Sustainable Energy Action Plans

SustainableSustainable EnergyEnergy ActionAction PlansPlans

in Alpine Space in Alpine Space

Best Practice Examples

Handbook of the Alpine Space Project SEAP_Alps Best Practice Examples Handbook of the Alpine Space Project SEAP_Alps Table of Contents

Content

2. Table of Contents 13. Sustainable action plans for regions

3. Introduction 14. SEAP_Alps Training Platform

4. How municipalities implemented the 15. Successful trainings foster the SEAP_Alps methodology SEAP_Alps approach of integration

5. Developing a forward looking energy 16. Action plans for public building system in the frame of a SEAP renovation – how to start

6. Support of the Covenant of Mayors by 17. Action plans for public private coordinating activities investments (APPI) in a city

7. Combining Mitigation and Adaptation to 18. Defining measures with the help of the Climate Change SEAP_Alps Action Tool

8. Adaptation measures – why they are necessary

9. Focus on Alpine conditions – decline in tourism

10. Partner Organisations

11. Pilot Municipalities

12. Striving for the best mitigation approach

2 SEAP_Alps

Introduction

Climate change is one of the major challenges that Europe faces in this century. Finding interventions aimed to implement mitigation and adaptation has become imperative to safeguard territories. In this scenario, the local authorities can and must play a key role.

These are the premises from which the SEAP_ALPS project, developed in the framework of EU Alpine Space Programme, was started. The twelve partners, coming from eleven Alpine regions, had the opportunity to com- pare and capitalize different experiences.

The project has developed guidelines and tools to support more than forty pilot municipalities in the drafting of Sustainable Energy Action Plans – SEAPs – whose contents go beyond the field of climate change mitigation by including local adaptation policies, often not yet widespread. In this way the project provides a valuable contribu- tion due to the peculiar characteristics of vulnerability of the communities of the Alpine area.

SEAP-ALPS also focused on the key issus of energy refurbishment of public buildings which, due to the reduced financial resources, is often a hard task for local governments. Therefore, a concept for new public-private inves- tment partnerships has been tested in some pilot municipalities within the project.

The aim of this final brochure is to spread the good practices developed in the context of SEAP_ALPS, highlighting the interventions implemented in the municipalities and sharing experiences and lessons learnt, so that other local public administrations may replicate them.

Silvio De Nigris Project Manager Metropolitan City of Turin

3 Methodology

„Be one step forward means taking your land into energy efficiency land, and the ener gy rehabilitation of buildings is- one of the first steps“.

Mag. Vesna Jerala Zver Mayor of Turnišče.

How municipalities implemented the SEAP_Alps methodology

The SEAP_Alps methodology is an important tool for drafting a good Sustainable Energy Action Plan, integrating the classic mitigation actions with adaptation. The methodology is usable as a cloud tool, guiding the user in a step by step procedure. Thus, the composition of the Action Plan is enriched by best practice examples proposed in the cloud application. In the Pomurje region, three pilot Municipalities (Kuzma, Turnišče and Puconci) were selected; and the process started with an official event, where all mayors signed the Covenant of Mayors. After signing, the local steering groups were created and six meetings organized. SEAP documents were developed with the support of the SEAP_Alps Action tool and all approved before the end of year 2014.

Main outcome of the project in the municipalities is the elaboration of such a strategic document, the SEAP, which includes guidelines and provides the basis for increasing the sustainability of the use of energy. Municipalities are increasingly aware of the importance of playing an active role in this field and the actual natural disasters, such as floods, landslides are the facts, on which the first line of action in SEAP is based.

Janja Horvat Development Agency Sinergija

Silvio De Nigris Metropolitan City Turin

4 Methodology CO2 Savings

“The city of Klagenfurt am Wörthersee has decided to switch its energy supply to a forward looking, efficient and renewable system which will also- be able to survive in economical ly difficult times.”

Christian Scheider Mayor City of Klagenfurt

Developing a forward looking energy system in the frame of a SEAP

The accession of the City of Klagenfurt to the Covenant of May- ors took place in 2011 with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions by 20%. The SEAP in the areas of district heating, electrical power and mobility had been prepared by mid-2014 and also approved by the city council. Already in 2015, there has been a complete con- version of electricity and heat production (district heating) largely based on biomass. In the area of mobility there should be further conversions to the so-called environmental alliance from motori- zed individuals through to urban planning concepts of modal split. Already, in Klagenfurt up to 51% of the paths are covered by the environmental network (by foot, by bicycle or by public transport). This percentage should have increased to 60%.in 2020. The sum of these measures should have reached a CO2 saving of 51% by 2020.

It is planned to convert these heaters starting in the summer of 2015. In addition to the achievement of su- perior environmental and climate political objectives, these measures are linked to direct capital gains, as it allows for a massive reduction in operating costs in the heated properties. As a financing option „contracting/ energy-service“ was selected, so that there will be no strain on the budget of the city of Klagenfurt.

