Issue VI / February 2013
Editorial: Behind the scenes of Interreg IVC – a field report by Steffi Hänig
Hallo, Bonjour, Halo, Hej, Hola,
I have been involved in the PraTLA project (Practical Training in Local Authorities) almost from the beginning and I have known the program from two sides: as a student and as a project coordinator.
In April 2011 I started my trip to Sweden for an internship and practical training at Energikontor Sydost – the Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden, made possible by PraTLA. On my way I stopped in Växjö and participated in the 1st interregional symposium of EnercitEE dealing with Energy Efficient heat/power generation & distribution and subsequently drove further to Oskarshamn. I was cordially received by Roger Gunnarsson. From that moment all my fears were flown away and I was sure: I will have a good time in Sweden and ESS. Any time I could ask co-workers for any kind of help, and during my placement I felt as part of the company. I learned a lot due to this exchange – on the professional and on the personal level. Every person and every single impression made my stay unforgettable. The local support is really important when students are in a foreign country for their first time as well as when they take their first steps in business life. Not only due to the stay abroad I have felt very strongly about the PraTLA project, but also because of the idea to support energy efficient projects in municipalities with the help of students.
I was really pleased about the opportunity to continue working in PraTLA. The transition to the project coordinator was a smooth one. In February 2012 I met the other project partners for the first time. Right from the start our cooperation was based on sympathy and mutual respect. The European cooperation with my PraTLA partners and the other EnercitEE project partners enabled me to get first-hand information from representatives from other countries in a short time, I got to know myself better, and I felt enriched by the method of working from the others and so it expanded my personal horizon immensely. Therefore it was even more difficult to say good bye after the third and last interregional meeting at 21st September 2012 in Zittau/Saxony.
The INTERREG IVC Miniprogram EnercitEE not only gave me the chance to let my dream come true, but also to get in touch with lovely people, learn from them and exchange experience with European partners as well as establish networks for the future business.
Steffi Hänig, Project coordinator PraTLA
3rd EnercitEE Symposium in October 2012 in Leipzig
Sarah Nilsson, Component 3 Manager of EnercitEE
All 11 sub-projects shared their experiences in several sessions
The first part of the symposium was up to the 11 Lead Partners from all EnercitEE sub-projects reporting from their joint work, their progress made and intermediate results. Every partner underlined the prospective benefit and outcomes. They also jointly shared their experience on their biggest success, biggest challenge, on lessons learnt and improvements made in the participating regions in the course of the project. Further, the participants dealt with future prospects.
Read more about the sub-projects results here.
EPBD – how do you do it?
Part II of the symposium focused on the special topic of “Energy Efficient Buildings + Innovation” and went deeply into related regional EE policy settings and implementations in EnercitEE regions. There was a training session and two workshops where different aspects of energy efficient buildings and innovations were lightened. We could never imagine that the differences were so large when we compared how our regions and countries are implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, short EPBD. Not only do we monitor in different ways, the implementation is also very different. It seems like all countries except Sweden and Poland have made a sincere attempt to implement the directive. Sweden has proposed to keep the current building code and Poland has difficulties to enforce the directive, Sweden has no funding or support for implementation and the government is even trying to find a way to stop local authorities to have stronger energy performance rules for new buildings than the national. Poland has national funding but there is a lack of knowledge and also a communication gap between different actors involved in the implementation.
Germany, France and Italy all have strong regulations and subsidies that pave the way for implementation but also here, there are some problems for implementation. All regions pointed out high costs for energy efficiency measures in existing buildings stock as a main obstacle for implementation. There was a common opinion that the EU decides about the EPBD but does not give any means or tools to implement it. The experts asked both for plain subsidies and for other tools like funding instruments and loans.
Study visit
Finally there was a study visit to a school, Wilhelm-Ostwald-Gymnasium Leipzig, which was renovated to passive house standard, a good practice transfer that completed the intention of the seminar. The school had an advanced monitoring and steering system for ventilation and heating that was demonstrated. There was even an opportunity to see a blower door test of the building and we could conclude that this envelope was really air tight.
For more information (summary, presentations, etc.) on 3rd EnercitEE symposium click here.
