Best practices Library

The NEWLIGHT Project was the first of its kind in Croatia. In the framework of art.5 of the EED and the Strategy of Energy Development of the Republic of Croatia, REGEA started public lighting reconstruction, using environmental-friendly luminaries in order to reduce light pollution. The project main objective is the modernisation of public lighting systems in 57 Croatian cities and municipalities based in Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County. Energy efficiency measures under this project are aimed at replacing luminaries by more energy-efficient technologies such as LED and installation of the power control (dimming), with the potential to achieve energy and cost savings of 60%. Auxiliary operations such as reconstruction of lighting poles and replacement of power cables were also included. With these measures, REGEA expects to modernize around 34 000 lighting points, reduce energy consumption by 19 GWh and CO2 emissions by 5 000 tonnes, and develop an EPC/PPP market in Croatia and increase competitiveness of domestic ESCO providers.

The municipality of The Hague in the Netherlands has chosen to integrate sustainability, climate change, and energy policy into all aspects of the local government’s activities and policies, rather than creating a large sustainability department. Sustainability policy is implemented through various units, such as the housing department and the mobility department, while the small sustainability team focuses on cross-department collaboration. By involving ‘sustainability ambassadors’ in The Hague’s neighbourhoods, the sustainability issue is also put on the agenda among the citizens.

This action is the example of a functional model of multilevel governance, in which a region provides independent technical capacity and expertise through its own organisation (energy agency), and municipalities provide their technical and energy data suitable for monitoring and more effective energy planning on both municipal and regional level. As a directly measured impact, the model of the joint procurement for purchasing bulk energy generates considerable savings suitable for further investments to the energy efficiency or RES development on both regional and municipal level.

The programme provides technical and/or financial assistance to exemplary and innovative actions towards energy savings and renewable energy sources. It uses annual and permanent calls for projects, some of which are permanent and others sectorial. The idea is to support a large variety of initiatives stemming from many different stakeholders (public bodies, local authorities and professionals representing enterprises) by using a participatory approach. The organization of this approach at the regional level makes it possible to obtain a global vision of local initiatives, to pool projects and thus gain more in terms of impact than the sum of individual projects. The programme was initiated to compensate for the development of the ITER nuclear energy project, with the following policy: for each euro invested in ITER, 1€ will be invested for energy efficiency and renewable energy. The second period of the programme (from 2011 onwards) was financed from the region and not from ITER but it still helped implementing and developing energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Night walks are on-site energy surveys held at times when businesses are closed to the public. Energy experts conduct the survey with a view to identifying areas of energy waste within a business, in order that a bespoke action plan can be produced and implemented so as to enable direct and significant energy savings. The project has raised awareness about energy efficiency in the retail industry.

The idea behind the project is to create a direct way for citizens to invest in infrastructure benefitting their own communities, to establish a regional crowdfunding platform specifically designed for financing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in 2015. The North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency (REGEA) worked together with the Centre for Social Innovations and Sustainable Development (CEDIOR), which had previous experience in the field, technical expertise in the development of crowdfunding campaigns and web solutions for CF platforms, and it is working with the University of Zagreb in order to explore the potential for introducing the crowdlending model for fundraisers from the public sector. The CF platform and the first pilot project received significant interest from the media and local supporters. One campaign was successfully completed: the pilot project in the City of Pregrada, which ended officially on 15th April 2016, raised the targeted funds of € 10.000 to complete the renovation of the “Naša radost” kindergarten, and paved the way for similar projects in Croatia. The goal of this project was to make the kindergarten the most energy efficient in North-West Croatia. The energy investments involved the complete insulation of thermal envelope (including the roof), and the savings would be used for making new RES investments (solar collectors) and for developing educational programmes.

Since 2008 this strategy has been part of the territorial development contract signed with the State, determining the urban, economic, cultural and environmental challenges of the territory for the next 15 years. It is organized around a system of annual or three-year agreements and is financed by European, national or regional grants. The objective is to integrate the territory into national energy efficiency policies and to develop long-term relations with local elected representatives, in partnership with the regional council IDF, ARENE and ADEME. This goal is implemented as follows:

• Training session on climate, energy and energy efficiency;
• Technical support, awareness raising to local authorities on these themes;
• Management of energy;
• Protection and strengthening of the environment and living conditions;
• Renewable energies (RES);
• Advice to the inhabitants through the Info point Energy.

The LECA Intends to contribute to the preservation of natural resources, the implementation of the energy transition and climate adaptation of the Plain Commune area. Founded by local authorities and private companies, and supported by ADEME, it envisages four strategic missions:

• A resource centre and trusted third-party for public and private projects;
• Accompaniment of the condominiums in their thermal audits and their work plans;
• Accompaniment of the resident owners in pavilion;
• Preventive action against energy poverty.

The main objective is to engage the ecological and social conversion of the territory of Plaine Commune, to improve the quality of life, while respecting ecological and climatic imperatives:

• Integrate urban ecology into all community policies and projects;
• Mobilize and support the actors, inhabitants and users in the ecological and social conversion of the territory;
• Implement actions to improve the environmental quality of life of the territory and promote cross-cutting projects.

All these objectives are set out in three framework documents: Agenda 21, the Sustainable Development Framework, and the Climate Energy Plan.

In August 2015 France passed the law “energy transition for green growth”, aiming at:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 (compared to 1990);
• Reducing energy consumption by 20% in 2030, 50% by 2050 (compared to 2012);
• Bringing the share of renewable energies (RES) to 23% of gross final energy consumption in 2020 and 32% in 2030.

By 2030 they will account for 40% of electricity production, 38% of final heat consumption, 15% of final fuel consumption and 10% of gas consumption:

• Reducing fossil fuels by 30% by 2030 (compared to 2012);
• Reducing the share of nuclear power in electricity generation to 50% by 2025;
• Multiplying by 5 the share of RES in district heating and cooling networks.

The law on the modernization of territorial public action and the affirmation of metropolitan areas (called MAPTAM law), of January 27, 2014, gives a new leadership role and several responsibilities to local authorities in the area of energy, namely:

• Management of transport, biodiversity, energy transition and Agenda 21;
• Sustainable mobility and air quality.

As a local actor, the Municipality of Poissy has implemented national policies through the realization of the Agenda 21.

The Intelligent Energy Europe-funded EURONET 50/50 project was an initiative that aimed to unlock energy saving in schools by educating students and through them their families, in order to ensure that current and future generations consume energy responsibly. Students were encouraged to save energy through financial benefits – half of the saved amount was handed over for the purposes of the school.

Municipalities have to lead by example when it comes to energy efficient behaviour, in order to motivate all stakeholders and citizens on its territory to follow suit. If municipalities are committed to reduce their energy consumption and subsequently their climate footprint and demonstrate this effectively to their people, the likelihood increases that they can be mobilized to play their part in driving forward energy efficiency. In Brasov, the local energy agency ABMEE established between 2005-2014 an innovative instrument that monitors energy and water consumption in 120 municipal buildings. The data was gathered in real-time and provided on a regular basis to local decision-makers. In the same time as the monitoring, also education was undertaken by ABMEE – in cooperation with local academia – to inform municipal buildings’ staff about energy efficient behaviours and how these can be easily implemented in their daily lives.

With public budgets of local authorities being very strained in the Czech Republic, there is a strong need to use limited financial resources in a smart way. Before the revolving energy saving fund was set-up, this was not the case.
There was no strong incentive for individual city departments to engage in energy efficiency, as the money they had achieved through first energy efficiency measures – i.e. through refurbishing/insulating buildings – was sent to 100% to the municipal budget and then reallocated for various projects in the city. There was no direct “benefit” for a department to save more energy, as it could not keep a portion of the financial savings for its own projects.

