Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TRUST-EPC-SOUTH (Building TRUST in Energy Performance Contracting for tertiary sector energy efficiency and sustainable energy projects in Southern European Countries)
Teaser
Achieving the European Union’s 2020 energy efficiency targets and at the same time reducing our dependency on energy imports is a huge task that requires innovative approaches and tools – such as the ones Trust EPC South wishes to provide.Energy Performance Contracts (EPC)...
Summary
Achieving the European Union’s 2020 energy efficiency targets and at the same time reducing our dependency on energy imports is a huge task that requires innovative approaches and tools – such as the ones Trust EPC South wishes to provide.
Energy Performance Contracts (EPC) allow for the realization of energy efficiency investments in buildings and other facilities utilizing third party financing. Therefore, they do not require the building owner to invest his own capital and allow instead the investment to be repaid with the resulting economic savings, which are guaranteed by the EPC provider. However, due to several barriers, this market is far from achieving its full potential, especially in the tertiary sector and in southern European markets.
The aim of Trust EPC South is to raise awareness for Energy Performance Contracts in Southern Europe by setting up a standardized approach allowing for risk assessment and benchmarking of energy saving investments, in order to create a common understanding as well as transparency and trust for all investment project stakeholders (financial institutions, real estate/tertiary sectors actors and EPC providers).
Trust EPC South pursues its objectives in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece. The project consortium, led by the Spanish firm Creara, is composed by interdisciplinary experts representing the participating countries and by the Green Rating Alliance, in charge of exploitation. The partners are united by the common intent to stimulate investments in the target markets, which are offering great opportunities for energy efficiency as well as energy performance contracting.
Our detailed project objectives can be summarized as:
- Promoting dialogue and synergies between the EPC offer side, the tertiary sector demand side and the financing side;
- Providing training on financing solutions and EPC basics for financing institutions, investor groups, certification bodies, the energy efficiency services sector, tertiary sector actors, public authorities and policy makers.
- Developing, in strict cooperation with financing institutions and certification bodies, a robust investment assessment and benchmarking tool based on the existing Green Ratingâ„¢ methodology and tools;
- Facilitating, thanks to the investment assessment tool, the financing process for small and medium EPC projects, leveraging on the fact that our standardised approach is certified by an independent third party and allows for reduced transaction costs.
Work performed
During the first year and a half of activity, we have achieved the following results:
- We have conducted a detailed market research focused on the tertiary sector of participating countries, highlighting market potential, principal barriers, key applications, best practices and identifying the principal stakeholders.
- In each country, we have activated national stakeholder discussion groups that will be instrumental in deepening the discussion on market barriers and potential, leading to national roadmaps proposing practical measures to be enacted by market participants and policymakers.
- We have upgraded the Green Rating methodology, which now features support for all key tertiary sector buildings and facilities and integrates analytical models of 46 technical measures that can be used to estimate their impact in terms of energy performance in multiple scenarios including cross-effects between them.
- We have integrated the new methodology in an investment assessment tool that allows for technical and financial modelling and risk assessment
- We have identified over 20 pilot projects on which the methodology and tool will be tested and fine-tuned.
Final results
The Green Rating based investment assessment and benchmarking tool we have developed, together with the other capacity building and training activities outlined above, have the potential to significantly facilitate the identification and prioritization of building energy efficiency renovations, financial/technical risk assessment and decision making by financial institutions and real estate/tertiary sector stakeholders.
Therefore, we expect to be able to significantly stimulate this market, starting with the pilot projects selected so far.
Website & more info
More info: http://www.trustepc.eu.