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On Tuesday 29 April 2014, a workshop was held with the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Mr. Laszlo Andor at the European Commission’s office in Greece. INZEB was among the invited organizations.

Council Failure on 2030 Energy Efficiency Target – a cold decision increasing pressure to bring in strong measures for Buildings

The European Council today adopted its Climate and Energy Package for 2030 and has chosen to go for a 27% indicative Energy Efficiency Target.

It is a dismal agreement that falls short of the Commission’s unambitious proposal, which was made in July. EuroACE member companies have systematically called for a binding 40% Energy Efficiency Target as this is the proven cost-effective potential for the EU. EuroACE is also convinced that renovating our wasteful, leaky buildings is a key part of our effort on climate and energy policy and it offers the best solution to Europe’s energy crisis. Companies in the sector have called for clear policies and long-term targets in order to provide market certainty for investments.

The decision of the Heads of State simply does not deliver. “This is not good enough!” said Adrian Joyce, Secretary General of EuroACE “Despite the numerous studies1 demonstrating the cost-effective potential of a higher energy efficiency target, the 28 Heads of State shied away from setting a strong Energy Efficiency target. A strong target could have unleashed investment in hard-hit sectors like construction and delivered multiple benefits through reduced energy dependence, a boost to public finances and improved health for EU citizens”.

The Council conclusions indicate that the Commission will propose ‘priority sectors in which significant energy efficiency gains can be reaped and ways to address them’. Swallowing a high of 40% of all energy consumed in the EU, buildings should feature as the top priority sector to be addressed in upcoming legislation revision, namely with Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Buildings play a major role in the EU’s energy dependence and high import costs. A major renovation program, amounting only to a quarter of what Member States currently spent on energy imports (EU Members States collectively spend €1.1bn every day on energy imports), could put Member States on the right track to reduce the energy demand of the building stock in the EU by 80% by 2050.

Download the Press Release in pdf format: EuroACE_PR_Council_2030_Oct_2014

It is out of great pleasure to announce that INZEB is among the European Alliance to Save Energy – (EU-ASE) partners.

The European Alliance to Save Energy was established at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) in December 2010. The members of the Alliance are some of Europe’s leading multinational companies, a prominent cross-party group of European politicians and energy efficiency campaigners from across Europe.

Energy poverty constitutes a serious social problem in many European countries with multiple effects both on health and on the overall poverty and affects more than 100.000.000 European citizens. In 2015, about 10% of EU citizens, experienced delays in the payment of public utility bills (37% in the most affected member states). In 2014, 12% of EU citizens lacked sufficient heating in their homes 2014 (60% in the most affected member states), while 16% of the EU population resided, in accordance with the SILC statistics, in houses with dripping roofs and wet walls (33% in the most affected member states).

On Wednesday 29 June 2016, the 2nd workshop took place within the context of the development of the Policy Paper: “The status of Energy Poverty in Greece and the contribution of green and social innovation to address the problem”. The main objective of the workshop was the exchange of views and ideas with national and EU stakeholders.

This initiative is the result of cooperation between the Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece, the social cooperative “Wind of Renewal” and the Institute for Zero Energy Buildings, which are active in the fields of ecology, energy efficiency and sustainable development, while both the first and the second workshop were supported by Athens Resilience and Sustainability office.

During the first part of the workshop the available national and European programs and innovative financial tools that could help to overcome energy poverty were discussed, in the light of social and green innovation. A significant number of experts and scientists dealing with this issue accepted the invitation – both from Greece and abroad.

More specifically, in the first part presented:

•              Ada Ámon – E3G

Energy efficiency as infrastructure and its role in alleviating fuel poverty

•              Adrian Joyce – Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign

Energy Poverty – The view from Brussels

•              Michalis Goudis – Housing Europe

Warm homes for all; How to tackle the challenge of our generation

•              Dr. George Koutitas (CEO) – Gridmates Inc.

The smart giving of energy

•              Dr. Kostas Konstantinou – Anatoliki A.E.

Energy Services Companies in Greece

•              Alexis Panagiotopoulos – Ministry of Economy, Development & Tourism

Sources of financing in the context of the programming period 2014-2020

•              Nikos Gonis- Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Innovative financial tools and successful examples of their exploitation

•              Dr. Evangelos Marinakis – National Technical University of Athens

Enhancing energy efficiency in buildings: needs and priorities for innovative investment tools

•              Evi Tzanakaki – Center for Renewable Energy Sources and Savings

Local authorities as a catalyst in tackling energy poverty

•              Constantinos Liveris – Employees Association of Social Housing (OEK)

Utilization of social housing in Greece

In the second part of the workshop, the draft of the Policy Paper was presented and an open discussion followed with the participation of representatives from universities and municipalities as well as researchers, students, and citizens. Emphasis was given on the contribution of the green and social innovation in dealing with the phenomenon and proposals and comments on the draft were submitted.

The discussion was coordinated by Nikos Chrysogelos, president of social cooperative “Wind of Renewal”, Alice Corovessi and Eleftheria Touloupaki from the Institute of Zero Energy Buildings,  Olga Drossou and Kyriaki Metaxa from the Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece.