? Is labelling important?
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Content
STATE-OF-THE-ART The envelope of the building Envelope air-tightness The technical installations Energy production and transformation Monitoring Some hints to help choosing energy system and technological aspects KEY ISSUES DISCUSSED Certification Energy performance labels Renovation approach EXAMPLES FROM PARTNERS Energy renovation plan of social housing, Rhne-Alpes Region, France Decision making tool: renovation in a portfolio strategy, Utrecht, The Netherlands Shared energy skill center, Les Mureaux,France CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS MORE TO LEARN
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Which technology to use? Which renovation approach to adopt? Is certification needed? Is labelling important? This Mini Guide on Technological development helps pinpoint: the key elements to focus on (heating systems, insulation, glazing, ventilation) when renovating, as well as, the renovation type and the approaches, all issues tackled by the European directive 2010/31 EU on the energy performance of buildings. Its purpose is to give practical support to cities interested in identifying effective measures to enhance energy performance of existing housing stock.
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STATE-OF-THE-ART
The main objective of this overview of main technological development and techniques is to provide local communities with key elements to consider and choices to make when planning energy renovation. It will cover: the envelope of the building and the envelope air-tightness; the technical installations; energy production and transformation; monitoring.
While performing wall insulation, control of moisture balance and condensation in walls is key. Since the impact of thermal insulation on water vapour dissemination is low, vapour diffusion retarders available as membranes or coating are used.
Its disadvantages: it reduces residential area, it often requires occupants to move temporally and it wears an additional risk of moisture problems.
New is the use of Ultra-light-weight aerated concrete. Next to having a low thermal
Wall
The effective insulation or inertia is key. Most common is the insulation of the
outer walls. Insulation panels are typically made of polystyrene foam, but mineral fibre has much better fire protection values (compulsory for high rise buildings). Natural insulation products, such as cellulose flakes, wood fibre mats, hemp, sheeps wool, etc., do not underperform when compared to man-made ones. Instead they are often far better in terms of performance, durability, in addition to providing health benefits. Furthermore, they present a lower carbon footprint and grey energy and Offer the characteristics to allow protection from the cold during winter and optimum heat protection during summer. In presence of cavity walls, cavity can be filled with insulation material as perlite. New is to fill the insulation material cavities with gas (e.g. CO2) or vacuum. However this technology has to make its proof: uncertainty of keeping the vacuum over time exists, insulation cannot be punched and vapour migration over the aluminium cover is still an unknown factor. With regard to Silica-aerogel based insulation, they are only available in semi-transparent glazing.
conductivity, this material is also hygroscopic (moisture buffer) and has low water vapour resistance. While performing wall insulation, control of moisture balance and condensation in walls is key. Since the impact of thermal insulation on water vapour dissemination is low, vapour diffusion retarders available as membranes or coating are used. They reduce the rate at which water vapour can move through the building envelope and prevent air leakage through the envelope. Multiple layers of paint in existing housing units act already as vapour diffusion retarders.
Roof
The roof is most exposed to environmental influences. For individual houses it is the first criteria to be considered. High insulation thicknesses are highly recommended. In addition, a special importance has to be given to high air-tightness otherwise this can lead to moisture damage, especially in the wood construction.
panels. It consists of a sub-structure (wood or aluminium profiles) attached to the outer wall, with insulation material inserted in between and an air gap remaining for ventilation between insulation. This technique allows avoiding moisture and mold. Internal insulation offers an alternative for houses with facades worth preserving and is less expensive than external insulation.
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Basement ceiling
To reduce the heat losses from the basement, insulating plates can be attached to the basement ceiling. For uneven or vaulted basement ceilings, airtight cloths can be attached acting as air chambers so as to form a natural insulation layer.
Windows
Modern windows with heat-resistant glazing offer a significant reduction in heat loss (about 40 to 70%). This is achieved by an invisible metallic layer (keeping heat inside) and an inert gas filling between the panes. Three-pane insulating glazing (Ug = 0,5 to 0,6 W/mK) is available on the market, offering additional heat loss reduction of 30% compared to the two-pane windows and is becoming widely used. Their prices vary and can increase considerably the budget of a renovation operation. Not only should the U-value of the glazing be known, but also the one of the entire window influenced by the quality of the frame. Highly insulated frame exist, as the passive house window. If the window frame is covered with insulation up to 2 to 4 cm, an installation nearly free of thermal bridges is guaranteed. New is double vacuum glazing (Ug = 1,4 W/mK), but they are still very expensive.
Envelope air-tightness
Attention should be paid to achieve a good balance between energy efficiency (air-tightness and air renewal) and sanitary conditions. Air-tightness (air permeability or leakage rate) of the envelope is an essential issue to keep in mind. Indeed, the control of infiltrations coming from: joinery-wall, joinery-floor and roof-wall junctions, as well as from expansion joints, sheaths, evacuations, electrical conduit, traps, rolling shutter, etc., must be ensured, knowing that they can generate up to 50% overconsumption of heating in well insulated housing units. It is critical that any tape and sealant used should maintain a high flexibility over time to ensure it copes with differential movement and to resist high and low temperatures over the lifetime of the building. It should, as well, perform under high humidity conditions.
Top left in orange indicating infiltration from rolling shutter after insulation, Echirolles, France.
Heating
Biomass heating
Biomass is a renewable low carbon fuel, producing a fraction of the carbon emissions of fossil fuels if correctly managed. A wide range of biomass fuels can be used: virgin wood, energy crops, agricultural, food and industrial residues. Most widespread for small scale heating systems are wood pellets and chips from round wood. There exist several types of biomass heating systems, the most commons being stoves, available from room heaters of 1.5 kW up to around 12kW, and boilers > 25kW. Biomass-fired boilers can be integrated into existing heating systems, and are therefore a real alternative in renovation projects if adequately selected (high performance and low particle emission). Condensing boilers Condensing boilers are a further development of the low-temperature boilers. They are the most energy efficient boilers since they use two heat exchangers: one taking the water vapour (hot gasses) produced from burning the hydrogen
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content of the fuel to heat the water coming back from radiators into the condensing boiler, one capturing the heat from the condensation process during the cooling of the water vapour which condenses into liquid water. The effectiveness of this condensing process depends on the temperature of the water returning to the boiler. System design and installation are key (longer chain of distribution giving cooler water). Since condensation boiler is a low temperature device it is recommended by Decrees in many European countries in case of renovation / reconstruction. Passive and active Solar space heating systems These solar heating systems with air heat collectors (glazed or unglazed) or with liquid collectors, can be > 25 times more cost effective than solar electric systems. Evacuated tube solar collectors mounted on the roof or on another structure should have a high performance so that high temperatures can be achieved even with cold outdoor conditions. Electric heat pumps A heat pump can provide heating or cooling, moving heat from a natural source - at the highest temperature (outside air, soil, groundwater, water body, with constant temperature from 5-10C), to a heat sink - at the lowest temperature. To keep this thermodynamic cycle, the heat pump needs electricity from an electric or gas engine, or from renewable resources. Most cost-effective are air / water heat pumps, but these bivalent systems are less efficient. Air source heat pumps are the least efficient but can still be used in low energy consumption dwellings. They have the disadvantage of high outside temperature differential which leads to lower efficiency. Geothermal heat pumps, since they draw heat from the ground or groundwater which is at a relatively constant temperature all year round, have typically higher efficiency but are more expensive, requiring excavation. A performance coefficient of COP > 4 should be selected (for 1kWh of electricity consumed, 4 kWh of heat are produced). Most efficient systems have a COP of 7. Their capacity has to match heating and cooling demand without being undersized (risk of inadequate cooling) or oversized (risk of inappropriate dehumidification). Heat pumps most need additional heat source to cover peak consumption (cold days, etc.). Intelligent heat pumps (as Syd Energi units installed in Sonderborg, Denmark) with a control unit collecting weather data, households consumption and electricity prices, produce heat when prices are low and provide heat-through their heat-storage device, at peak consumption. Co-generation units - Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Cogeneration units (Combined Heat Power - CHP) generate heat and electricity simultaneously, the heat resulting from the production of electricity or the reverse. This decentralised energy production system avoids transportation and reduces
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Cogeneration units decentralised energy production system avoids transportation and reduces the carbon footprint. CHP saves more than 30% primary energy and CO2 compared to separate production of heat and power
the carbon footprint. CHP saves more than 30% primary energy and CO2 compared to separate production of heat and power. There exist solutions from micro CHP (<36 electrical kW, 1-5 electrical kW) for single family house, 50 electrical kW for housing blocks and up to several 100-1000 electrical kW district heating nets for social housing districts. CHP units work mostly on natural gas but a wide range of biomass fuels can be used (biogas, wood, sewage sludge), their system being designed to accept high moisture content material. It is to be noted that CHP is most suitable when there is year round demand for heat to balance the demand for electricity. District heating More and more social landlords and owners adopt district heating. In the city of Echirolles (France), it heats more than 75% of social housing units. This system distributes hot water (or steam) to connected buildings and individual houses, through highly insulated flow and return pipes and heat exchanger (substation) within each building. The heat is often obtained from a cogeneration plant burning fossil fuels (oil / natural gas) or biomass, although single boiler installation, or geothermal heating or central solar heating can also be used. District heating avoids costs of energy when based on biomass or renewable energy sources and reduces investments in household or building heating equipment. However, it requires important initial investments, thus being less attractive for areas with low population. With CHP, district heating has the lowest carbon footprint of any heating system. In itself district heating is approximately 30% more efficient. However, ownership monopoly issues should be taken into account.
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Monitoring
Monitoring devices (i.e.: individual meters, check meters, master meters and digital smart meters) are necessary to measure the impact of renovation on energy consumption, to evaluate the effect of each new technological and technical implementation, to identify possible malfunctions and to get knowledge on the behaviour of the occupants so as to promote energy conservation measures and to keep the energy performance of the housing unit. However, instrumentation should be easy to use, an energy baseline should be available, data must be reliably recorded and stored, measurement duration should be adapted to the monitoring objective and sample size and structure should be representative. Feedback of metering results should be fast, clear and understandable to lead to action and to be directly translated into costs related to the energy bill. Clear communication is needed.
and CHP, heat pump, biomass heating systems -stoves, boilers-, district heating), comparing not only acquisition, installation and maintenance costs, but fuel dependency and emissions (CO2 and others) - keeping in mind that prices for different fuels may develop differently in the future. Make a long term 15-20 years calculation. To avoid ad-hoc decision making, Social landlords and house owners should make a structural renovation plan, where technical, social and economic aspects as well as environmental aspects play a role. The grey (hidden) energy, including the energy required in transporting and in recycling the different materials / technology at the end of their life cycle, should be taken into account in their selection.
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Certification
Certification of materials
Even though the environmental aspects of products do not yet play a big role in the certification process of the European Organisation for Technical Approval, specialised databases exist of validated and labelled building materials based on Life Cycle Analyses (carbon emission and energy used during material production, transportation, recycling...). Not all national validations come to the same results, depending on the assumptions made in the calculations and on differences made on how the materials are being used or applied. In the Netherlands a national calculation system is being developed, bringing at least seven other systems together.
Certification of building is not mandatory but allows ensuring that specific energy efficiency (EE) targets are met. There is not one standard European certification tool but several national certification tools.
Certification of buildings
Certification of the building, demonstrates its commitment to energy efficiency, site sustainability and indoor environmental quality. It is not mandatory but allows ensuring that specific energy efficiency (EE) targets are met. There is not one standard European certification tool but several national certification tools. Some are proposing integrated calculation methodology including all the EE aspects, such as heating, technological cooling and lighting installations, position and orientation of the building, heat recovery, etc., and not just the degree of the buildings technical insulation. Some used in the countries of CASH network are presented hereafter:
designers and operators of the sector). While the ITACA Protocol defines the strategic guidelines and supervises the certification system, regions and provinces should define their own procedures of certification and accreditation systems and issue the certificates.
GPR Building
GPR Building is a performance based tool developed by the municipality of Tilburg and W/E Consultants in the Netherlands. The aim of this quick and easy to use software is to raise building quality and reduce the environmental load of buildings, using five indicators: Energy, Environment, Health, User Quality, and Long Term Value. It allows visualising the effect of every measure on the sustainability and gives achieved CO2 reduction. At the moment GPR Building is being extended so it can be used internationally.
ITACA Protocol
The ITACA Institute (Federal Association of Italian Regions) in Italy, developed the ITACA protocol as a tool for the certification of the residential public building. Indicators used are: Site, Consumption of resources, Environmental loads, Environmental indoor quality, Quality of the service and Socio- economic aspects. It helps providing a common baseline for all stakeholders (property owners, builders,
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Also the climate conditions in different countries and regions are different. Some European examples of EPL, based on reducing the long term consumption of the buildings, are: Passivhaus, in Germany, with less than 15 kWh/m2.year of energy consumption for heating and the same for cooling, Low Energy Consumption Building (BBC), in France, for buildings with primary energy consumption of 50 kWh/m2.year (level A) for new building and of 80 kWh/ m2.year for renovated buildings or Effinergie integrating the concept of airtightness. Initiatives as the European EPLabel project proposes to harmonise this framework in public buildings across Europe. Whereas the level of Passivhaus is achievable in renovation, the question of impacts on way of living due to building air-tightness constraint should be raised.
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Rhone-Alpes Regional Council energy renovation plan for social housing, France
Starting with the challenge of national EE targets set in the new French Environment bill Grenelle 2, of 80 000 renovations by 2020 in Rhne-Alpes region with an energy consumption performance level <150kWh/m/year), CASH partner Rhne-Alpes Regional Council (RARC) has adopted an ambitious regional energy renovation plan in favour of social housing, both public and private, for the 2011-2013 period. This plan, built around the regional partnership between RARC, the French Agency for Energy and Environment Management (ADEME) and the regional association of social housing organisations (ARRA-HLM), will provide technical assistance and financial support to public social landlords and co-properties. Objectives of this plan are to generalise the target of high energy performance and to develop a project management integrating a multi-criteria approach (architecture, ventilation, comfort, eco-materials, etc.). Energy requirements have been set up so that flexibility and capacity of adaptation are guaranteed to operators. There are thus 2 approaches sharing the common goal of a minimum energy saving of 35%: 1. a step by step approach reaching at least a level <150kWH/m/year, based on technical solutions or work packages compatible with low-energy buildings standard (BBC renovation level < 80kWh/m 2/year), which will not kill future energy saving potential. Priority is given to the enveEnergy lope/shell (a minimum of two actions), with safeguards to satisfy (e.g.: minimum thermal resistance) and some technical consistency to respect (e.g.: mandatory intervention on ventilation if works programme implies replacement of windows); 2. a global approach reaching the BBC low-energy consumption level (<80 kWh/m/ year) and obtaining the French label BBC Effinergie Renovation. It is a progressive plan, with a pilot operation during the first year (2011), on which basis the activities for the next two years will be revised and optimised. The Rhone-Alpes example shows that high goals can lead to new ways of working and the development and implementation of new technologies.
Renovation approach
Which are the EE renovation targets to achieve by social landlords or co-properties or private owners and what should be the approach: global or step-by-step? While minimum performances are advocated by the European Directive, specific targets to be achieved through renovation vary from country to country and are defined by their legal framework which will be presented in the second CASH mini-guide. Regarding the approach, the answers from CASH partners vary: Tatabanya (Hungary), favours achieving the best available and most complete building energy refurbishment rather than proceeding to a renovation reaching minimum requirements, since these energy operations are long-term interventions and most often the unexecuted works are never achieved later on. Rhne-Alpes Regional Council (France), has developed (with key stakeholders) a step-by-step approach for Rhne-Alpes region which concentrates on the means (work package) more than on the goals. This progressive approach, not focusing on reaching immediately BBC renovation level but remaining compatible with it, allows social landlords investing in renovation operations even if they dont have the financial means to reach high targets. Echirolles (France), until now has favoured the global approach with renovation integrating all the elements of the envelope, the energy production and the technical installations (e.g.: recent Village 2 district rehabilitation program with new and renovated buildings at BBC levels). However, given the present difficult financial context, the assets of a step by step approach are being discussed in the frame of Echirolles URBACT CASH Local Action Plan.
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Making such future oriented calculations urges house owners, tenants and landlords, to search for the latest techniques and technologies for energy renovation. With such model, a rational decision can be made between Continuation of Utilization, Disposition, Renovation or Demolition / rebuilding.
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MORE TO LEARN
General
The CASH website with all presentations of the Thematic seminar in Utrecht:
http://urbact.eu/cash
(ASIEPI EP: Comparing Energy Performance Requirements over Europe: Tool and Method, 2010)
www.norme-bbc.fr (French norms and Grenelle bill) www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=3076&_ffmpar[_id_inhalt]=102231
Leitfaden: Energetische Sanierung von Grnderzeitgebuden in Frankfurt; Herausgeber: Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Energiereferat.
http://ecocitoyens.ademe.fr/ www.logementsocialdurable.fr www.energiaklub.hu
W/E Advisers presentation: Energy saving technology, state of the art on CASH
Website. La rnovation trs basse consommation dnergie des btiments existants. Olivier Sidler, France, 120 p., 2010.
(Hungarian climate policy institute. Energiaklub concentrates on energy efficiency, renewable resources, climate protection, energy policy.)
www.lakcimke.hu
(A Hungarian on-line and downloadable publication for owners about energy performance certificate of buildings, energy efficiency interventions and renewable energy sources.)
(England)
www.kliba-heidelberg.de/publikationen_oekobaufibel.html
(Germany)
www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com www.gprgebouw.nl
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LEGAL FRAMEWORK
W hich key energy efficiency topics are most covered? W here are the gaps? A re enabling factors appropriate and sufficiently covered? W hat are the barriers to implementing? S ome interesting bottom-up approaches R ecommendations for an effective EE legal framework
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Content
STATE-OF-THE-ART European policy & regulation Cash partner legal framework Key topics most covered by legal instruments Topics less covered by legal instruments Specificities and strengths of CASH partners KEY ISSUES DISCUSSED Enabling factors Barriers to implementing Needs & required outcomes EXAMPLES FROM PARTNERS Orca-apulia region, Brindisi, Italy Tenants union, Brindisi, Italy Apulia cluster for sustainable buildings, Brindisi, Italy Heating source regulated in urban planning, Frankfurt, Germany Voluntary agreement on local level, Utrecht, The Netherlands CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Brindisi manifesto MORE TO LEARN
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Availability of affordable and energy efficient housing is not only a technical or financial matter. European Directives, national / regional / local laws, decrees, ordinances and policies are forming the framework for cities to work within. This mini-guide describes the existing legal playing field for CASH partners from 9 European countries at the local level and shows how they can manoeuvre within the given possibilities to enhance energy performance of affordable housing for social landlords, low income owners or tenants. It also highlights the gaps, barriers, local needs and the potential solutions for a bottom-up approach more in line with local context.
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STATE-OF-THE-ART
European EE Policy and regulation
At European level the reduction of energy consumption in the building sector is an important policy goal which is reflected in many directives and regulations. Well-known is the 20-20-20 goal (to reduce GHG emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020; to raise the share of renewable energy to 20 per cent; to improve energy efficiency by at least 20 per cent), which many local and regional authorities in Europe have committed to through the covenant of mayors (signed by 6 of the CASH partners). Probably the most relevant regulation for CASH is the EU Directive (2002/91/EC) on Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD), in force since 2003 and adapted in May 2010. For EU legislations on Energy Efficiency (EE), consult the link: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/other/l27042_en.htm On 22 June 2011, a new set of measures for increased Energy Efficiency was proposed by the European Commission (Energy Efficiency Plan 2011). There will be a legal obligation for member states to establish energy saving schemes and more efforts from local and regional governments to be made for public buildings. Even though social housing is not explicitly addressed in the new directive, it will be a topic to consider since it is often within the influence of local governments. Moreover, the European Commission is developing a Low-carbon economy 2050 roadmap with objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95% by 2050, and further rules can be expected.
Principle of subsidiarity has led to a variety of norms and regulations that relate to national, regional or local context.
As illustrated by the table, this resulted in very different EE legal framework in CASH partner countries although they are all based on the same EU directives - except for EE targets specification, audits and energy performance certificates. Table results are analyzed in the following subsections.
Sonderborg - DN
Tatabanya - HU
Frankfurt - GE
EE Targets + Energetic requirements of buildings EE DIAGNOSIS & SPECIFICATIONS Audits + Energy performance certificates EPC of buildings + posting Renovation labels Energy sources ENERGY PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Co-generation District heating Condominium / co-properties USERS INVOLVEMENT Tenants contribution to energy renovation Clusters (industries & research institutions) Subsidies for energy efficiency housing units renovation Eco-loans and low interest loans FINANCIAL TOOLS / ENGINEERING Fiscal measures Feed-in tariffs Funds for state & municipal buildings
R&D
Bridgend - UK
Yambol - BG
Utrecht - NL
Eordea - HE
Brindisi - IT
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For financial instruments: subsidies (national or local or a combination of both), loans and feed-in tariffs are regulated the most.
In some countries, an assessment on different energy options for big projects is even required by national regulation, so that the choice for energy source is not centrally prescribed but is dependent on the local situation.
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in national plans of 6 of the 9 CASH countries, no legal instrument regarding this topic has been mentioned by CASH partners.
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The Netherlands is one of the exceptions, with a law obliging the owners of apartments to set up a fund for long term maintenance, with differences made between normal maintenance and extra energy investments.
building. Clusters: only a few CASH members, such as Snderborg and Brindisi, have regulated the creation of EE clusters, joining R&D institutions and industries for EE developments. Clusters exist in other partner countries but as supportive measures. Fiscal measures: these economic instruments are always mentioned in EU communication documents and policies as being important for realising the energy efficiency goals. Different from subsidies, economical tools - such as tax regulations, should be available for all actors and make energy-friendly options financially attractive. However, they are very rarely used in social housing EE renovation or are very recent towards low income owners. Green Procurement (environment-friendly purchasing): even though it is included
The detailed CASH partner legal framework table, presented on the CASH webpage, stresses some trends and specificities: Some countries like Italy have developed a series of legal instruments at regional and local levels which deserve to be scaled-up (such as the Brindisi City Council resolution to establish the service chart providing 30% of rental fees to the tenants union for self-management including for EE renovation). Others like France have adopted a more centralized approach with less local and more national regulation. Some countries have developed specific legal instruments for key EE topics: Hungarian Decree N389/2007 on feed-in tariffs related to cogenerated electricity; Tatabanyas General Assembly Decree N4/2010 on measuring and setting district heating and N10/2010 on the district heating modernization programme (Hungary), German EE label, Apulian Regional Council Resolution N863, March 23, 2010 on R&D (Italy) and French Tax Instructions N5B-22-09 establishing Tax credit for EE expenditures on main houses and N6C-1-10 establishing a property tax relief for energy saving works on social housing units.
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Often supportive measures are not diversified enough, or not adapted to the context, and the legal framework not appropriate. This can create barriers to implementing the legislation.
Capacity building and training vary widely, going from schoolchildren to scholars: National educational programme for primary schools in Denmark; teaching programmes in technical schools around the PassivHaus building, including programmes for architects and builders in Germany; university programmes with units on energy in Italy. Information & awareness raising stay the most standard enabling factors but are still insufficient and untargeted: Awareness raising campaigns by municipalities and at national level in Denmark; website with advice on energy saving for private owners and tenants in Denmark and the Netherlands; posting of energy efficiency levels in estate agencies, energy guides and information desk with information for co-properties and individual houses in France; NGO providing information on financing in Hungary.