The Sustainable Construction Programme in Andalusia is a combination of economic measures (subsidies and incentives) and other actions such as regulatory, training and fiscal, that seek, through energy saving and energy, and renewable energy, to promote the energy rehabilitation of buildings, urban rehabilitation, improve the competitiveness of companies of the construction sector, create skilled employment and reduce energy poverty. The programme is developed with the participation of companies, mostly SMEs, liaising with the Agency in the management and processing of incentives, which facilitates the administrative procedures for final users to request incentives. In total, within this Programme there are more than 8,300 collaborating partner companies throughout Andalusia. The aim of the project is achieving a low carbon economy in Andalusia and a more sustainable and environmentally respectful construction model, in line with the EU’s objectives.

Carlow County Council consumes approximately 8 million kWh of electricity per year to run all of its operations, equating to a total electricity bill of €1.25 M per year. To reduce the expense and carbon footprint of Carlow County Council, a pilot action was developed. It consisted of identifying and implementing energy efficiency improvement measures targeting the most energy consuming activities of Carlow County Council: water supply, wastewater treatment, building usage and public lighting. These measures included: efficient lighting retrofit, pump replacement, caretaker training, aeration comparison, control systems, equipment sizing, etc. Project partners also worked on a series of pilot demonstration actions to validate the priorities of the strategy. Based on preliminary assessments, the expected energy savings from each measure were calculated prior to commencing monitoring. These expected savings were then compared with actual energy savings recorded during the monitoring period. For these tasks, the Carlow Kilkenny Energy Agency carried out the pre and post energy monitoring on each site. Where the monitoring has revealed that a measure’s estimated energy savings were not achieved, a number of key recommendations have been made by Carlow Kilkenny Energy Agency to Carlow County Council. Carlow County Council has made a commitment to reduce its energy consumption by 3 % per annum from 2009 to 2020. The 2012 pilot measures contributed to approximately a 1.5 % reduction in energy consumption that year. The measures will continue to deliver savings as they are kept up in the following years.

In accordance with its Community Strategic Guidelines, on 26 September 2007 the European Union approved a major development programme for Bulgaria for the period 2007-2013 entitled “Operational Program for the Development of Competitiveness of the Economy Bulgarian”. This programme provided support for the entire national territory in the context of the Convergence objective. This operational programme is in line with the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda 2000 and the Community strategic guidelines for economic, social and territorial cohesion. In addition, the Operational Programme contributed to the achievement of the EU’s horizontal objectives, namely the protection of the environment, equal opportunities and the development of the information society.

The programme offers a solution to LA struggling to gain investment in energy projects. It adds a structure to energy project assessment with performance indicators and financial models. This innovative funding solution operates such that the Energy Conservation Budget is utilised with an internal Energy Performance Contract (EPC). This is equivalent to an Internal ESCO (Energy Services Company). The ESCO provides the investment for an energy saving project, with the investment being repaid out of the reduced energy costs as a result of the energy savings made. The seed capital for the conservation budget was achieved through energy cost savings. Through the programme:

• The LA does not lose out on the windfall gains from energy cost/efficiency savings which are often lost to the organisation as the operational budget are reduced based on the lower energy costs. This method allows the LA to continue to invest year on year in energy saving projects;
• Energy finance increases. As the LA approaches its 2020 target, the investment required to achieve the savings increases. In this case the fund also increases to match this requirement;
• Legal requirements are met – the public sector must deliver 33% energy efficiency savings by 2020;
• €80,433 were saved in 2013
• 194 T of CO2 were saved in 2013

In order to implement the European Union climate plan’s objectives within its territory Ireland wished to set up a program to reduce the energy consumption in the public sector through measures supporting a responsible energy use. The aim is to provide innovative solutions for the implementation of projects that meet European objectives. The Program is included in Ireland’s National Energy Efficiency Action Plan; it is managed in partnership with the energy agencies and the SEAI (Ireland’s Sustainable Development and Energy Authority), which manages energy financing programs in Ireland. The program is built on four pillars: partnership, networking, project support and a bespoke online reporting system. This program promotes energy management and best practices to over 325 public bodies and 3,700 schools in Ireland. It has been instrumental in helping public bodies work towards the Irish government’s ambitious 33 % energy efficiency target for the public sector for 2020. The programme was shortlisted in 2016 at the EU Sustainable Energy Awards, one of only nine shortlisted from over 200 nominations Europe-wide. Through the programme, Ireland’s public sector made €121 million savings and avoided 418,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2014.