6 EnercitEE sub-projects ended in December 2012 – final outputs now available!
CLIPART, LEEAN, PraTLA, SustraMM, SCC and RIEEB ended their journey within the Miniprogramm EnercitEE in 2012. It is very exciting on one hand – as all Sub-Project Participants have contributed a great deal to the overall success of EnercitEE with remarkable outcomes they have achieved in a very short time. And it is very sad on the other hand – as after a good cooperation and several face-to-face meetings with interesting people, who are all eager to develop all kinds of instruments and tools for more energy efficiency in our EnercitEE partner regions, - a fruitful exchange has come to an end. To share the outcomes of the these 6 sub-projects – this Newsletter gives the chance to look back on the results achieved during the last 2 years and reflects how EnercitEE was implemented in 5 European regions.
CLIPART SAYS GOODBYE
Vittorio Marletto, Arpa Emilia-Romagna
In the last few months the five CLIPART partners were very busy in the preparation of the main final outcome of their sub-project, that is the CLIPART Handbook (Climate change planning for regional and local authorities). The book (90 pp) contains a short introduction to climate change (with a specific glossary) and two very practical chapters about climate change planning for mitigation (chapter 2) and adaptation (chapter 3). Apart from the printed version and the downloadable pdf, early in 2013 an Italian e-book version will be made available by Arpa Emilia-Romagna.
The Final Handbook can be downloaded from the EnercitEE website in:
Mitigation means working for the reduction of man-made greenhouse gas emissions through the introduction of energy efficiency measures and the deployment of renewable energy sources, while adaptation means rational planning to avoid impacts (loss of welfare, resources, lives and money) from the changing climate. Both activities are badly needed at the regional and local level of governance as most of the emissions arise at that level together with most of the risks and impacts.
The Italian version of the CLIPART Handbook, was presented and discussed in December 2012 in a public meeting entitled “Better to adapt!”, with 25 mayors from Emilia-Romagna cities and small municipalities. The event was organised in cooperation with the regional branch of the national association of Italian municipalities (ANCI-ER). The authorities had also the opportunity to exchange views with Sergio Castellari, a climate scientist managing the new Climate-Adapt information platform on behalf of EEA, and with Vittorio Prodi, former scientist and now member of the European Parliament, author of books on green economy.
Other similar events were carried out locally by all partners, while in the framework of our project the City of Vaxjo, Sweden, completed and published its adaptation plan. The process for an adaptation plan for the city of Bologna started recently with a strong involvement of Arpa.
LEEAN – Tools and instruments for more energy efficiency of European citizens
Karin Röser, Saxon Energy Agency – SAENA GmbH
The LEEAN sub-project has been a very successful and informative experience for all participants. During the three fruitful meetings every partner could present their approaches, challenges and outputs of instruments and tools which they developed to inform the different target groups like private house owners, tenants, immigrants as well as families suffering from fuel poverty with energy efficient measures in their life and distribute information about renewable energies. The results from this interregional exchange have been summarised in a common document. In the last few months the five LEEAN partners prepared a joint Policy Paper - the main final outcome of the sub-project.
The document contains a short preface of the project and its objectives followed by an introduction of LEEAN and its complimentary regional applications. In 5 chapters, the participants describe their main output under the following aspects:
1. An idea rises from a problem (description of the problem identified as a reference of the regional application);
2. How was the idea implemented by the partner?
3. How was the main output brought to the target groups?
4. Conditions and actors
5. Contact details of the implementing organisations
The Lead Partner (SAENA) describes the master manual for builders, which will inform private house owners about energy efficiency measures in their house and about the use of renewable energies. Prioriterre (Haute Savoie/France) chose to tackle the problem of energy poverty and especially supported those inhabitants who are suffering from fuel poverty. Therefore the agency trained social workers and developed a tenant kit to help families to cut energy costs and behave in an energy efficient manner. In Emilia-Romagna (Italy) ERVET’s main output is the guidebook for builders. It was set up for citizens who want to refurbish their house with new technologies and the use of renewable energy. ESS the Swedish partner introduces a toolbox for energy efficiency and solar/PV information. They supported energy- and climate advisors in motivating people to save energy and inspiring house owners to invest in solar and PV. The municipality of Bielawa in Lower Silesia (Poland) was seeking to improve awareness among citizens, businesses, local government, householders on pro-ecological activities and energy efficiency. They developed and disseminated tailor made information/promotion material such as information guides, brochures, flyers and colouring books.
The interregional exchange has shown that information and technical support services are very important for the promotion of energy efficiency measures and well accepted by different target groups. I want to thank all partners for their contribution to the project (meetings, study trips, etc.), for the good collaborative relationship and the continuously exchange of experience.