Enabling factors
Regulatory mechanisms, such as: Volunteer modernization and no compulsive measures are found in Germany; posting of energy efficiency levels by estate agencies in France; obligation to add certification to selling act in Italy; co-property being able to act as a legal person in Italy, France and the Netherlands; self-management by tenants in Italy and tenants agreement to adopt a renovation operation in the Netherlands. Financial measures are numerous, as listed hereafter, but are often ephemeral and project based, not adapted to large scale renovation operations: EC structural funds; preferential loans and tax incentives for social landlords in France and for owners in Italy; guaranteed 2-3% interest loans for social landlords at regional level in the Netherlands; low interest rate credits from national funding banks -KfW- in Germany; eco-loans / green loans at 0% interest rate for private owners in France and Denmark; revolving fund for social landlords at local level by an independent organization in the Netherlands; 3rd line tenants contribution in France); possible subsidies from state for low income private owners in France and to reach C level in Hungary; regional financial measures in France; exemption of land tax for social owners in France; exemption of property taxes if level A is achieved in Bulgaria; reduced VAT in France; fiscal measure: tax deduction for some energy units and material in France, Italy and Denmark; white certificates - selling of energy savings by social landlords to energy companies in Denmark and France; creation of a national fund fed by fixed rents once loans are paid-, managed by government on the basis of social landlords requests justified by tenants in Denmark; subsidized rent on the basis of energy savings in the Netherlands; public-private partnership in Italy; financial support for changing old boilers in Germany; risk sharing covered by public entities such as municipalities through guarantees. Technical support, less widespread, can cover: Technical assistance for the certification process, accessing financial support and helping draw up funding requests in France; technical assistance for energy measurements by universities in Denmark; development of district heating by municipalities in Denmark and the Netherlands; use of smart metering to raise awareness in Germany.
Barriers to implementing
Often supportive measures are not diversified enough, or not adapted to the context, and the legal framework not appropriate. This can create barriers to implementing the legislation. Below are aspects of legislation that are seen as barriers by the CASH partners: Existing legal framework does not cover all the aspects of energy efficient renovation and legal obligations are not always connected to facilitating instruments like capacity building & training or financing. There can be competitiveness between energy efficient (EE) legal instruments and other legal instruments (i.e. fire security, elevators, building regulations, lead diagnosis, etc.). This could make it hard to agree on how to implement legislation. Goals set by legislation are not always financially achievable or seen as realistic. Weak and unstable financial measures in time, as well as the difference of incentives between national and regional or local levels, make it difficult to reach national targets.
Enabling factors exist, as regulatory mechanisms, financial measures, technical support, but many of them are short term based.
CITIES ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING
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and stakeholders of social housing do not have a strong lobby. National laws are not always applicable to specific local conditions. Moreover, the scaling-up of local regulation, which have proven to be efficient, to national legislation is difficult. Whereas these barriers are general for many policy areas, there are some additional specific factors for the social housing sector: Governments may have high EE targets but social landlords could face difficulties to finance renovation, financial instruments being limited (no access to tax deduction and to green loans for some stakeholders) and not adapted to large scale operations and rents being hard to raise when a high percentage of tenants live on very low incomes or social welfare. Renovation investments charged on rents can generate strong tenants opposition driven by their low awareness and involvement in the renovation process. Mixed properties (social landlord buildings with private owners) do not fit with regulations made for standard average situations and social landlords bear all legal obligations. Multiplicity of funding sources leads to complex application or transactional procedures.
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Coherent legal framework at national, regional and local levels Legislation must be consistent, understandable and scalable. Flexible and adaptable legal framework In this sense, voluntary legal instruments (soft law) associated with a higher control level should be favoured. Involving stakeholders in drawing up bills, including citizens, is key to produce coherent legislation that can be implemented locally with the participation of EE actors, social landlords, private owners and tenants. Scaling-up, into national legal instruments, local Decrees and
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municipal deliberations that have proven their efficiency Individual cities have often difficulties to give feedback on successful local processes to national government or to the EU. By organizing themselves in dedicated organizations and networks (like CECODHAS, Eurocities, Climate Alliance, ICLEI, national municipal associations, etc.) they can have more influence on future legislation. Adopting a global approach to the cost of housing (rent-energy-heating) Being part of the housing costs, heating and energy costs should be integrated in the rent protection systems. Furthermore, claiming saved energy costs to compensate energy investments must be made easier for house owners. Adopting a comprehensive, simple and fast approach to funding Funding should be less oriented towards individual projects or pilots, but be more structural support. It should be made less bureaucratic and procedures homogenized and simplified. Providing adaptive mechanism for rents, on the basis of incomes Flexible mechanism for rents to fit to local context (deprived neighbourhood) and a form of protection from rent increase for existing social rents should be ensured. Favoring the creation of clusters Providing appropriate communication and capacity building Municipalities should receive clear and timely information on legislation and on possible sources of funding in a systematic way and receive appropriate training. Educational programmes for stakeholders, in particular architects and builders, are needed and energy efficient Certification of architects / builders should be promoted. Awareness raising campaigns by cities and by tenants unions should be promoted (e.g. Climate Tour in Frankfurt, Apulia Cluster for Sustainable Development, ORCA Watt/IN project). Even if the occupants of social housing are not always easy to involve in a renovation process, it is essential that they are, just as all other stakeholders, informed and involved.
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MORE TO LEARN
An overview of relevant legislation and institutional framework can be found in the Background Paper made for the thematic meeting in Brindisi. (See CASH website: http://urbact.eu/cash)
Development of European policy related to Energy Efficiency can be found on the website of DG Energy
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/action_plan/action_plan_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/energy/strategies/2011/roadmap_2050_en.htm www.epbd-ca.eu
Other sites
Covenant of mayors: www.eumayors.eu Developments of European and national housing policies: www.powerhouseeurope.eu www.housingeurope.eu
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FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
W hat are the modalities to reduce the investment costs and income gap? H ow can the landlord / tenant dilemma be solved? W hat are the barriers to implementation? W hat are potential solutions for an efficient financial engineering?
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Content
STATE-OF-THE-ART How much money is needed? The European context Existing modalities to reduce the gap between investment costs and income Reducing the investment costs Getting additional income Financing by a third party (TPF) KEY ISSUES DISCUSSED How are the financial instruments perceived by CASH partners? Barriers Specific needs pinpointed by CASH partners Potential solution for efficient financial engineering EXAMPLES FROM PARTNERS
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The Danish Building Fund, Snderborg, Denmark National rent scheme and scoring system, Uthecht, The Netherlands Green Deal, Bridgend, UK KfW programs, Frankfurt, Germany Local financial instrument, Brindisi, Italy CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Funding Investor/user dilemma Networking Recommendations for Managing Authorities MORE TO LEARN
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STATE-OF-THE-ART
How much money is needed? The European context
It has been estimated that the comprehensive energy renovation cost for a dwelling, is in average 23,000 Euro1 (in France). In order to reach the European CO2 reduction goals for housing, approximately 70 to 180 million housing units in the European Union (EU) need to be renovated according to low energy consumption standards. This would require from 1,500 to upwards of 4,000 billion Euros of energy refurbishment investments in the residential sector before 2050, which represents roughly 27% of the energy consumption in the EU. How can this be achieved knowing that energy costs should be reduced by a factor of 3 to 4 and that 2/3 to 3/4 of the renovation costs are often dedicated to general maintenance measures? The trend is to cover these costs in the long term by the added value of the building and in the short term through higher rents. However, it is often not possible in the case of social housing, to raise the rent and certainly not more than the expected reduction in heating costs. Thus, additional financial instruments are required.
of dividends, and that must be repaid within a fixed period. A Green loan represents a sum of money lent for environmentally-friendly investments (including energy savings), at an interest seeking both financial returns and environmental benefits. Soft loans offer flexible terms for repayment, usually at lower than market interest rates, and are provided customarily by government agencies. The difference with the commercial interest rate is mostly covered by the government. Bank guarantee This tool consists in government taking over the bank guarantee to facilitate access to loans for low-income private homeowners, social housing organizations, or socio economically deprived groups of homeowners. Tax credits and VAT reduction In some countries, investments for energy improvements can be deducted from income tax or have a reduced VAT rate. The German government has associated this tool with a certain level of energy efficiency that must be reached through the investment. Tax credits are less likely to be attractive to lower-income households. In some cases, big social landlords are excluded from tax credit reduction. Investment transfer to rent This represents investments paid back by a higher rent. For this tool to be used effectively, an appropriate legal framework has to be in place. In Denmark and the Netherlands, national regulations are in place. See also the chapter on the owner/tenant dilemma.
Existing modalities to reduce the gap between investment costs and income
Available financial instruments for EE renovation in the 9 countries of the CASH partner cities have been analyzed during the roundtable of the 3rd CASH transnational thematic seminar. They have been categorized into 3 modalities for reducing the gap between investment costs and incomes: reducing the investment costs, getting additional income, financing by a third party.
European Investment Bank (EIB) gives energy loans for the public and private sectors, including municipalities for sustainable, competitive and secure energy - with long-term fixed rates.
http://www.eib.org/
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European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF) for commercially viable EE and small-scale renewable energy (RE) projects from 5 to 25 M, targeting municipal and regional authorities and public and private entities acting on behalf of them, such as social housing associations, energy companies, etc.
http://eeef.eu/
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Subsidies (often related to revenues) provided by local and national governments. These are national grants, accessible to all categories of beneficiaries (social landlords, co-properties and individual properties). Grants specifically targeting energy efficiency may be directed either to the social housing provider or directly to the individual resident. They vary in scale from large regeneration projects down to the household level. The funds mostly cover only a percentage of the real costs and are project based, with only a limited number of projects open to funding. Feed-in tariffs The self-production of energy, by solar panels or wind, can be supplied to the public electric power grid. In many countries, regulations ensure a guaranteed minimum price for this energy. This provides an income stream which can help repay capital loans. It can only be used when energy is being produced, in addition to energy efficiency measures. Market instruments : Energy Savings Certificates and Carbon Trading A White Certificate, also referred to as an Energy Savings Certificate (ESC), Energy Efficiency Credit (EEC), or White tag, is an instrument issued by an authorized body guaranteeing that a specified amount of energy savings has been achieved. In most cases, the white certificates are tradable. In many countries, energy companies have energy savings goals to achieve. The amount of energy saved in a housing project can be subject to trading.
European Local Energy Assistance Fund (ELENA) is a technical assistance grant available to local authorities, designed to boost investments in the area of energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources. This grant can be used to cover the technical support necessary to prepare, implement and finance the investment program, such as feasibility and market studies, program structuring, business plans, energy audits, and tender preparation, etc.
http://www.eib.org/products/technical_assistance/elena/index.htm?lang=en
The Marguerite Fund is an independent Pan European equity fund for Energy, Climate Change and infrastructure investments, including sustainable energy production and distribution.
http://www.margueritefund.eu/index.php?pageid=1
Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) from EIB, promotes sustainable investments and growth in urban areas. It concerns repayable investments in projects forming part of an integrated plan for sustainable urban development. These investments, which may take the form of equity, loans and/or guarantees, are delivered to projects via Urban Development Funds. Topics include: environment, innovation and promotion of sustainable energy sources.
http://www.eib.org/projects/publications/jessica.htm?lang=en
Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) program has targeted funding for creative projects promoting EE, increasing the use of RE sources and energy diversification (up to 75% of project costs)
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/index_en.htm
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National financial instruments are mostly available to all beneficiaries but are predominantly short-term based, except in Denmark, Germany and the UK, with long-term instruments; There are differences between countries regarding the contribution of tenants. The following ranking of financial instruments was obtained from CASH partners: most successful: funds, grants, subsidies and soft loans, as well as energy obligations and trading; most complex to implement, even if very interesting: third-party financing, transfer of investments into rents, tax rebates and VAT reduction. In third-party financing, energy savings may not be large enough to repay the investments within a reasonable contractual duration.
Barriers
The creation and use of innovative financing schemes depends on how prevailing barriers for financing and implementing EE renovation projects can be overcome. Main barriers identified by the CASH network during workshops are illustrated in the following Barriers matrix. (See table next page) Most common barriers in the 9 countries, represented in the top of the matrix, are: Limited funding, not sufficient to meet important national targets. Climate and energy efficiency goals are often set by national governments. The funding to achieve these goals is not high enough or not available at all (see CECODHAS comment in Potential solutions section). Due to the overall savings on public budgets in European countries, this situation has only worsened. The available funds are often short-term based and project-oriented, which does not allow mid- and long-term planning needed for large-scale energy efficiency renovations. Beneficiaries are confronted with complex procedures and application forms for relatively little funding amounts. Lack of awareness among owners on funding and on the financial aspects of EE renovation, due to insufficient accessible information, is a widespread problem. There is a lack of coherence between various financial instruments aimed at financing different parts of the renovation process. Many municipalities are facing a fundamental lack of financing possibilities, thus with limited local action. It is difficult to reach an owners agreement in co-properties. There is a lack of control and monitoring of both the use of finance and of the energy usage after the renovation.
Co-properties / condominiums
Private owners
Long term
Short term
Main gaps
Not appicable
* Coming project
s Revolving funds
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Yambol - BG Sonderborg - DN Echirolles - FR CRRA - FR Les Mureaux - FR Frankfurt - GE Eordea - HE Tatabanya - HU Brindisi - IT Utrecht - NL Bridgend - UK
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Barriers - Financial instruments for energy improvement of social housing
energy costs? There is a problem with split incentives, referred to here as the landlord/tenant dilemma. The dilemma has many aspects: in most cases, the costs of EE renovation cannot be neutralized by lower energy costs obtained from reduced consumption, the investor not taking advantage of them directly; the investment remains unchanged while the revenues from energy savings are uncertain and depend on many factors other than the technical measures only; other benefits are difficult to quantify: comfort of living for tenants, extended lifetime and added market value of the property for landlords; the general interest of the society is served through the reduction of CO2 emissions and of energy dependency.
Cash Partners needs - Financial instruments for energy improvement of social housing
Limited funding to meet important national targets/demand > existing funds Ephemertality of funds - Short term based: makes mid term planning difficult Complex and difficult procedures and application forms for little funds / complex EU funding Multiplicity of funding entities for the different renovation works and lack of coherence Owners not well informed about financial opportunities / no notional information platform Municipalities are underfinanced Blocs owned by different owners (mixed & co-properties) need agreement Reduction of state and regional public funding Lack of control and monitoring Risk of no -recovery of investment for district heating Long decision making process to attribute funds Legally binding instruments (i.e. loans) = owners dont want them No warranty funds for the owners EE Result are not guaranteed High amount of contribution from owners Lack of financial mechanism at national level Bureaucracy Many owners refuse mortgage of their property for credit Disparities of financial measures between regions makes difficult reaching national targets Social landlords not supporting investment for district heating increases tenants expenses Low cash flow social landlords Economic crisis generated banks liquidity problem and difficulties to obtain green loans Tenancy law: tenants have to pay higher rents without knowing if ernergy savings will compensate Insufficient rents for social landlords Many insurances needed Majority of housing built before 1945 are not renovated Not opossible for housing assoc. to get a loan without repayment which is not the case for private Access to mortgage is a problem for coproperties Fragmentation of the asset as a result of sale
Simple, understandable and long term financial products / standardization required Greater contribution from Europe and states Common approach for co-properties Better promotion of financial opportunities / National information platform Availability of starting funds and warrantees More funds for municipalities Need for funds at low cost for all (inculding the private sector and social landlords) Common approach for mixed / co-properties & ability to recharge for EE improvements (not only for improvements)
Strong barriers
Easier ways to get EU funds Harmonization of measures between regions One entry point for funding / forming consortia Need for more funding sources coherent between themselves Allow government Village Building Fund to be used for demolition / reconstruction Elevation of regulation ceilings from EU procurement Larger projects Different options for private owners and subsidy scheme Rent index which considers energy measures Better control mechanism of loan programme Tenancy law with cost transfer mechanism based on reduction of energy Need for integration of legal framework and funding scheme Need to broaden eligibility criteria for beneficiaries / year of building construction / max. funding budget / subsidy % (flexibility) Enable social landlords to seek tenants approval to a financial contribution to EE works Direct funding for social housing Local agencies informing and organizing beneficiaries (with means to do it)
For social landlords, access to preferential loans and bigger loans should be Regarding co-properties, the use of an intermediary neutral body to manage the
funding and the savings is seen as a key aspect, as well as the easier access to third-party financing. As for the landlord/tenant dilemma, the question remains when renovating social housing: who will pay for this work and who will benefit from the saving in facilitated.
Yambol - BG Sonderborg - DN Echirolles - FR CRRA - FR Les Mureaux - FR Frankfurt - GE Eordea - HE Tatabanya - HU Brindisi - IT Utrecht - NL Bridgend - UK Strong barriers
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In multiple-owner situations (mixed properties, different forms of owner associations, commodity regulations, etc.) the dilemma can be more complicated. There are different approaches to this dilemma: let the tenants pay a global amount to cover all housing costs, i.e. rent, energy, water, waste... The owner can then adapt the various housing cost elements, without raising the global amount for the tenant. This is mainly possible when there is no individual metering of energy use per apartment; make all the elements of the costs transparent for the tenant, which should be an incentive to optimize energy efficient behavior; an equal sharing of costs by tenants, homeowner and government. The UK Green Deal follows this principle, involving energy companies as the stakeholder (see Example from partners section). In Germany, there has been discussion around a three thirds model, in which: is covered by the tenant through a transfer of the investment to the rent, based on the expected energy savings; by the investor/landlord, to cover renovation needs (without necessarily integrating energy savings) and for the added value of the property; by State funding (or other), the State recovering the VAT (19-25% in EU), as well as some money from reduced unemployment and from CO2 savings. In all these approaches, quality control, monitoring, payment regulations and communication are essential. Possible solutions to the landlord/tenant dilemma are partly determined by national legal systems (see section Example from partners).
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co-design), as initiator of energy saving actions;
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time out of the energy savings. A revolving fund will be installed. Strict standards will be put in place to protect consumers. A new requirement on energy companies is to provide support, with an estimated value of 1.3 billion a year, to ensure equal access to the Green Deal regardless of income or of the type of house. Additional help will be available to ensure the fuel poor get better boilers and fix draughty homes while subsidy will also be provided to help tackle homes that are hard to insulate, including solid wall homes. The Green Deal is expected to kick start around 14 billion of private sector investment over the next decade. It could support at least 65,000 insulation and construction jobs by 2015.
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Funding
To reach national and international climate and energy goals, more funds and
greater contributions are needed from Europe and from national governments for all homeowners. The available financial instruments should be: based on long-term planning, be better coordinated, non-bureaucratic and accessible to all homeowners. National information platforms could help to promote financial opportunities to all categories of owners. National and regional revolving funds (supported by additional fees on rent or energy bills) can be an important instrument, favoring long-term and large-scale projects. Bank guarantees from the government should be used to make funds and loans also accessible for co-properties and small homeowners. Independent third-party managing entities should be created or supported to organize technical, financial and organizational aspects and monitor the measures. They could act as a facilitator between landlords/owners of the housing units and tenants. The role can be taken by local/regional foundations or energy service/supply companies or even by tenants organizations. To guarantee the high quality of measures and a low future energy demand, high quality standards should be associated with funding. Soft/green loans or other (revolving) funds must easily be accessible to all homeowners, including social landlords. Funds should be combined with guarantees for loans so third party engagements will be promoted. Existing funds for house improvement should be more targeted towards EE.
to reduce other running costs for water, electricity and waste -the second rent- should be included. Financial support programs on a national, regional and local level should bridge the gap towards higher energy standards and limited rent increases for low income households. A common approach for social co-property landlords and co-property of low income households should be available to overcome the problem of some owners objections. All technical measures and energy consumptions must be monitored in a transparent and independent manner. Tenants have to be informed in a comprehensive manner. In many countries, energy companies have an obligation to save energy and they also already manage energy financing for individual households. Therefore, they should play an important role in the owner/tenants dilemma.
Networking
Networking of all stakeholders is essential to overcome obstacles.
Investor/user dilemma
The increase in rents, or the payback of energy investments, should be
compensated by energy savings (lowering of energy costs) to solve the owner/ tenant dilemma. To implement energy improvement in an integrative and optimum way, measures
should not only be provided for energy measures in general, but should also be focused on social housing with an integrative approach (energy, living environment, maintenance and integration). The combined use of EU funds such as ESF, ERDF, and EAFRD1, etc. and the stability of funds over the long term, should be favored. The goals and results of the URBACT program and projects should be taken into account. Significant parts of regional funding should be oriented towards the energy improvement of social housing.
1 European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
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MORE TO LEARN
Affordable Warmth for All A guide to improving energy efficiency in the social housing stock, for social housing providers, residents and supporting organizations. Guidebook produced as part of the FinSH project - Financial and Support Instruments for Fuel Poverty in Social Housing. 2010
www.ecuba.it/English%20Guide.pdf
Anforderungen an einen Sanierungsfahrplan, Auf dem Weg zu einem klimaneutralen Gebudebestand bis 2050,
www.nabu.de
Energy Efficiency Governance Handbook, International Energy Agency, Second Edition, OECD/IEA. 2010 Energy Retrofitting of social housing through energy performance contracts A feedback from the FRESH project: France, Italy, United Kingdom and Bulgaria,
www.fresh-project.eu
Financing energy saving measures in the Dutch social housing sector - WP2 report to the InoFin project, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), ECN-E06-049, December 2006 Guideline on Social Housing Energy Retrofitting Financing Schemes in EU New Member States; 2008, report of the InoFin project; Innovative Financing of Social Housing Refurbishment in Enlarged Europe
www.join-inofin.eu
Background Paper CASH Thematic Seminar Financial Instruments, Frankfurt, 7th, 8th and 9th September 2011,
http://urbact.eu/cash
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CITIZENS INVOLVEMENT
Why is citizen involvement important? When and how are citizens involved in the EE renovation process? How are citizens involved in energy savings? What are the barriers, gaps and solutions to citizen involvement?
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Content
STATE-OF-THE-ART Citizens involvement in the EE renovation process Behavioural changes KEY ISSUES DISCUSSED
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When and how are citizens involved in the EE renovation process? How are citizens involved in energy savings? Barriers and solutions EXAMPLES FROM PARTNERS Bridgend City, UK Echirolles, France Tatabanya, Hungary Frankfurt, Germany CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Bridgend Resolution MORE TO LEARN
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STATE-OF-THE-ART
Citizens involvement in the EE renovation process
In the guidelines for Sustainable Energy Action Plans of the Covenant of Mayors, citizen participation is mentioned as a precondition. Several projects have covered the topic on WHEN are citizens involved in an EE renovation process, but stayed general and didnt distinguish between the mode of involvement - information versus decision making.
5.timely and easily accessible information for users increases their knowledge and commitment to energy savings or behavioural transformation. Even though this network underlines key principles such as the involvement of users from the very beginning of a project and the integration of user groups in the co-creation/design/co-production phase, it does not distinguish the type of involvement -information or decision making - and doesnt inform on the precise steps of the involvement process. With regard to the HOW, it doesnt distinguish between tools done for and the tools done with the users to influence their behaviour.
http://www.sci-network.eu/
Behavioural changes
Urban climate policy can only be effective with citizen participation. In the housing sector much energy can be saved not only with technical measures, but also with behavioural changes. Projects designed around the behavioural aspects focus in providing information or free services to tenants. Generally the awareness-raising tools are made FOR tenants, versus WITH tenants.