Bernhard Reinitzhuber City of Klagenfurt on Lake Wörthersee

5 Covenant of Mayors

„Together with the need to reduce the green house gas emissions, it was early clear the need to develop a common strategy to adapt the territory to climate change“.

Paolo Dalla Vecchia Environmental Assessor of Venice.

Support of the Covenant of Mayors by coordinating activities

The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) is a European initiative involving local and regional authorities, voluntarily com- mitting to increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in their territories. By their commitment, Covenant signatories aim to meet and exceed the European Union 20% CO2 reduction objective by 2020.

A key element of the CoM is the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), to be submitted by each signatory, outlining the strategy of how to reach its CO2 reduction target by 2020.

Public administrations can take on the role of Covenant Coordi- nators and provide strategic, financial and technical support to signatories. That’s what the Province of Venice (IT) undertook in order to support its municipalities. The need is great in the province with 43 municipalities; a total of 44 signed the CoM. As a result 28 signatories have successfully submitted their SEAPs. According to the principle “together we are strong”, the Province of Venice and the municipalities have developed valuable joint actions, such as a database for electrical and thermal consumption data for about 1500 public buildings, a joint proposal for the ELENA facility (European Local Energy Assistance) and a common framework for municipal edification regulations etc.

The support of the Province of Venice goes beyond even the requirements of the CoM and addresses the issue of adaptation to climate change, too. One major action step, foreseen by the Province of Venice is a vulnerability map and the inclusion of the municipal water plans within the adaptation strategy.

Massimo Gattolin, Anna Maria Pastore, Davide Lionello Province of Venice

Jenny-Claire Keilmann Climate Alliance 6 Awareness raising

„Our working group will con sequently work on the re - alisation of the measures - elaborated, because only the implementation of our action plan will foster climate mitiga tion“. -

Mayor Eberhard Jehle Municipality of Wertach

Combining Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change

The special focus of SEAP_Alps is on the needs of municipalities in Alpine Space offering a catalogue of measures which help to find out, in which areas of intervention projects can successfully be implemented and where their energy saving potentials lie. The emphasis was on municipal buildings and their adaptation to climate change. Since climate change is still an abstract issue to deal with a clear presentation of its local effects is, an important issue when increasing citizenship awareness. Only if this works successfully, can important adaptation measures be implemented, for example the mountain forest initiative.

The Energy and Environmental Center Allgäu (eza!) in its role as a regional energy agency with strong ties to local authorities offered cooperation to five municipalities: Kempten, Sonthofen, Füssen, Wertach and Wiggens- bach. Local working groups supported the energy related tasks in each municipality.

A SEAP shows potentials for energy savings and deployment of renewable energy. Practical examples are the optimization of the heating systems of municipal buildings in Wertach, the on-site consultation with citizens in Füssen, new procurement regulations for Wiggensbach, the sustainable model refurbish- ments of buildings in Sonthofen and innovative new construc- tions In Kempten.

Hans-Jörg Barth Energy and Environment Center Allgäu (eza!)

7 Climate change

„We remain committed to climate mitigation objectives and strive to make Geretsried a lighthouse city of energy turnaround in the region.“

Michael Müller Mayor of Geretsried Adaptation measures – why they are necessary

Climate change on a regional scale – was one of the issues dealt with in the SEAP_Alps project. It’s becoming more and more of an issue to link mitigation efforts to measures of adaptation to the climate change, because climate change is already taking place in the Alpine Space and cannot be stopped by mitigation activities alone. In addition to this, the average temperature in the Alps has already risen by almost twice as much as the global average.

During training workshops in Geretsried and Weyarn, climate ex- pert Dr. Sven Wagner (K.I.T. /University of Augsbug), showed climate scenarios which referred to the upper region of Bavaria. He said that in late winter heavier precipitations in connection with warmer temperatures can be expected.

As a consequence, the water retention function of the snow will be reduced and can lead to swelling rivers and therefore an increase in the risk of flooding in the area. In summer, upper Bavaria will experience more hot and dry weather periods than in the past; and therefore, there will be more weather extremes such as heavy rain falls, hail storms and high temperature periods.

After the scientific input, participants of the workshops discussed possible risks of climate change within their own community. All the examples were then indicated on a map, analysed further and adaptation measures were developed.

Ellen Esser Energiewende Oberland, Civic Foundation for renewable energy and energy savings (EWO)

8 Tourism

„The implementation of ad aptation strategies must be- a transversal approach with a long term vision. Today is that we draw the territories of tomor row and the expected climate - changes must be incorporated now in the projects carried out in the long run.“

Alain Chabrolle, Vice-president of the Rhône-Alpes Region

Focus on Alpine conditions – decline in tourism

Being the second most important region in France in terms of attendance and the prime destination for the mountains or the countryside, tourism related economic issues are an important issue. A significant climate change could have a large impact on the sector, with an effect on the choice of destination and on attendance. It is therefore necessary for the different tourism stakeholders to gain knowledge of climate change and its impact, in order to ensure the maintenance and development of tourism in the region.