PraTLA – Contributions of students to boost energy efficiency in municipalities
Steffi Hänig, University of Applied Science Zittau/Görlitz
The main objective of the sub-project PraTLA was to improve local energy efficiency policies through practical trainings in local authorities. This goal has been met as approximately 70 students and 58 municipalities participated in the project and concrete actions and recommendations to increase energy efficiency have been developed. The students on the one hand supported different municipalities in setting up energy efficiency measures and on the other hand got the chance to acquire practical knowledge along their studies.
With 4 European partners, it was possible to generate an interregional transfer of knowledge, for example between Saxony and Smaland. 3 students from Saxony had the opportunity to complete their practical training at the Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden. They gained insights into the wide range of services offered by Sweden’s largest energy agency, studied selected local strategies to improve energy efficiency and Swedish methods of CO2 balancing and compared incentive systems for renewable energies used in Germany and Sweden. During the entire project, results of student projects were presented and discussed on various levels so that the regions involved obtained knowledge on energy efficiency. In additions, experiences on didactic approaches in educational and training institutes, on specific needs of local authorities in energy efficiency matters as well as on the practical implementation and impact of trainings in 4 European regions were exchanged within the interregional meetings.
The communities and local administrations participating were very interested in the PraTLA project and students have been in high demand to support the implementation of steps and projects to improve energy efficiency. In Haute-Savoie, students together with elected municipal representatives and experts carried out several study visits. In Lower Silesia successful results were achieved by carrying out practical trainings and thus even show new energy saving potentials or energy efficient projects in the municipalities. Also in Saxony, the PraTLA project was the catalyst for new energy efficient projects. A joint developed brochure presents selected study projects from 4 countries realized during 2010 and 2012. Furthermore different initial situations, challenges, approaches and impressions in the participating regions Saxony, Smaland, Lower Silesia and Haute Savoie are introduced. The brochure also summarizes the opinions of participating municipalities, showing that they urgently need support when setting up and implementing energy efficiency policies.
With public presentations, publicity material, articles in newspapers and on the EnercitEE-blog, we informed about the project and the achieved results during the entire project duration on various levels. With the gained knowledge received by the PraTLA project, all project partners want to do more energy efficient projects, work further with students and support municipalities in this regard. All the project partners are very interested in further cooperations with international partners in the future.
RIEEB – Energy efficient buildings / EPBD implementation in 4 European countries
Stefan Vetter, Saxon Energy Agency – SAENA GmbH
The RIEEB sub-project has been a very successful and informative experience for all participants. Through the exchange of experience and knowledge; four interregional meetings in the participating regions; and the cooperation of the partners - a successful completion of the project was achieved.
As planned, a review of the implementation of the EPBD into national legislation was carried out and showed, that although the European countries have a lot in common, there are great differences in how things are realized. An investigation of a total of 37 buildings was performed to illustrate how these national regulations are implemented. A range of buildings was analysed, from residential multi-family houses, through schools and university buildings to firemen stations and city halls. The results have shown that there is still space for improvements in all four participating countries. In order to improve the current situation and legislation, a variety of policy recommendations was compiled by the partner regions. These can be found in the final brochure, together with the detailed results of the investigation and an overview of the national laws.
Thanks to the regional workshops organised by the project partners, the awareness of construction companies, local governments and administration and of interested groups towards energy efficiency in buildings has increased and discussions have started, on how this issue can be further developed. Through the participation in this European project, the partner municipality of Jelcz-Laskowice was able to increase the interest of the national government in the topic of energy efficient buildings and acquire funds to energetically redevelop a number of municipal apartment blocks. A plausibility tool for the building authorities was developed by the lead project partner to simplify the verification process of building applications. This tool will be updated to comply with the new ordinances, printed and distributed to the authorities, as a follow up step of the RIEEB sub-project.
The result of the sustainable climate challenge SCC
Pär Wallin, City of Växjö
The four partners in the SCC project have challenged four different groups of citizens to become more Energy Efficient and climate smart, to use RES and to explore different ways reaching the EU 20-20-20 goals. SCC has offered concrete activities for citizens to cut the energy use and climate emission and shared different tools on an interregional platform.