- The SCI-Network
The SCI-Network produced guidance on user involvement in sustainable renovation projects. Their key preliminary findings are that: 1.it is necessary to integrate properly the users into the procurement process to really profit from proper functioning of an EE building; 2.user involvement can be used in all different phases of a refurbishment process including at the very beginning; 3.users represent important stakeholders in the needs assessment from a procurement point of view. Post occupancy evaluation and feedback are crucial; 4.different groups can be integrated in the co-creation/design/co-production of new innovation;
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Tools used to support households were diversified: - Meeting in citizens houses during holidays - Guides translated in languages talked in the district - Hotline - Web - Committee The most effective advice was: - Lowering indoor temperature (ideally to 18C) - Installing flow regulators to most used taps - Adding roof insulation - Turning-off leisure appliances. However, all the advices was produced FOR citizens. - The Caritas Energy Service project of the Frankfurter Caritas association works with long term unemployed people who are being trained as energy advisors for households with social aid. The energy advisors install water and energy saving materials, thus helping immediate savings of over 20% of electricity. In Germany, more than 70 000 checks in more than 100 cities have been made. In this case, as well, advice developed BY an organisation is provided TO citizens. Caritas-Projekt
http://www.stromspar-check.de
Types and content of the renovation during the planning phase Design-choices of EE systems, equipment and techniques
Denmark is the only country where legislation requires tenants input in the renovation design. In general, main co-production / co-decisions are on: the opportunity of renovation, on the rent-charge couple, the changes required in the works during the renovation except in Bulgaria where they can participate in the renovation-, the analysis of charges and of equipment / systems malfunctions during the occupation.
The aims of the CASH 4th Thematic Seminar were to explore how to involve tenants, upstream of the EE renovation process, in the decision making and how to develop with them awareness raising tools and programmes influencing energy consumption behaviours. Facilitating the communication between the different actors and developing a communication strategy with clear goals on what the citizen participation were also key objectives.
The Workshop on barriers & solutions, identified the following key barriers for the WHEN:
Reluctance of main stakeholders (social landlords and designers) considering that users are not experts and that their involvement will represent more work; financing criteria not providing the flexibility required to involve citizens and lack of funding
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dedicated to citizens motivation; rigid regulation and very small budget for personnel dedicated to citizens involvement; legal obligation for the involvement of tenants in decision making, faced by lack of majority, tenants not being actively involved; weak relationship with elected representatives and social landlords; the will to keep cheap rents; no dedicated time in the EE renovation process; long time frame of the process as opposed to users time frame targeting quick results which affects their motivation; available information often too complicated and/or its delivery too late; citizens not skilled enough; low involvement in the evaluation of the renovation project leading to energy inefficient behaviours; energy tariffs often not negotiated with citizens. In this context, CASH partners have expressed the need for secure, flexible and long term funding, as well as legal options for citizens participation; a well developed communication strategy and plan, providing a platform to understand the needs of citizens and integrating information from citizens, with an array of tools tailored to the target groups; constant links between citizens, SHOs and elected members during all stages of the renovation process, together with continuity and transparency; citizens empowerment and training to allow them to fulfill their role in the participation process. Barriers for the HOW relate to the sociological composition and education levels of users and investment time required to coproduce tools, as well as bills and guides difficult to understand and lack of understanding of complex EE equipment. More detailed outcomes from these workshops are provided in the following tables. Solutions and recommendations are presented in the Bridgend Resolution at the end of the mini guide.
When and how are citizens involved in the EE renovation process?
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INFORMING
PLANNING - DECISION
Information by the County on the strategy (Bridgend, UK) Information by City and State, on purposes and benefits of renovation activities, as well as on financial issues (Yambol-Bulgaria, co-properties) Information by City about available funding sources for renovation for residents (Tatabanya- Hungary, co-properties) Energy platform project: energy diagnosis made by students to grasp the context (Les Mureaux, France)
CO-PRODUCING
Diagnosis while walking with residents and City + meeting between Social landlords, City and tenants to exchange on the opportunity of renovation (not on the type and content of the renovation) + tenants petition supporting landlords in getting state funds (Echirolles, France) Tenants vote for the approval of the renovation presented to them by the Social landlord -go or not decision(Sonderborg, Denmark) 70% of residents have to agree on the renovation work (Utrecht, Netherlands) 69% of owners have to agree on the renovation work in a General Assembly (Yambol, Bulgaria co-properties) Depending on the scheme, tenants are consulted to negotiate the design proposals but the design is limited by funding and other standard constraints (Bridgend, UK) Debates and vote on works related to comfort but not on EE renovation designed by architects hired by social landlords. The negotiation is on the rent-charges couple (Echirolles, France) EQB reference table built on a survey done by Social landlords on tenants comfort needs but not on EE renovation design- (CRRA, France) Legislation requires tenants inputs in the renovation design. Some social landlords coordinate inspiration trips with the tenants for the design (Sonderborg, Denmark) Meetings between tenants and companies to participate in the renovation work plan on the basis of their needs (Utrecht, Netherlands) Decision of the owners General Assembly on the renovation works and on the assignation of the company is mandatory (Yambol, Bulgaria) Tenants are consulted on the changes required in the works (Bridgend, UK)
Information of tenants by Social landlords (Utrecht, Netherlands) Information meeting between City, Social landlords and tenants to present the renovation design by legal obligation- and relocation of tenants by proactive social workers (Echirolles, France)
Social landlords inform tenants about the renovation works while relocating tenants for large renovation works (Utrecht, Netherlands) Residents are informed about the schedule of the interventions (Tatabanya, Hungary) Information meetings on works are organised for tenants by Social landlords. During renovation, a reference person can be contacted (Echirolles, France) Tenants are informed about the works from the inception (Bridgend, UK) Public meetings are held to inform tenants on the works. The public association Rciprocit produces communication tools and inform on the renovation (Les Mureaux, France) Tenants are informed about their energy consumptions by the social landlords during specific sessions at the entrance of the building and by their electricity and heat bills produced by the companies or by the social landlords in the case of collective heating but information is often not comprehensive- (Echirolles, France) Tenants pay their own energy bill and are informed by the energy supply company about their energy consumption (Utrecht, Netherlands) Project of creating in 2012 a Service charge observatory (Les Mureaux, France) Tenants are informed when problems arise (Bridgend, UK) Communication for tenants by constructors on the use of new equipment with heating modernisation (Tatabanya, Hungary)
OCCUPATION / MAINTENANCE
An annual analysis of heating and electricity charges is performed between the social landlord, tenants union, companies and tenants representative for their regularisation Residence Committee-. Pressures are being put on district heating company by city and the tenants unions to reduce tariffs (Echirolles, France) Tenants union supports tenants association in coproducing monitoring tools (Utrecht, Netherlands) Energy Committee with city, companies and tenants to improve the situation (Les Mureaux, France) Satisfaction survey performed by social landlord (Bridgend, UK) Monitoring is subject of regulations adopted by the General Assembly of owners (Yambol, Bulgaria)
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How are citizens involved in energy savings? 1/2 How are citizens involved in energy savings? 2/2
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COMMUNICATION MATERIAL
OTHERS
Energy resource centres Free personal energy diagnosis (e.g. Energy ambassadors programme) Independent tenants advisor Visits on site by experts District manager Hotlines Ready workshops / Tupperware meetings organised by local energy agency Positive Families energy competition Individual meetings organised by social landlords for an analysis of energy bills Training sessions performed by tenants union Display European campaign / energy saving campaigns
Opinion and recommendation book Interactive tenants forums Tenants advisors trained by social landlords who can speak in mother tongues of tenants
PERSONAL ADVICE
Public meeting Road shows Mail shots and leaflet drops Reporting mechanisms through reports and feedback
Tenants Union representation on Social landlord Management Board Tenants association on Steering committee / tenants elected on the Management Board of Social landlords Negotiation between Social landlords and tenants on rent increase Involvement of local district organisations Tenants panels / committees Tenants participation to draft public plans Decision making process planning Legal framework for tenants involvement in the decision of the con struction/renovation budget, in some countries Legal framework for tenants involvement in the decision making Institutional support to tenants initiatives Flexible and long term financial tools or projects Stable long term link between tenants representatives and elected members from the city Training of tenants to implement simple renovation work Local referendums Children as ambassadors Integrated approach, covering energy consumption with other components (water, waste) Champions
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Tenants are given the choice for comfort works (as the type of kitchen). EE works choices are linked to WHQS and to funding which is limited to certain types of works, thus restricting citizens choices. Prior to EE renovation V2C identifies tenants issues and support needs. An open day is arranged to introduce tenants to the contractor, to outline the project scope and funding restrictions and to note tenants choices on comfort works. Open days are also used for voting demolition. An agreement on structural alterations and finishes is reached through group discussion, however the scheme could proceed without tenants approval.
Communities First
Communities First (a WG funded programme to reduce poverty), has assisted in the development of a training programme with V2C to involve citizens in devising community access plans. Voluntary community champions were identified and given the skills in design, planning and communication. Even though the experience was not in the co-design of the EE renovation process, it allowed emphasis of key principles of Community engagement, such as: - establishing driving motivations - exploring wider options - clarifying and reconciling options and motivations - acknowledging geographical / spatial / socio-economic differences - tackling the issue of information asymmetry (unknown knowns, unknown unknownsblind, secret and missing knowledge) and building trust - testing perception against facts - analysis and feasibility. It also allowed identification of key procedures:
WG has acknowledged the importance of tenant participation to produce efficient and responsive public services and to implement its housing strategy. WG produced the National tenant participation strategy for wales in 2007, aimed at, social landlords and other relevant bodies sharing information, ideas and decision-making with tenants and relevant stakeholders, and working with them to agree:
how their homes and local environment should be managed what services and service improvements are needed priorities how they will work together to achieve these.
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/housing/publications/ tenantstrategy/?lang=en
V2C inform their tenants of any changes and engage consultants / architects in the design of EE renovation. On EE renovation aspects, choices are given to tenants on the type of insulation (fibre or polystyrene), but not on the type of boiler or glazing.
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- securing support from key people - identifying community champions / potential community leaders - setting-up working groups to build ownership - identifying aims and objectives - conducting citizen survey - identifying initiatives, schemes and measures - meeting in community territory convenient for citizens - facilitation and presentation in a language adapted to the target group - participation through brainstorming and through activities adapted to different age groups and the public - consulting people constantly and explaining technical and legal constraints - listening to citizens in their own languages - ensuring engagement and post-implementation engagement. Rockwool based near Bridgend, produces sustainable insulation products created from natural -mainly mineral wool- and recycled products, for Wales the UK and world-wide. Rockwool not only puts emphasis on the environmental aspect of its production but has integrated in its approach the involvement of citizens and has stressed that early communication is critical in the insulation process through: open days at local level residents days out fish & chips supper community based charities / cultural groups newsletter with maps of works and photographic imagery of the renovation area with varying colour schemes on the walls;
http://www.rockwool.co.uk/
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Providing client support with tenants liaison (on site communication) is necessary to ensure the quality of work through solving citizens requests and gaining their understanding and adherence. Training unemployed, often from neighbourhoods to be renovated, for insulating lofts (pilot project) and working with organizations in creating jobs and training people are other innovative activities.
Echirolles, France
Through the example of Village 2 district EE renovation operation 2003-2012 the Echirolles Local Support Group illustrated WHEN and the HOW are citizens involved in the EE renovation process. It showed that citizens are involved since the beginning of the process, but only through consultation and information, except if tenants contribute to the financing of the renovation through rent increases. Tenants are involved:
Rockwool manufacturer
92 at Planning phase: - in the emergence of the renovation idea through meetings and diagnosis while walking; at Design phase: - at the reception of the funding agreement through an information meeting and during the elaboration of the pre-program of work through an individual survey focused on comfort aspects; - through an information meeting on types of works, during which works related to comfort are debated; - if tenants are requested to contribute to the financing of the renovation, scenarios prepared by SHO and designers are presented to tenants and the negotiation is focused on the costs. Tenants vote by mail, the scenario and rent increase and the adoption of final scenario is performed during a public meeting; - the renovation methodology (with planning of works and impacts) is presented and validated during a meeting. at Renovation phase: - a follow-up of works is achieved through regular meetings at the foot of the building, to analyse malfunctions and disturbances and works evolution and impacts. In the case of collective heating installation, additional meetings are held to explain its management; - at the closure of works, an information meeting is held on post-works management. at Occupation phase: - energy consumption results - from the monitoring performed by the SHO on spot measurements - are shared through a tenants committee Comit de Rsidence or through quarterly meetings. Individual information is sent by mail to tenants by SHO to disseminate good practices. A guide of good practices is given at occupancy; - the control of operating costs and charges is done during an annual meeting between SHO, tenants union and tenants association / representatives; - first monitoring results are presented at a public meeting.
Tools used to act on energy consumption behaviours (HOW), are mainly produced by SHO and public agencies and sometimes by the tenants union. The few tools co-conceived with citizens relate to collective heating. Main tools developed FOR citizens are: communication material: mails, guides, flyers, brochures, newsletters, websites, panels and sometimes theatre; personal advice: consultation, Tupperware meetings, training tenants representatives (mainly by tenants union), competition between families;
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Tatabanya, Hungary
The district heating Co., co-owned by Tatabanya municipality, is developing several measures to support homeowners and co-properties owners in reducing their energy consumption and reducing CO2 emissions: Development of a heating modernisation fund to connect households to the district heating network - from 1700 to 2400 Euros with a rate of contribution of 25-33% - In the first two years, 10% of the targeted apartments have been connected, counting for 31% energy savings; Measurement appliances setting on radiators Information and personal advice, through: - support in filling the Heating fund application form, support from experts to residents association - forums (co-properties, tenants) - web: with information on actions performed and in course (description of co-properties modernised and monitoring of their energy consumption), demonstrating that despite the old behaviour of local people (old coal town) the interventions have a positive impact reducing their energy consumption.
http://www.trf-kft.hu
Frankfurt, Germany
The ecologic renovation project Heinrich-Lbke-Siedlung of the citys housing company ABG Frankfurt Holding has integrated citizens involvement since the planning phase. It has organised workshops (60 participants out of 1600 tenants invited) to discuss the project at the planning phase. The project aiming at 90% CO2 emissions reduction was presented to tenants, informing them about the photovoltaic panels to be installed, the renovation of the heat distribution network and the green spaces planned. Beside these information actions on the EE renovation process, it is in the organization of the green spaces that tenants were actively involved.
http://www.heinrich-luebke-siedlung.de/
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efficiency measures and change behaviours - use of an integrated approach to renovation using tools to improve sustainable development in the cities (energy savings, social development, economic efficiency and fairness, cooperation between all stakeholders).
As a conclusion
Citizens involvement:
- is a necessary condition to make sustainable renovation (energy efficiency, fuel poverty, social inclusion) - will be an integrated part of our local action plan and we encourage all other cities and stakeholders to do so.
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MORE TO LEARN
The place of inhabitants
www.housingeurope.eu
SCI-Network: Guidance on user involvement in sustainable renovation projects T.B. Salcedo, A. Straub and H.J. Visscher, Delft University of Technology, SHELTER Report D 3.1 - Energy renovation process, Overview of SHELTER Social Housing Organisations, Coordination of professionals
www.shelterproject-iee.eu
The Environment Agency of Bristol published a paper that contains a review of a variety of public participation techniques, with their main advantages and disadvantages (p. 28).
http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/dispay.php?name=STRE135-E-E
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W hy is strategic energy planning key for social housing ? W hat are the critical steps and ingredients for successful strategic energy planning? R educing energy dependency through diversified green local energy sources The role of green cogeneration and the concept of decentralized power T he importance of demand reduction
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Content
STATE-OF-THE-ART Energy transition KEY ISSUES DISCUSSED Strategic Energy Planning Roles and obligations of energy producters and distributors Challenges, barriers and solutions EXAMPLES FROM PARTNERS Snderborg ProjectZero, Denmark Snderborg Green District Heating, Denmark Snderborg EUC Syd training center, Denmark Frankfurt CHP program, Germany Tatabnya CHP and district heating system, Hungary CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations for EC and Managing Authorities MORE TO LEARN
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STATE-OF-THE-ART
Energy transition
Ambitious climate targets leading to carbon zero (set by many cities and states) can only be reached when both renewable energy and energy efficiency will be implemented. Several studies, as in Frankfurt and Snderborg (see illustration) demonstrate that fact. As stated by Leif Snderborg Peterson, to develop the energy systems of the future and increase energy security, we need an integrated process that will optimize the entire system, from energy production, conversion, transportation and distribution, to efficient end-use with significant reductions in energy consumption (2012). Regarding the energy sources, he states that: for many countries, energy security concerns are accompanied by a preference for renewable options which can reduce their dependence on imported oil and gas, as well as helping to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Solar energy, which can be used to generate heat and electricity, produces 22% of the worlds electricity. Wind energy, which covers currently 1.6% of global electricity consumption, has the potential of cost-effectively covering 30 to 50% of the electricity consumption. The coming decade is seeing the introduction of wind power in the built environment. Hydropower is a mature technology. Biomass presently covers approximately 10% of the worlds energy consumption. Its potential is estimated to cover up to half of the worlds energy needs in 2050. However, biomass production should not compete with food supply. Geothermal energy is used in 76 countries for heating and cooling and in 24 countries to produce electricity and suitable aquifers offer promising potential. He underlines that to date R&D work on energy storage has focused on electricity and that there is considerable technical and economic potential for heat storage; there is a need for a smart grid which will link production and end-use at the local level and that new end-use technologies have to be widely introduced including highly insulated houses, smart equipment, energy storage and local energy supplies. Finally, he pinpointed the too insignificant welfare gains to motivate end-users and suggests, as well, variable tariffs and taxes to stimulate flexible demand and demand shifting.
Energy Strategy
The development of an energy strategy represents a seven-step process, as explained by Mr. Christian Eriksen and Mr. Peter Rathje, respectively Coordinator and Managing Director of Project Zero, the public-private foundation created to coordinate the planning process of Snderborgs 2029 Carbon neutral Energy Strategy.
Source: Snderborgs Energy Strategy http://urbact.eu/cash
This seven-step process consists in: Getting a big picture by understanding what is the population, the industrial and the economic growth in the area - in all sectors - for the short, mid and long term, to define the demand. Creating a baseline, identifying what kind of energy is produced and used at the present time with heavy consumption by sector: housing, industries, transportation, agriculture - and the import / export scheme, to establish a carbon baseline, as well as, making the inventory of local resources and of potential renewable
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energy sources (keeping biomass at the lowest, as a temporary solution due to its competition with food) and evaluating the distance between energy source and end users. Some of the CASH partners (Frankfurt, Bridgend, Snderborg, Rhne-Alpes) have already executed a potential study for renewable energy sources in their area see CRRA France, map on wind resource:
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Energy Plan, understanding what produces CO2, identifying and mapping the main stakeholders so as to take into account their specific values and to determine the scope of the Plan. This means understanding who own the energy companies private sector, municipality, citizens -, what are the environmental responsibilities and the business model of the big and small industries and enterprises, to influence their value system. It also means, having them on-board, together with parliamentarians for legal aspects, the mayor and members of the council to ensure continuity, as well as with citizens segmenting them by age, income, culture to cover the different motivations;
Elaborating the Strategic Energy Plan, pointing out core activities of the project
Workshop
The criteria for strategic energy planning identified by participants to the thematic seminar, for given energy scenarios, are as follows:
integrating all the parameters (energy but also water, waste) - keeping in mind to be market driven -, having the Region on board to help share the same vision with the same value system creating an area thinking and fixing a challenge; together to have the Plan becoming a common WE issue between all stakeholders. Advertising in newspapers on a continuous basis.
Map of Wind potential of the Rhne-Alpes region, Source: CETE, Lyon, France, June 2012
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are ultimately passed back to the end user/ customer. The Energy Efficiency Obligation results in more energy savings than would be obtained from an equivalent rise in the price of energy alone. A disadvantage is that public obligations for private companies are, despite the success stories, not everywhere implemented and need a constant monitoring and enforcement. Energy distribution is more often still in the hands of the government, historically owning the infrastructure. It can also be owned by the users as for the heat distribution networks in Denmark. The available distribution network is decisive for the energy options for the end users. And once a distribution infrastructure is available, economics requires its optimal use. Availability and ownership of distribution networks are relevant not only for energy efficiency but also for options for the future energy transition process (legal, financial and technical possibilities). Changes of cost structure aspects were analysed on the basis of fix and variable costs. They are related to the type of enterprise (public or private) due to the provision of expected return on the assets to banks and investors which is higher in the private sector. They are related, as well, to the kind of energy sources: - Fossil energy supply is characterized by low per kWh construction costs and high production costs, which represents variable energy costs for the end user. - Renewable energy supply is characterized by higher per kWh construction costs but very low production costs and low marginal cost to generate additional kWh, which offers lower and more stable energy costs for the end user. Other aspects, such as the fluctuation in the availability of the primary energy source - highlighting the importance of favouring energy mix-, as well as grey energy costs and environmental impacts, have to be taken into consideration.
The exercise demonstrated that slightly different priorities can lead to completely different activity plans. While setting up partnerships one should be aware of the goals and starting points of the potential partner. To support cooperation between partners with different starting points, two methods are recommended: look for common interests and find activities that have positive effect for all partners.
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It is crucial to find common goals and activities to get a real commitment. The acceptance by the different stakeholders - large industries representing big consumers, power companies including black producers producing coal, oil, clean technology companies, public stakeholders such as municipality, region, ministers, social housing organizations (SHO) who are also big consumers, citizens and NGOs who can influence the project - of the vision, of the target, of the process and of the load to share is crucial. Differences in working culture or in procedures of decision making and in agendas can be a barrier for close cooperation and it is advised to let partners do those things that they are good at. Their representation through the creation of an independent body to get their appropriation of the project is essential.
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Workshop
In line with the previous chapter, it is relevant to know the position and priorities of partners with regard to the energy strategy. In a workshop the CASH partner explored the consequences of different models of ownership of energy production in the negotiation process, as illustrated in the table below:
ADVANTAGES Innovation, because expertise is at hand, and innovation is economically stimulated. Private companies have in general a costefficient structure. The city has the freedom to choose suppliers for the consumers. Private companies can offer different tariffss for different customers. Stable price. Creation of green jobs. More influence for the consumers. Local interests are possible. Possibility to reinvest money in new technology. Possibility to reinvest profit into EE activities, because money stays available for the community. Local interests can be promoted. DISADVANTAGES Profits are for the company and will not be available for the community. Consumers have little influence in what is provided. There is a risk for low interest in renewable energy.
PRIVATE OWNED
MODEL OF OWNERSHIP
PUBLIC OWNED
an initial investment one cannot start and convince others to commit financially Getting the initial financing through the connection to higher level of government (regional and national) and involving national agencies to give the Strategic Energy Plan a regional scope is essential;
CONSUMER OWNED
THE POLITICAL ACCEPTANCE is difficult to get since it depends on short term aspects.
Focus should be put on energy sources availability and cost, yearly targets based on energy balance, secured energy supply ,creation of green jobs, citizens involvement
New skills and capacities that may not be available before. Training can be used
to develop skills at stakeholders and target groups. When training is not available then external knowledge must be introduced. This may be needed only in the start-up phase, but should anyhow be calculated as additional costs.
legislation and to the lack of legal framework to develop specific sectors of green energy sources (as coastal wind turbines in the case of Snderborg);
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The geothermal facility with the waste and wood chip incineration Heat Power Station, is now supplying since mid-2012 more than 10.000 households, businesses and industrial customers in the centre of Snderborg. Coupled with thermal solar heating facilities (6000 m2 solar collectors) and other sources, the network will be expanded to supply approx. 60 % of households on the Island of Als with green, CO2-neutral district heating. Broager District Heating Company has been running a solar heating plant since late 2009. The plant has proven so successful that the company now is looking to expand their facilities and become 100% based on renewable energy in cogenerating heat and electricity for their customers and the grid. Grsten District Heating Company is currently underway with a project that will construct the worlds largest combined thermal solar heating and absorption heat pump plant, reducing their current CO2-emissions by more than 90%. Plans are made for expanding the new plant to cover a larger supply-area and fully replace fossil fuels. The long term plans are to link up the different district heating islands located at urban areas throughout Snderborg Municipality into a large, intelligent, green district heating network supplying CO2-neutral heat and hot water.
areas manure and waste from farming, geothermal heat, wind, solar heat and photovoltaic and using green combined heat and power generation systems; Creation of an intelligent, dynamic energy system, in relation of the district heating network; Creation of economic growth and new jobs by increasing demand for energy retrofit and craftsmen (strategy to create 500 new local jobs in the construction industry).
http://www.projectzero.dk/
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An objective is to create new ways of teaching and learning in the fields of new energy producing and energy saving technologies. The plan is to establish a national and international training centre for renewable energy.
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Energy Strategy
Social housing should be part of the climate policy of the whole city. A clear vision and an energy strategy for the whole city and region are a precondition For a successful energy strategy it is important to have an overview of the present
for the transformation of energy supply and distribution for social housing.
situation, potentials and problems, as well as of the different stakeholders and their interest. One of the objectives of a clear vision and an energy strategy should be the creation of more green jobs. Setting the goals of the Energy Plan should be done in close cooperation with different stakeholders. The Buy-in of stakeholders is key. The process of active building and creating ownership is needed to gather many actors behind a common strategy. Understanding the position and, interests of potential partners is essential to negotiate a common strategy. Technical, legal, organizational and social frameworks are just as decisive as the political support.
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The transformation from fossil energy towards a low carbon energy supply with
- with large heat storages (as in Denmark) is very helpful to integrate and balance the fluctuations of wind and solar electricity. Communities of tenants can be involved in the production and distribution of renewable energy, to keep transport lines short and fixed costs low. Combined heat and power is essential for community heating (and vice versa) and should be implemented with a communication and common decisions or common property of the local community of social housing tenants and should be supported by the European Community.
flexible and efficient method for energy transformation. Cogeneration: - offers tremendous efficiency and cost savings by simultaneously producing heat and electricity - saves more than 30% of total primary energy compared to separated production, - may reduce the total energy costs for tenants, - can be implemented by energy companies (contracting), the social land lords or tenants associations, - with district heating nets is a basis for the easier switching from fossil energies to renewable energy (biomass, geothermal heat, municipal waste, solar thermal energy)
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MORE TO LEARN
An explanation on the social housing system in Denmark. KAB is a major organization in the Danish non profit housing sector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktsghMTds7w
CHP Goes Green, and IEE funded project on the role of Combined Heat Power in promoting renewable energy. Both CASH partners Frankfurt and Rhne-Alpes are partners in this project.
http://www.chp-goes-green.info/
Energy efficiency obligations the EU experience; ECEEE briefing for DG Energy on EU energy efficiency obligations on energy companies and their importance in meeting climate change and energy security challenges; March 2012, European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
http://www.eceee.org/EED/energy-efficiency-obligations
Non-fossil energy technologies in 2050 and beyond, by Leif Sonderberg Petersen, in International Sustainable Energy Review, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2012.
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W hich are the critical ingredients to optimize a social housing energy efficient renovation project? How could the existing involvement of the key actors in the different project phases be optimized? W hat are the barriers and solutions to project management? W hat are the coordination and control mechanisms? What are the differences in project management between social landlords and co-properties?
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Content
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workshop 1: barriers and solutions encountered in SHEER project management workshop 2: coordination and control mechanism workshop 3: optimizing the involvement of key actors in SHEER phases and promoting synergies between them EXAMPLES FROM PARTNERS Valleys to Coast social landlord, Bridgend, UK A regional standard for energy renovation of social housing, Rhne-Alpes Region, France: Utrecht Municipality, The Netherlands Echirolles, France CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Key recommendations for Social housing efficient energy renovation project management are provided by CASH partners through the Yambol declaration from September 2012. MORE TO LEARN
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STATE-OF-THE-ART
As recognized universally, Project management -applied to any field- is the discipline of defining, planning, securing through risk analysis, executing, controlling and monitoring project steps up to project closure.
Project management methodologies may vary, but in general they all use the following steps:
1. Initiation: idea for a desirable outcome defined with the users 2. Planning and Design: detailed project description defining and planning activities
their relationship-, time, cost and resources on the basis of project constraints and risks
3. Execution: building the project team and implementation of the work defined in the
project management plan
4. Controlling and Monitoring: measuring the on-going project activities, monitoring the
project variables against the project baseline and identifying corrective actions to address risks and problems
5. Closing: concluding all activities, analysing the final outcome and signing off the
project with key stakeholders.
In the context of SHEER project, this methodological approach corresponds to the following phases of energy efficient (EE) renovation process:
1. I nception, program of requirements and feasibility study (Initiation)
esign tendering and design (Planning and Design) 2. D onstruction tendering and Construction (Execution) 3. C efects inspection and Completion (Controlling and Closing) 4. D xploitation (Monitoring) 5. E However, having these steps correctly identified and logically organized is not sufficient to ensure the efficiency of a SHEER project and the minimization of its cost.
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The key actors present in the SHEER phases have been identified thoroughly by the SHELTER Promoting Energy Renovation Intelligent Energy Europe project (2010-2013), which has analysed the cases of 6 social landlords renovation processes in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy and UK. They have identified seven main types of actors involved:
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Social landlords / Social housing organizations (SHO) Tenants Designers, architects, engineers, consultants Construction companies including installation companies Maintenance companies Manufacturers Investors: banks, municipalities, governments, energy companies.
SHELTER has presented the phases in which these actors are involved, using the 6 cases. The CASH network has gone a step further and has analysed, on the basis of current CASH partners cases:
BARRIERS
Long time frame of SHEER operations; Rigid financial frame (once approved it cant change with project evolution); Loans-conditions: availability, timescale, bad credit rating, cost; Equal treatment for funding between the public social landlords and the private Misunderstanding of EE benefits by the stakeholders Weak role of cities in SHEER process: weak institutional role in SHEER
low income owners
W hat are the barriers encountered by CASH partners in SHEER project What are their recommendations regarding coordination and control mechanisms? H ow the existing involvement of the key actors in the SHEER phases could be
improved and how synergies could be promoted between them? management and potential solutions?
The goal of this analysis was to optimize the engineering of the above mentioned social, scientific, practical and economic variables and obtain a major shift in energy consumption in the social housing sector, while keeping the investment costs at a minimum and rent/charges couple stable or even lower.
operations and not enough communication with social landlords and with private owners to ensure linkages with municipal energy policies and to help them carry out the process; Bad quality of renovation work due to lack of training of companies on SHEER requirements (construction companies, maintenance companies, etc) and on the necessary coordination between work types / professions; Risk of gaps between the design and the results, particularly regarding the real energy savings; Communication gap between city, companies and owners (mostly low income owners); Low income owners reject the idea of loans -even low interest bank loans under government guarantee-; Poor motivation of low income owners.
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SOLUTIONS
Stakeholders involvement:
Bring together stakeholders to work on a shared action plan with shared targets Involve as upstream as possible the stakeholders of the implementation phases Bring associations to work on the site after the renovation work to help tenants Identify referent citizens among active citizens of the community and use existing
adapting to their new living environment; -in particular, involve construction companies in the design phase; (as URBACT Local Support Groups)
associations to motivate low income owners to engage themselves in EE renovation explaining them the interest of contracting a preferential loan.
Role of municipalities:
Make cities play the role of facilitators for financial and technical aspects Develop links between SHEER programmes and city policies (energy and social
policies, as well as, urban policies) through the establishment of shared: targets, standards, renovation / demolition options, location and type of renovation; Ensure, as a first step, that the building fulfils the minimum conditions to be renovated through the development of a municipal database with information on buildings conditions.
Communication:
Promote communication between stakeholders: within departements, as well as,
between city, social landlords and private owners; Ensure efficient transfer of information throughout the project and between all stakeholders.
Funding:
Ensure the participation of investors after the design phase, during the construction
and the maintenance phases to provide financial flexibility and readjust the funding scheme with realities of the project evolution if needed; Ensure an equal access to preferential loans &/or other financial sources to Social landlords and to low income owners (public/private sectors) and design financial instruments covering all aspects of SHEER at the appropriate timescale and offering flexibility to allow adjustments with project evolution. Balance the spending over the SHEER process to avoid penalties linked to the irregular rhythm of the different stages of the project.
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The coordinating body would be actively supported by an advisory board, similar to a URBACT Local Support Group, whose function would be to provide advice at key stages along the SHEER process, made up of: Bodies involved at any level in urban renewal; Representatives of national agencies linked to EE; Energy companies (gas, heating, electricity); Third party investors / financing body. Other critical ingredients for the control and coordination an independent Peer review of EE renovation proposals with: city, experts from national entities related to the topic, financial entities, social landlords and tenants-. It should be organized at an early stage to ensure the selection of optimum scenario, while adding quality to the project through the integration of peers experiences / know-how. The Peer review should be kept during the SHEER project life; a communication plan should be elaborated from the inception of a project and managed by the city. Continuous communication should be provided to the different stakeholders. It should develop a sense of ownership and help avoid conflicts.
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PLANNING SHO Governing bodies / Municipality Investors Designer / consulting firm Tenants Associations Constructions companies Manufacturers Maintenance companies
DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION
MAINTENANCE
Existing situation
Workshop 3 : optimizing the involvement of key actors in sheer phases and promoting synergies between them
OPTIMIZING THE INVOLVEMENT OF KEY ACTORS
Differences exist in the stakeholders involved in an EE renovation project performed by a social landlord and/or by an owners association in Western countries and by private owners in Eastern countries. These cases have been analysed so as to be more specific and pertinent when establishing recommendations to optimize the involvement of actors in SHEER phases and to promote synergies between them.
a) Project Management Process by social housing landlord (e.g. cities as Bridgend-UK, Echirolles-France and Utrecht-The Netherlands)
In general, in projects managed by social landlords the existing involvement of actors can be depicted as follows (in dark green in Table 1):
created, based on surveys and observations of the needs of property. Discussions are then held by the social landlord with governing Bodies / municipality and associations involved in the neighbourhood and/or in the topic, to advance ideas within the project. In some cases, designer/consulting firms and investors are party to the discussion. Schemes rarely include construction companies, manufacturers and tenants. During design stages, designer, professionals and governing bodies/municipality are included to fully develop the design of the renovation project and to plan the works, ensuring all necessary approvals are obtained. Tenants are consulted on the final design, mostly regarding comfort aspects, to analyse what requires improve. During the tendering and the beginning of the construction phases, investors and funding bodies, construction companies, manufacturers and designers are included in finalising proposals for the project. This is to ensure that what is planned could be afforded. During the construction phase, the work is undertaken in trio between the social landlord, the construction companies and the manufacturers. Tenants are informed on the construction workflows. At the end of projects, during the maintenance phase, tenants are usually trained to use the new technologies, manufacturers for warranty protection, governing bodies for monitoring, construction companies for defects rectification final account and future defects liability periods of typically 12 months.
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b) Case of blocks of flats owned and managed by social housing landlords that contain long leaseholders who have bought flats within the blocks:
In some countries, the social landlord has strict legal control on how to undertake improvements with a very strong emphasis on early inclusion of co-owners in works planning. Initially the requirement for the works needs to be established and communicated to co-owners, (during the feasibility stage). Co-owners may ask for their own contractors to bid for the works. If the social landlord recieives no comments it can go to full design and tendering of the works. If there are comments, the social landlord has to consider them. When a tendered price has been established the social landlord has again to write to co-owners with a statement of estimated prices and may then contract for the works with the construction companies if no further comments are received. At the end of the project (Final Account phase) the social landlord writes to the co-owners with an Invoice/Bill for the final amount that they must pay. In other countries, the social landlord has to obtain a large majority of both tenants and co-owners (70%) to agree to the improvements, before the social landlord can contract for the works.
Furthermore, involving investors at earlier stages allows greater understanding of needs and ensuring coherence between the funding mechanisms and the needs, as well as, to have their approval on some demolition schemes. Involving them in the construction phase allows ensuring, through the monitoring of expenses, that the social landlord can afford what is planned and that there is no overspend. It might allow adjusting financial frame based on SHEER project evolution. It also creates confidence between investors and social landlords, facilitating the funding of further works and stabilizing the cost of financing. Relationship between governing bodies/municipality and social landlords should be continuous to ensure a strong link between SHEER projects and municipal energy policy, as well as an appropriate representation of the different groups of tenants. Municipal teams are elected by the population on the basis of policies, including the Municipal energy policy and should make sure results will be achieved. They should guarantee to citizens the success of SHEER projects and should thus ensure multi-stakeholders consultation, as well as, tenants involvement at all phases, acting as facilitators and as safeguards during exchanges. Their involvement in the construction and in the monitoring phases will allow guaranteeing results. It play the role of facilitators for financial and technical aspects.