The Institute for the Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE) has extensive previous experience in managing different aid programs for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Notable are the Action Plans of the Strategy for Energy Savings and Energy Efficiency, 2004-2012, as well as incentive programs on the purchase of efficient electric vehicle, among others. In this context, PAREER aims to encourage and promote the realization of reforms that favour reducing emissions of carbon dioxide through energy conservation, improved energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in existing buildings regardless of their use and the legal nature of the owners.

The province of Alicante has a strong commitment with the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy European Initiative and is it recognized as Covenant Coordinator by the Commission. As such the province puts its resources and know-how at the service of signatories. 138 municipalities are currently adhered in the province of Alicante to the Covenant of Mayors and / or the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. With the objective of supporting municipalities in the implementation of the Sustainable Energy Action Plans, the province of Alicante through the Alicante Energy Agency launched this provincial Energy Saving Plan.

The Program improves the energy efficiency of the lighting system of the interior of Delicias Market by substituting low efficiency lighting system by high performance LED technology lights equipped with system regulation “DALI”. The installation is equipped with a lighting control system “Smart” designed under the KNX standard, allowing to regulate in an autonomous form the lighting system. This system allows to: (i) Generate alarms due to intrusion: it detects movements and informs the system that it must turn on the corresponding lighting system and (iii) constant regulation: thanks to photocells, it constantly graduates the lighting levels as a function of the natural light.

While the EU may be made up of 28 Member States, the number of islands within the union runs into the thousands, dotted around the seas of the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean. While climate and cultures may vary, many of the issues faced by these islands – such as achieving energy efficiency – are much the same. This is why the European PROMISE Project – launched in June 2011 and funded by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy – Europe (IEE) programme – has promoted energy savings among households on four target islands. By sharing information and experience, energy agencies from EU members Samsø (Denmark), Rhodes (Greece) and Tenerife (Spain), along with Iceland, aimed to promote tried-and-tested methods for reducing the energy consumption of households.

The project aims to support the creation of bioenergy regions that will provide at least one third of the heating and electricity requirements through local and sustainable sources of bioenergy, particularly solid biomass. The project must:

• Support the development of markets for solid biomass in the 5 target regions;
• Stimulate investment in bioenergy projects and in the markets of local actors;
• Inspire rural areas to follow the example of the target regions.

Each region will adopt a formal Action Plan with an agenda and reference milestones to enhance their bio-energy to at least 1/3 of the energy demand for electricity and heating.

Several European municipalities and regions have already committed themselves to the principles of the passive house (maximum heating and cooling requirements of 15 kWh/m²a in new buildings). The experiences of these regions, or PassREgs, have helped pave the way for other UE regions to reach the 2020 energy targets. Border regions that had implemented effective and cost-effective strategies were highlighted. The models used to promote the implementation of PassREg concepts have been adapted and applied in the emerging regions. The experiments were introduced into a set of webbased solutions tools that made best practices accessible to advance the large-scale adoption of new PassErg across the U.E. The introduction of the experiences in the web tools was possible thanks to the realization of the project BEACON, which aimed to integrate the technologies of networks virtualization with the technologies of datacenters. Applications will have an integrated interface to specify their QoS requirements.

The tool “Urban Energy” should allow the creation of new models of management and production of cleaner and more efficient energy. The objective is to put in place support systems enabling local elected officials and professionals to take effective decisions as to integrate their territories in the iURBAN project’s objectives. The tool will meet the growing needs of the market for cheaper and cleaner energy services. It is designed with the direct involvement of end users (local residents, energy companies and public administration). The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has proven pivotal. The goal is to create a more entrepreneurial ICT ecosystem, increase innovation, help entrepreneurs to take risks and businesses to grow.

The mail goal is effectively utilization biomass potential in municipalities, members of Association of Rhodope Municipalities, 21 in total. The association has established an energy efficiency council with energy experts from different municipalities. The board will be responsible for the monitoring and implementation of the plan for renewable heating and cooling. It is part of regional energy planning, which supports the authorities in taking appropriate measures for the sustainable use of local energy resources. The action plan was endorsed by the Smolyan District Sustainable Energy Development Council and the Kardzhali District Energy Efficiency Council. It will be applied in other municipalities, which are not members of the Association of Rhodope Municipalities.

One of the activities significantly improving energy efficiency in Poland is the operational programme “Energy and environmental management in public buildings of Częstochowa City”. Through the realization of this programme the City of Częstochowa contributes to achieving national strategic objectives included in the Energy Policy of Poland until 2025 and in the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) transferred to the municipality level in the “Local Energy Efficiency Plan of Action for the City of Częstochowa” document. The programme is a pilot project that has been prepared according to the structure of NEEAP. Its main objective is the identification of areas in which a reduction of energy consumption is possible, with the main focus being public buildings. The aforementioned document is one of the key elements contributing to making Czestochowa “a city of efficient energy”.

The municipality of Catania is the owner of a public swimming pool with high level of energy consumption. The objective of the project is to reduce the energy consumption through the installation of a cogeneration plant.

The LOCALES (Local Energy Saving) is a energy service created by Kyoto Club, with the contribution of Cariplo Foundation in 2015. LOCALES offers a diagnosis, on a statistical basis, of the energy expenditure of municipalities up to 250,000 inhabitants by using data from the SIOPE System of State Accounting.

The ENERGY + CNR project is one of the winning projects (1st place) of the Innovation Award of the National Research Council, set up in 2013 on the occasion of the celebrations for the 90th anniversary of the CNR.

The result of the project is to save the electrecity and thermal energy, increase of the energy produced from renewable sources and reduction of carbon dixide. It will be achieved by installation of solar systems for residential buildings and energy efficiency improvement of public buildings through deep thermal modernization with use of heat pumps and photovoltaic.

The Thermal Modernization and Refurbisment Fund was created by the National Economy Bank. The Fund is a nationwide inititative targeting housing cooperatives, housing communitites, private individuals and local governments. Its main goal is providing financial aid for investors engaged in thermomodernization and renovation initatives as well as providing financial indemnifications for residential building owners. The Fund offers three types of assistance, namely the thermomodernization incentive, the renovation incentive, and the indemnification incentive.

The “Removal of low-stack emission in the municipality of Miechow” programme (KAWKA) involves the replacement of old heating sources with new ecological heating solutions in both public and residential building and housing communities. The project is therefore targeted both at local authorities and individuals living in the local housing communities. The main goals of the project include increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing the use of hazardous combustion products in the Miechow municipality.

The municipality of Zuidhorn applies an integrated development model for the redevelopment of the Zuidhorn railway station area, along with the development of a new park-and-ride facility. Sustainable technologies are integrated, and in cooperation with consultants and research institutes, as much as possible new innovative technologies are implemented and tested in the area.

Ireland has been able to benefit from these funds and has put in place a unique support program specifically developed for the public sector to drive best practice in energy management. It has been instrumental in helping public bodies work towards the Irish government’s ambitious 33 % energy efficiency target for the public sector for 2020. The main objective of the programme is to deliver on the national public sector EE targets to the territory through an energy management system in public sector organizations. It is managed in partnership with the Galway County Council, the energy agencies and the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland), which administers energy financing programs in Ireland. SEAI supports professionals wishing to acquire the skills needed to lead an organization towards international best practice in energy management systems through ISO 50001 Certification. The support programme helps organizations to develop an effective certification framework, avoiding organisational and cultural blocks and costly investment mistakes. The support includes a combination of interactive training sessions and exercises to facilitate understanding, delivered by experienced energy management auditors. Ultimately, organizations will have in-depth practical knowledge of the application of energy management systems across a wide range of sectors.

The implementation of the “Exoikonomo” program is in the main part of the national energy strategy in the framework of planning and promotion of energy efficiency actions. Two phases (call for proposals) have been realised: Exoikonomo I & II.
In the above framework, the Municipality of Likovrisi-Pefki implemented two projects for improving the energy efficiency in four (4) buildings: Energy retrofitting of two (2) public schools and of the centre for protection of elderly people in Pefki have been implemented within the EXOIKONOMO I framework while similar works in one (1) more public school in Likovrisi were supported by the EXOIKONOMO II programme.

