The aim of the project is to identify the reasons for the underperformance of public building renovations in four Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, Romania) and to build the capacity of relevant institutions to modernize these inefficient renovations and avoid related problems in the future.

This project addresses the energy efficiency of buildings in Eastern and Central Europe, and in particular the issue of inefficient renovations that do not lead to adequate improvements in energy performance, resulting in lower than expected energy savings. In the context of Poland, public buildings play a special role in increasing the energy-saving potential of buildings in general, the problem being that the performance of renovations to date is often poor, generating limited energy savings and payback times of up to 65 years. This poor performance is largely due to the limited capacity of city staff to effectively plan, implement, finance and monitor deep renovations. The implementation of this project is highly relevant given that in Poland one of the biggest infrastructure challenges is the need to renovate 14.2 million buildings.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

• Conducting surveys and awareness-raising activities among decision-makers and the public on the extent of discrepancies in the energy performance of renovated buildings, with a particular focus on public buildings;
• The next step of this phase will be to develop action plans for them to achieve minimum energy consumption and emissions through further renovations, including recommendations for obtaining financing;
• Conduct educational activities to share knowledge and build the capacity of local authorities and other stakeholders in the renovation sector to ensure that future renovations of public buildings are properly executed.

EXPECTED PROJECT RESULTS:

• Reduction of inefficient renovations of public buildings in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Poland;
• Appropriately equipped and engaged stakeholders to carry out high-performance, deep renovations of public buildings;
• Improve institutional knowledge of the current status and potential for inefficient renovations in public buildings to improve the energy performance of public buildings;
• Identification of possible solutions for upgrading already completed renovations by developing renovation plans for three selected public buildings;
• Increase of institutional capacity to upgrade underperforming renovations and avoid them in the future;
• Increased public awareness of ineffective renovations and the need for deep renovations.

PROJECT PARTNERS:

• Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect, BG
• Association of Municipalities Polish Network “Energie Cités”, PL
• Regional Energy Agency North, HR
• Energy Policy Group, RO

PROJECT WEBSITE: https://our-cee.eu/

DURATION: 1 December 2023 – 31 March 2026

FINANSING: European Climate Initiative – EUKI

OUR-CEE (Overcoming Underperforming Renovations in Central and Eastern Europe) is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).