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A relatively high percentage of owners agreement is needed for a complex renovation (from 50% + 1 vote to 100% depending on the rules of the call for proposals or the rules of the bank). The other barriers are: Low income owners culture against loans; Access to flats impeded by owners; Inexistence of municipal database with blocks characteristics and conditions describing the building capacity for an EE renovation and no budget for pre-diagnosis; No legal EE renovation incentives for low income owners. If the EE renovation project is decided by the owners, it is managed by a Joint representative body - owners association organizing the main interventions related to the building, including EE renovation. The general assembly of the owners is the forum for decision making procedures related to the building (e. g. reconstruction / renovation). The involvement of the different stakeholders in the phases of an EE renovation managed by a Joint representative body is illustrated in Table 3.
Existing situation
Construction tendering
To improve the SHEER process managed by Co-properties corporations, it is key to include tenants, construction companies and manufacturers into earlier phases, at least since the design phase, to allow optimizing buildings energy efficiency and reducing EE renovation costs. d) Project management process by Co-Properties of Eastern European countries as Hungary and Bulgaria In most Eastern European countries, the public stock has been transferred to private ownership characterized by low income owners. The percentage of private ownership is traditionally high - around 90% - and the rate of completely municipally owned block of flats is low. The blocks of flats are over 40 years old, with different levels of maintenance. Such a complex situation makes energy efficient renovation expensive and external subsidy necessary (e. g. the European Regional Development Fund -ERDF grant). Usual financing bodies are: the State, the municipality and the owners and sometimes it is necessary to involve other external financing bodies (banks etc.).
Inception
Stakeholders
Government bodies Owners Joint representatives Local District Heating company Representative of experts Constructions companies Designer / consulting firm Investors
Existing situation
Exploitation
Completion
Defects inspection
Construction
Design
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If the EE renovation project is a municipal decision, it is managed by a Project management body - a municipality funded non-profit company managing all the main steps of the process and supported by the Joint representative body. The decision making body is the Municipality and the Mayor and local experts - chief architect, climate manager, energy manager etc.- are all representatives of municipal departments. If the EE renovation project is financed by ERDF, other stakeholders should be taken into account: - Managing Authorities: National Development Agency, Regional Development Agency. - Intermediate bodies for applications: first level controller etc. Future improvements, illustrated in light green in Table 3, are:
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can contribute to a successful renovation procedure. involving the designers, architects and constructors in the planning phase by an agreement based on a public procurement procedure could reduce the conflicts between these actors and the procurer. Involving the investors during the program of requirements phase can optimize the choice of the financial frame/instrument; Integrating an independent project management body responsible for all the main issues dedicated to the renovation can also improve the success of an EE renovation project and ensure a constant link with the different stakeholders, in particular construction and design firms. The City of Tatabnya has created such a project management non-profit ltd.
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Rhne-Alpes Region, France: A regional standard for energy renovation of social housing
In Rhne-Alpes region, 5,000 social housing have to be renovated each year to fit in with the national energy legislation requirements. To help fulfil this demanding program, Rhne-Alpes regional council, the regional federation of social landlords (ARRA-HLM) and the regional agency for energy and environment (ADEME) and other organizations set up together a regional standard to improve the quality of thermal renovation of social housing: the Environmental Quality of Buildings (EQB) standard. Launched in 2010, this standard allows subsidies granting and technical assistance to social landlords or private owners who match its criterion. It proposes a global approach of the renovation (architecture, energy, material, charges, accessibility, health, etc.) which is based on technical, energetic and social diagnosis. This standard is of great support for the social landlords in terms of project management. Rather than being a basic budget line in the financial planning, it leads them towards a global project management. The expected energy efficiency of the renovated building has to be precisely assessed - the subsidy level promotes high quality operations. The social landlords have thus to build a real energy strategy, by targeting an energy efficiency level and describing precisely the technology that will be used on the renovated building. Here are some required steps for the project management: Getting professional references of the team in charge of the project conception Realization of preliminary studies (social, architectural, technical as well as a precise energetic study) Production of an energetic and environmental assessment related to the proper requirements of EQB standard Including the maintenance firm in the renovation project (for energy assessment, choice of the technologies, evaluation of the charges) Designation of a person in the conception team responsible for the issues related to air tightness Selection of work companies regarding also skills and experience rather than price alone, and giving a specific training of the selected company about the project specificities Designing an energy savings monitoring program. Not solely restricted to the energetic aspects, the EQB standard requires the establishment of participative consultation committees with inhabitants all along the project cycle. After the works, social landlords have to help them using the new devices in their homes.
In order to improve the quality of the renovated buildings, social landlords are also expected to increase the accessibility for disabled people. This global costs approach allows optimizing the overall building maintenance costs. The project management is thus complex and demanding to achieve best-quality operations. Therefore a technical assistance has been set up to answer the social landlords questions, through a website and a hotline they are much used indeed. Building on the EQB standard success, the next step would be to spread these good practices for project management to all the social landlords in Rhne-Alpes, in order for them to use it systematically when leading a thermal renovation operation.
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Local governments in The Netherlands nowadays are reconsidering their relationship with the public sphere; the project is an example of a new approach to societal issues. Other important partners in the project are: rganizations for energy consultancy; they give energy advice to the house 1. o owners; 2. Financial organizations, developing attractive financial products to make the energy-saving measures affordable; he social housing organizations, responsible for the housing of citizens with 3. t lower incomes; 4. several industrial companies which are taking care of energy saving measures, such as isolation, establish solar panels etcetera. Together with the municipality all partners cooperate in a consortium. The challenge is to explore the best public-private cooperation (a kind of joint venture) between local government, citizens and the market to become a sustainable town.
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Develop a new model ensuring a systemic approach of Social Housing Energy efficient renovation project engineering: integrating social, political, environmental, legal and financial components and competences.
Management
Set-up an independent project management body specifically created for the Set-up a Monitoring committee with critical stakeholders involved at key stages of Keep the project objectives in mind throughout the project Keep motivation throughout the process Keep the project cycle as simple and flexible as possible and keep the timescale
under control. the project project, integrating critical stakeholders
Echirolles, France
Developing synergies between stakeholders is a major issue tackled by the City of Echirolles, France, in its public and private EE renovation projects. The following diagram synthesises the synergies favoured among key stakeholders to optimize the timeframe, the cost, the efficiency and the sustainability of such projects.
Citizens involvement
Involve tenants and existing local association in the decision making since the
inception phase so as to favour better appropriation, better understanding and behaviour Improve the relationship between tenants, municipality and designers Ensure a dedicated budget for tenants participation.
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Quality
Involve energy specialists from the inception Integrate quality requirements / criteria upstream Ensure the use of technology: energy efficient, simple to use, requiring low and Set-up lower EE renovation limits Ensure there is a balance with the other needs (eg: waste and water
management). easy maintenance, applicable to large-scale operations, with competitive price
MORE TO LEARN
T.B. Salcedo, A. Straub and H. J. Visscher, 2012, Energy Renovation Process, Overview of SHELTER Social Housing Organisations Models of Coordination D 3.2, SHELTER Promoting Energy Renovation, Intelligent Energy Europe project 2010-2013. Bernard Wallyn, 2009, Energy Renovation project Sterrenveld, Wezembeek-Oppem, in Sustainable Energy Saving in Existing Housing Now Antwerp 14-10, 2009. J. Davidson Frame, 2002, The new Project Management - tools for an age of rapid change, complexity, and other business realities, Jossey-Bass editor. Other web references:
http://www.pmi.org/About-Us/About-Us-What-is-Project-Management.aspx http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/introduction-to-project-management.html http://www.managementstudyguide.com/project-management.htm http://www.mpug.com/Pages/WhatisProjectManagement.aspx
Financing
Anticipate global cost (on a long term basis) Better consider the financial implications of each idea / action and communicate Match the funding schemes with the timeframe / rhythm of the project and allow I n the case of third party financing, ensure that social landlords have the
appropriate in-house knowledge to ensure the control of the investors activities. adjustments according to the project evolution about them
Education
Promote education as a tool to get trained stakeholders with the required skills at
every level / phase of the renovation process (use the educational systems) Train the municipal staff in EE renovation Train energy ambassadors to facilitate communication with tenants Train social landlords staff on energy performance contracting to ensure control and monitoring.
Communication
Provide and implement a Communication plan during the process with the different Ensure the communication to social landlords of the municipal policy on EE Provide the end users with project details at the different stages to increase Remove the stigma of deprived neighbourhoods.
transparency and to improve public consultation stakeholders
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ALSO AVAILABLE
Cities action for sustainable housing 11 CASH partners local action plans :
URBACT WEBSITE
http://urbact.eu/cash Outputs in other languages:
English, french, german, italian, bulgarian, hungarian, greek, dutch, danish
ECHIROLLES WEBSITE
http://www.ville-echirolles.fr/developpement-durable
Lead Partner Thierry Monel, Ville Echirolles, France t.monel@ville-echirolles.fr Tel: 33 (0) 4-76-206060 Lead Coordinator Sophie Moreau, Ville Echirolles, France s.moreau@ville-echirolles.fr Tel: 33 (0) 4-76205600 Bridgend (UK) Elaine Williams elaine.williams@bridgend.gov.uk Brindisi (Italy) Valerio Costantino arch.costantino@gmail.com Frankfurt (Germany) Werner Neumann werner.neumann@stadt-frankfurt.de Les Mureaux (France) Brigitte Bonafoux bbonafoux@mairie-lesmureaux.fr and Laeticia Bideau-Maruejouls lmaruejouls@mairie-lesmureaux.fr Eordea (Greece) Kostas Nikou knikou@gmail.com Sonderborg Inge Olsen iols@sonderborg.dk
Tatabanya Tamas Galgovics galgovics.tamas@tatabanya.hu Utrecht Inge Van der Klundert i.van.de.klundert@utrecht.nl Yambol Mariya Paspaldzhieva paspaldjieva@abv.bg Conseil Rgional Rhne-Alpes Claire Prdal cpredal@rhonealpes.fr
Echirolles Elected member in charge of CASH Stphanie Abrial stephanie.abrial@iepg.fr Echirolles Elected member in charge of Housing Carole Simard c.simard@ville-echirolles.fr Lead Partner Technical support team Stephane Durand, Sustainable Development Department s.durand@ville-echirolles.fr Sylvain Bove, Financial Officer s.bove@ville-echirolles.fr
Document prepared by: Sophie Moreau - Lead Coordinator, Jan Dictus - Lead expert, with the contribution of CASH local Coordinators, Lead Partner team and CASH partners Photography credentials: Lead and local CASH coordinators Photography cover : Nadine Barbaon - contact@uneuro.org Layout: www.sharewood-creative.com Translated by: Accent Mondial.
URBACT is an European exchange and learning programme promoting sustainable urban developpement. CASH (Cities Action for Sustainable Housing) is an URBACT network of 11 partners
(10 cities- Utrecht, Tatabanya, Sonderborg, Les Mureaux, Brindisi, Bridgend, Frankfurt, Yambol, Eordea, Echirolles and one region Region Rhne-Alpes) led by the city of Echirolles in France. The ambition of the CASH project is to propose new solutions and promote new policies for the sustainable renovation of social and affordable housing units in the European Union. Cities have become major policy players in the area of climate change policy and sustainable energy policy, for at least 2 simple and interlinked reasons: first, cities use a significant proportion of the worlds energy and secondly, cities have significant energy and CO2 savings potential . In this book we present the eleven Local Actions Plans designed by the partners of URBACT CASH project, as a local contribution to the social and environmental issue of climate change.
PARTNERS