Castelbuono is a Zero Waste town of 10.000 habitants in Sicily, Italy, which has managed to develop an innovative system to marry sustainability, social work and economics. The mayor decided to link the recovery of a traditional donkey-breed from Sicily – called Ragusa – with the challenges of the waste collection in narrow streets and the social work.

As part of the ongoing efforts for increasing energy efficiency in Poland the Lesser Poland Voivodship introduced the promotional pack on energy efficiency campaign. The main goal of the project was promoting energy saving solutions. Throughout the campaign they handed out promotional packs on energy efficiency to the local consumers. Each promotional pack contained two LED light bulbs, a radiator reflector screen, a faucet aerator for the sink or bathroom, a shower flow regulator, and an informational brochure. The effort was aimed at promoting individual energy efficiency in residential households.

The LIFE programme finances innovative ideas concerned with environmental protection in Europe, including integrated projects, which have become the fundamental element of widespread strategies for environmental protection. The project coordinated by the Lesser Poland Voivodship engages 62 partners. Its main goal is the implementation of solutions aimed at increasing air quality which were proposed in the Program for Air Protection for the Lesser Poland Voivodship.

On June 28, 2016, the City of Słupsk as the Project Leader signed a grant agreement with the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for the implementation of the partnership project “Improving the energy efficiency of the Functional Area of the City of Słupsk through the thermo-modernization of buildings”. The project was a part of the Integrated Territorial Agreement for the Słupsk Urban Functional Area.

The team began its work in May 2016 and was created through an ordinance of the City’s Presidents. Creating a team that has a specific goal in common, which is what it strives to achieve, makes the team members more involved and interested in the initiative. Thanks to the cooperation and involvement of the team members, many pro-ecological initiatives and investments will be realized. Each Team Member feels responsible for the tasks entrusted to him or her and he fulfills them meticulously, which will ensure that the goals are met.

Messina ‘Energy Desk’ is a permanent office addressed to citizens to disseminate and promote information on technologies for energy efficiency. The creation of the Energy Desk is one of the actions foreseen by the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) of the Municipality of Messina. However the municipality has wanted and created an energy desk with a large involvement of the main socio-economic actors of the territory. The partners of the Messina Energy Desk include both public bodies and market stakeholders.

The Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), conducted together with Alba Local Energy Agency and integrated in the “Development Strategy Alba Iulia” developed in 2005, is the key document defining the energy policies of local government for the next 10 years in order to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the city. This plan includes a number of measures in the short and medium term aimed to increase the energy efficiency of public buildings, a rational use of energy in homes and buildings in the tertiary sector, a sustainable urban transport system, the modernization of public lighting system and to produce a significant part of renewable energy required.

The promoter of this project is the Municipality of Sector 1 Bucharest and the final beneficiaries are the residents of Bucharest. Apart from increasing the quality of life of Bucharest residents through energy savings, the project will also help improve the image of the buildings under this programme. The project will help Romania to meet its commitments related to improving energy efficiency, particularly to reach the EU 2020 target. The project is expected to reduce the buildings’ energy consumption by around 50% and the total energy saved will amount to approximately 190 GWh per year once the programme is fully implemented. This project, endorsed politically and accepted by communities, represents the most ambitious SEAP in Romania, envisaging actions at very large scale. The plan include studies for energy consumption, heating and cooling demand, potential for utilization of RES sources and financing sources with clear targets and objectives. There are 4 main pillars: 1. Energy Efficiency on public buildings – 140 units 2. Energy Efficiency on residential, private owned buildings – 850 units [developed in two phases, TRP 1 and TRP 2 (Thermal Rehabilitation Program)] 3. Stakeholders motivation and mobilization 4. Innovative financing The District 1 Bucharest Municipality established an Energy Efficiency Agency (2007) with energy experts delivering support in other municipalities too. The AEEPM is responsible for the monitoring and implementation of the Plan.