IENE has just released its latest Working Paper (No. 21) summarizing the findings and conclusions of its assessment study on the use of “EU Structural Funds for Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings in Greece” for the period 2009 – 2014IENE has just released its latest Working Paper (No. 21) summarizing the findings and conclusions of its assessment study on the use of "EU Structural Funds for Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings in Greece” for the period 2009 – 2014. This IENE Working Paper, entitled "Greece’s Experience in Using EU Structural Funds for Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings”, is the first detailed presentation and assessment study of the four energy efficiency programmes in the building sector that evolved in Greece during the aforementioned period.
Almost 480 million euros of EU funds were actually absorbed by the following four programmes:
-The "Energy Efficiency at Household Buildings” programme for the insulation of walls and roofs, the replacement of windows/doors (frames/glazing), and the upgrading of heating and hot water supply equipment, which has been the main funding instrument for energy efficiency on the country
-The "Exikonomo” ("Let's Save Energy”) Programme for municipal buildings, for municipalities with a population of more than 10,000. This programme aims in the application of actions and proven good practices for the reduction of energy consumption in local urban environment, on municipal buildings sector and on upgrading of communal areas
-The "Exikonomo II” Programme, relating to energy saving measures in existing municipal buildings and infrastructures for municipalities which did not participate in the "Exikonomo” programme
-The programme "Changing your Air-Conditioner”, aiming for the replacement of old and energy-consuming split air-conditioning units with new ones with inverters.
As this latest (December 2014) IENE Working Paper stresses, Greece has been among the EU member-states with the biggest utilization of EU funds on energy efficiency interventions in the building sector. Another interesting finding of the study was that the role of the banking sector has been crucial for the fast and effective implementation of these programmes, as there was no other bureaucratic mechanism involved for the disbursements of the allocated sums.
Furthermore, Greece’s energy mix and the key role of the building sector as demonstrated in the case for improved energy efficiency as well as the sector’s prospects for energy efficiency improvement in the country are examined in this Working Paper.
Some preliminary findings of this study (M13) were presented by IENE’s Executive Director, Mr. Costis Stambolis, on March 16, 2012, at a roundtable meeting in the Bucharest, Romania, on the "Financing Energy Efficiency in Romanian buildings by using EU Structural Funds”, organized by 16th the Brussels-based Building Performance Institute of Europe (BPIE). Mr. Konstantinos Theofylaktos, Member of IENE’s Executive Committee and Chairman of the Institute’s Energy Efficiency Committee, presented a draft version of the final study at the 6th Energy Efficiency Co-ordination Group Meeting of the Energy Community, in Vienna, on November 13, 2014.
The authors of this IENE
Working Paper are Mr. Costis Stambolis (A.A.Dip.Grad.) and Mr. Konstantinos Theofylaktos (BSc, MSc). This Working
Paper is accessible by the public and available
on www.iene.gr ("Μελέτες” section)
and on www.iene.eu ("Reports” sections).