The target groups in Växjö / Sweden were employees; in the City of Meerane/Germany school children and their families; in Emilia-Romagna/Italy by AESS private house owners; and in Haute-Savoie/France by Prioriterre eco consumers groups. The SCC project has developed different tools to support the participating citizens to change behaviors and to show the result of saved kWh, CO2 and saved money. Prioriterre developed a “yellow book” with information on climate smart products and services; and material for school children on saved kWh and an energy calculation in correlation to the investment for the private house owner. The SCC project has used “climate idols” (local known people with an interest in the climate issue) to challenge the target group employees in Växjö and also other “important persons” in the other regions. AESS in Emilia Romagna has developed a process to help private house owners to invest in energy efficiency measures for their buildings and in photovoltaic through an energy check, procurement of installers and products. The City of Meerane focussed on the competition “energy saving master”. All 7th grade students of the city took part in the workshops around the topic “energy saving at home - how can we do it?” All students took part in the 8 week long competition along with their families, where they have saved almost 3 000 kWh with a focus on smart behaviours. The project has developed a method to use an energy expert as part of the regular school lessons and the project concept is now also a part of the city’s climate plan, so the project will continue.
SCC has challenged in total more than 2000 citizens and has supported them with 60 workshops, seminars, meeting etc. The participants saved almost 500.000 kWh/year and almost 150.000 kg CO2/year if they continue the way they did during the challenges. Most of the challenges are transferable to other European regions with smaller adjustments. One important fact to consider with public challenges is privacy. People are not always keen on sharing their energy use with the public. So having a solution that provides data but also ensures privacy is of outstanding significance. Another success factor for good challenges is to have proper tools – the more people you would like to reach the less complex the tools need to be and vice versa. It is also very important to analyze the target groups in advance and compare it with the desired outcome. Further information of the common results of the project can be read in the project conclusions – “A guideline of the project on behavioral change – how and what to do”.
SustraMM – sustainable transport for managing mobility in Sweden, France and Germany
Camille Delepierre, Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden
SustraMM project partners have been focusing on the complex transport and energy issues and Mobility Management (“soft” measures to influence mobility behaviours) during a two year period. The main goals were to reach more sustainable transport systems, to create new mobility behaviours and decrease CO2 emissions.
Over 19000 citizens have been reached by light pilot implementation projects in the regions such as a bicycle campaign or the European mobility week in Southeast Sweden; a music festival in Cluses (FR); or a new citycenter busline in Pirna (DE). Over 150 key actors have been trained on mobility management issues such as car sharing, bicycling, mobility behaviours or electric bicycle riding. 12 good practices in the field of Mobility Management have been identified, gathered in a brochure as well as on the European ELTIS database. A guideline on Mobility Management in small cities has also been produced and spread. You can find SustraMM good practice brochure and guidelines on www.enercitEE.eu/sustramm in EN, FR, DE or SV.
Over 50 articles have been published in the media and 6 policies have been developed thanks to SustraMM seminars and actions. SustraMM activities will have long-term effects as the exchange of knowledge and implemented measures will - especially on the mid and long term perspective - lead to a more sustainable situation in the respective regions.
“SustraMM in Southeast Sweden has meant an increased understanding of Mobility Management thanks to training courses, pilot projects such as a winter bicycle competition and an electric bicycle competition, articles in the media as well as improved local policies” says Camille Delepierre, project leader for SustraMM in Southeast Sweden.
“The "mobility management" was not a common practice for our elected officials. Now everyone sees the value of these soft measures. Our new community of communes that starts in January 2013 will put this issue on the agenda, and has decided to hire a manager on Transport and Mobility to continue the work.” says Cécile Le Quesne, project manager from Cluses
“In EnercitEE we got the opportunity to support energy saving implementation processes in transport. For our institution TUD working in EnercitEE made it possible to enlarge the Europe wide researcher and practitioner network.” says Torsten Belter, project manager from the Technical University of Dresden
EnercitEE Publicity material
Publicity material
The 5th EnercitEE newsletter is also available in:
Documents available for download
Good Practice documentation
Upcoming events
23 April 2013
Working Group Meeting in Brussels
24 April 2013
Presentation of EnercitEE at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels
The Interreg IVC Miniprogramm EnercitEE will present practical approaches on energy efficiency for European cities and citizens to the members of the ENVE commission on 24 April 2013 at the Committee of the Regions Building in Brussels. The ENVE commission allows representatives from local and regional authorities to discuss the formulation of EU environment, climate change and energy policies and to promote best practices in these fields.
13 June 2013
Final Regional Event in Saxony
1st week in July 2013
Working Group and Steering Group Meeting in Bologna, Italy
24 – 26 September 2013
Final Working Group and Steering Group Meeting in Brussels
25 September 2013
Final Conference EnercitEE in Brussels
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