1. Mayors in Action Handbook
SUPPORT TO CITIZENS FOR THE ENERGY RETROFITTING OF PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS

2. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS ACTION
It is important to consider that in most cases, in Europe, a percentage between 30% and 40% of the total CO2 emissions in urban areas is due to the private residential sector.
It is important to consider that fuel poverty (defined as when a household would need to spend more than 10% of its income to maintain an adequate heating regime) is a crucial factor suffered by large part of the population which needs support for the energy retrofitting of their households.
Therefore the objective of this action is to support private citizens to save energy and to refurbish their own houses

3. Sector of implementation and type of intervention
Residential buildings
Renewable energy for electrical energy, space heating and hot water
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
Energy efficiency in space heating and hot water
Energy efficient lighting systems
Behavioural changes
Energy efficient electrical appliances

4. Methodology: Steps of implementation and Tools
Key-steps
Context analysis : The state of the Art
Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI), planning documents (i.e. city development plan),
interviews
Aerial thermography
Launch event: Media conference
possibly in synergy with other local events
Invite stakeholders, media and citizens
Press release.
Specific Training
to personnel 5-10 days training to specific personnel (es. Auditors, Energy Inspectors, Energy Savers).

5. Steps of implementation and Tools / 2
Workshops with stakeholders: market players and civil society actors,
Financial resources:
banks and other financial institutions
provide adequate financial products for such low risk investment
Energy auditing / Check/ Saving Evaluation.
Editing of guidelines
Selection of building (public call)
Audits (more or less detailed, different standards existing)
Results presentation.
Audits outputs are presented to the residents of the buildings.
Provision of counseling for the best technical and financial solutions to be adopted.

6. Tools
The main technical tool is the energy audit of the building, which can be either single dwellings or block of flats, consisting in an assessment of its energy performance developed by energy experts. The audit identifies the weaknesses of the building and provides suggestions for its refurbishment in terms of energy performance
More tools:
Private Building Regulation or the Energy Annex to the Residential regulation: specific standards for new buildings and especially incentives, standards and recommendations for private buildings retrofitting activities.
An energy performance calculation web-tool can be proposed for a first self-assessment of the energy performance of the building.
The organisation of a communication campaign when dealing with private refurbishment is crucial to encourage citizens in engaging in the activities and be aware of the benefits of energy saving.

7. Tools /2
Public bids for the retrofitting works in private buildings. The PA promotes the bundling of private buildings to be refurbished, or group citizens willing to do refurbishment works. In this way the municipality can issue a public bid for the whole group, facilitating the meeting of demand and offer and providing:
Main Features
Single request of many demands given to suppliers;
Lower prices for citizens, through economies of scale;
Institutional promotion and monitoring for citizens through standard contracting conditions, usually Energy Performance Contracts.

8. The Energy Performance Contract
Thanks of EPC, an external organisation (like an ESCo) implements and pays an energy efficiency project (or a renewable energy project), and uses the stream of income coming from the cost savings (or the renewable energy produced) to repay the costs of the project.
Essentially the ESCo will not receive its payment unless the project delivers energy savings as expected.

9. Actors of the process and their roles
Covenant Coordinator and Supporters – Support municipalities in formulating the projects and facilitating the application of economies of scale. Public Administrations – Municipalities – Main promoter of the initiative: institutional facilitator for a new market based mechanism or manager for the incentives NGO or similar, with good technical skills (i.e. Legambiente in Italy). Promoters, facilitators, auditors. Banks and other financial institutions. Citizens - decision makers. SMEs.

10. Description (and expert partner)
HighLights
Action
Description (and expert partner)
Main Actors
2.1
Energy savers
Door to door information accompanied with small energy-saving actions and light audit. This initiative is in the framework of the EU project “Lesson learned from local energy initiatives” which aims at selecting and testing good practices and methodologies to involve and educate adult citizens in local energy initiatives, having a special focus to vulnerable and/or less educated people. (Interleuven) (see also chapter 3)
Foundation (executor) + group of LGs
2.2
Energy saving at home
Retrofitting of low income residential buildings, through subsidy and loans, depending on income. Audit and energy certificate before/after subsidized (Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving - CRES)
Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change + Banks
2.3
Promotion of substitution of coal boiler
>50% of investment supported for private installations. Dismiss ion of old boiler (Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités" – PNEC)
LGs
2.4
Condomini Intelligenti®
Model for local governance to identify an innovative and concrete approach to reduce energy consumption in private buildings in urban areas and to foster building sector in “green”. Integrated model for participation and awareness raising for all the actors of the energy value chain. (Metropolitan City of Genova and Muvita Foundation)
Territorial Public Body/ LGs/ C&S
2.5
PadovaFIT
Facilitation of decision of refurbishment in multi dwelling buildings through the activation of a revolving fund, combined with EPC contract from a bank - Energy efficiency in space heating and hot water. The project provides a facilitation system for a light energy audit of the building and the support to decision making in the building assembly. (SOGESCA s.r.l.)

11. THANK YOU Contacts: Federico de Filippi SOGESCA f.defilippi@sogesca.it
Empowering Covenant of Mayors Coordinators and Supporters to assist municipalities in implementing and monitoring their Sustainable Energy Action Plan
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