NATIONAL SUPPORTING PARTNER OF THE CAMPAIGN
Ekubirojs (ESEB) is a social design NGO committed to work with citizens to take back their cities, as they transition to a healthier low-carbon, and circular economy.
Established in 2012, ESEB’S aim is to promote Energy Efficiency and green investment in the Baltics and eastern Europe, leveraging the tremendous energy saving opportunities in Soviet Era buildings. Ever since the year of their establishment, they have been working with the public and private sector as well as citizens, giving them experience in understanding different perspectives that communities may have.
They cooperate with stakeholders from all sectors acquiring experience to spot opportunities and design new products and services to meet the complex challenges of 21st century cities.
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2021 - Renovate 2 Recover: How Transformational are the National Recovery Plans for Buildings Renovation?
National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) present a unique opportunity to accelerate the delivery of deep renovation across the EU. The analysis of the NRRPs in this Study demonstrates that significant renovation activity is planned and will be made possible through the successive disbursements of the Recovery Funding. But these renovations must be done properly, and the money must be spent well. This unprecedented additional injection of public funds must set the EU building stock firmly on the path to achieving its Renovation Wave goals to 2030 and meeting the 2050 climate targets.
For NRRPs to be transformational towards achieving these goals, two key aspects need to be strengthened:
- Ensure funding delivers a step change towards realising deep (or staged deep) renovations, going well beyond the 30% minimum energy saving recommendation set by the European Commission.
- Invest in the right enabling framework, including leverage of private finance, to create sustainable renovation markets that will grow beyond 2026.
Latvian profile from the study commissioned by the Renovate Europe Campaign and conducted by E3G with input from Ekubirojs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- European Semester Country Specific Recommendations 2020
RENESCO Project
Photo credit: RENESCO
This was the first energy services company set up in Latvia and it came about from a collaboration between the local government, state bodies and a number of key institutions, namely the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Dutch International Guarantee Fund for Housing in order to improve and transform the residential building fund.
The first tranche of projects was carried out in the period from 2009 to 2014, during which time 15 multi-family apartment blocks were energy renovated. In the process, RENESCO combines the legal and technical expertise of both local and international actors in the fields of energy efficiency, project financing, project management and renewable energy sources. RENESCO fully appreciated that the best way to achieve good results was by combining a wide range of technologies in the buildings, including works to reduce heat loss and installation of controls to better manage energy demand.
All projects were first audited for their existing condition and energy saving potential before the range of measures to be applied was decided on. In each case the proposals had to be accepted by a majority of the occupants in the buildings. After the works, monitoring of the buildings continued over time to ensure that promised savings were being achieved. The average across the projects illustrated in this exhibition is in excess of 54% for an average investment of around €90 per m²
Principal Characteristics of the Financing Programme:
| Type of programme: | Energy services company |
| Year of initiation: | 2009 |
| Number of buildings: | 15 large multi-family apartment blocks in the first 5 years |
| Measures implemented: | Structural stabilisation (where needed), insulation of roofs and walls, replacement of windows and doors, new heating systems, heat recovery ventilation systems, use of ground-sourced heat pumps and bio-mass boilers, installation of a building energy management systems enabling remote monitoring, operation and data collection |
| Results: | Energy savings after works reached an average of 54% |
| Cost of works: | An average of €105 per m² |
| Architect: | Varied |
| Technical consultants: | RENESCO internal expertise |
Presentation on RENESCO renovation of apartment buildings in Latvia, by Eric Berman from RENESCO, file hosted by BPIE website: http://bpie.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Experiences-with-ESPC-business-models-in-Latvia%C2%B4s-Residential-Building-Sector-Eric-BermanRENESCO.pdf
Blogpost from Abracadabra site: Newsletter#3 – January 2019: “ESCO financed projects with forfaiting” http://www.abracadabra-project.eu/news/newsletter3-january-2019-esco-financed-projects-with-forfaiting/
Blogpost from BuildUp entitled ‘Financing and realizing the modernization of mass housing stock through energy conservation’, from 04/02/2014: https://www.buildup.eu/en/practices/cases/financing-and-realizing-modernization-mass-housing-stock-through-energy-conservation