EFFECT4buildings project provide a set of financial tools and instruments for lowering the risks
40% of energy consumption
and 36% of CO2 emissions in
the EU relates to buildings.
To achieve a climate-neutral
Europe by 2050, energy efficiency in
buildings has to be improved. Key
actors to make the change is building
managers. They are often aware of
possible technical solutions, but at
the same time facing challenges
with limited human and financial
resources. To convince decisionmakers
to invest in energy efficiency
measures, both financial and
technical risks have to be limited.
Project EFFECT4buildings is providing
building managers with a set of
financial tools and instruments for
risk management to support the
implementation of more energy
efficiency measures, developed
and improved in real cases - real
buildings.
EFFECT4buildings project team together with public building managers visiting Estonian National Museum
Toolbox for financial calculations
92% of all interviewed building
managers stated that fi nancial
calculation methods are extremely
important when justifying energy
investments, but only half of them
found it easy to do or even to
understand them. Most common way
for calculations of energy measures
is pay-back-method, but it does not
take aspects of technical lifetime and
profitability demand in consideration.
Conclusions from recalculations of
measures has shown that using Net
present value method or Internal rate
of return, investments with longer
lifetime will benefit and many more
measures will be profitable.
Another very useful tool is the Total
Concept method. When bundling
several measures into a larger
investment package, the profitability
of the whole package can be
calculated. Less profitable measures
will then be covered by the more
profitability ones, making it possible
to implement more energy efficiency
measures in total.
The toolbox also contains calculation
tools for Prosumerism, helping
building managers to find out the
optimal size of a solar energy power
plant as, both from financial and
energy production perspective.
Tools for partnering
Investments decisions will of course
be facilitated by funding, green loans
or bonds. Financial and technical risks
can also be lowered by contracting
partnership with an external service
company. In the Energy Performance
Contracting (EPC) model results are
guaranteed by the Energy Service
Company (ESCO), making sure that
energy savings cover the costs of the
investments.
The project introduces an improved
EPC model with contract-based
partnership for the analyses phase.
The Multi Service Contracting (MSC)
model, based on some of the same
ideas as EPC, includes several
benefits except for energy savings,
making investments more effective,
lowering the risk of sub-optimization
and giving more value for money
spent. Also, with models for
implementing Green Lease Contracts,
users of buildings and tenants can be
involved in increased sustainability.
Technology solutions
Last, but not least, it is of great
importance to lower the risk of investing
in wrong technology. To make sure
building managers invest in the best
available solutions, more knowledge on
different possibilities is needed as well
as confi rmation from colleagues that
the solutions performs well.
The full toolbox will be presented
in the EFFECT4buildings final
conference in Krakow in 16th of
September 2020. Projects working
on similar topics are welcome to join
the conference.
About EFFECT4buildings:
Financed by EU Program Interreg
Baltic Sea Region (European
Regional Development Fund) and
Norwegian Funding. The goal is to
implement more energy efficiency
measures in public buildings in the
Baltic Sea Region. Partners from
Sweden, Finland, Norway, Latvia,
Estonia, Denmark, Poland.
Website: www.effect4buildings.se