As a first step, it was useful to make an assessment of the vulnerability of the municipality to climate change. That is, to ask the question what are the strengths or weaknesses of the territory in a long-term vision when facing the changes which could come? These changes in the alpine areas can be a decrease in snow, a sharp rise in summer temperatures in major cities, a lack of water and lower water quality near rivers and lakes or a change of water flow which can cause flooding.

The Copler has targeted its actions towards the quality of water resources and the reduction of its water consumption. Some municipalities of Pays de Maurienne have defined a new policy for sustainable mid-mountain resorts to encourage them to di- versify their offer.

Catherine Premat RhônAlpEnergie Environnement (RAEE)

9 Partner Organisations

10 Partner Organisations Pilot Municipalities

Our pilot municipalities:

AT Eisenkappel IT Druento AT Globasnitz IT Fiesso d‘Artico AT Region Fürstenfeld IT Giaveno AT Region Kulmland IT Jesolo AT Region Vorau IT Leinì AT Region Wechselland IT Moncalieri AT Sittersdorf IT Orbassano DE Füssen IT Pecetto Torinese DE Geretsried IT Pino Torinese DE Kempten IT Poirino DE Sonthofen IT Pramaggiore DE Wertach IT Riva presso Chieri DE Weyarn IT Rivalta di Torino DE Wiggenbach IT Rosta FR CdC de l‘Oisans IT San Donà di Piave FR CdC du Trièves IT San Gillio FR Copler IT San Maurizio Canavese FR Marignier IT San Michele al FR Pays de Maurienne Tagliamento FR Saint Martin d‘Uriage IT Santa Maria di Sala IT Alpignano IT Sestriere IT Baldissero Torinese IT Strambino IT Borgosesia IT Venaria Reale IT Bussoleno IT Vercelli IT Cambiano IT Vigonovo IT Campolongo Maggiore IT Villarbasse IT Chieri SI Kranj IT Chioggia SI Kuzma IT Coazze SI Puconci IT Collegno SI Tržič IT Dolo SI Turnišče

11 Mitigation

„The City of Kranj as the largest municipality in Gorenjska region has the duty to be an example in sustainable energy use and growth. We strive to be a leading municipality in rational energy use and use of renewable energy sources“.

Boštjan Trilar Mayor of Kranj

Striving for the best mitigation approach

For Slovenian pilot municipalities Kranj and Tržič, the starting point within the SEAP_Alps project was the signing of cooperation agreements. Afterwards the working groups with representatives from local authorities, energy experts and leaders of the project were established. As a first step, already existing databases from municipalities, government and private companies were analysed and sustainable energy actions were proposed. During a public workshop, further ideas for projects were gathered, not only from the local authorities but also from citizens; resulting in the pre- paration of the action plan. Finally the sustainable energy action plans (SEAPs) were drafted and will be presented and confirmed at municipal council meetings.

The focus of projects planned in the city of Kranj lie in the implementation of an energy monitoring system that will support the prioritizing of energy rehabilitation of public buildings. Further activities will be the energy certification of buildings, the elaboration of a plan for a new pas- senger center, and the development of guidelines for a citizen friendly public transport.

Energy monitoring of public buildings was also an important issue in the municipality of Tržič. As a consequence, a plan for the renovation of a boiler room in the primary school with the transition to biomass has been prepared. Another example is the renovation and the moderniza- tion of public lighting. The SEAP is one step forward for the future goal to be the first energy independent municipality in Slovenia.

Roko Padovac BSC Regional Development Agency

12 Mitigation Regions together

- „For us as a supporting orga nization of Eastern Styria, it is very important that ener gy action plans created and measures from the SEAP‘s be implemented subsequently“.

Harald Messner Energy Region Eastern Styria

Sustainable Action plans for regions

In the region of Eastern Styria four SEAPs were established. The most important projects that will emerge from the SEAPs are: the development of PV power, the expansion of district heating systems, the implementation of LED in street lighting, minimum savings of 15% on electricity and heat in the participating regions. This was accomplished with the help of guidan- ce groups and active stakeholder groups in each participating region.

First of all, all regions signed the Letter of Intent to provide a SEAP; then we defined a local strategy, we implemented gui- dance groups and had meetings with local stakeholder define define the targets for the coming years. We implemented and worked out the CO2 balance (we chose a basis year, from which we had the data (2001)) we calculated the CO2 emissions and the energy consumption per inhabitant with the IPCC methodology and further we developed a SEAP together with all involved stakeholders.

The results are 4 SEAP´s in the regions of Vorau, Wechselland, Fürstenfeld, and Kulmland which have now started with the implementation of the measures. With the large support of all involved stakeholders and of the regional managers we finished 4 exceptionally good SEAPs for the regions.

Andrea Dornhofer Weizer Energy and Innovation Center (W.E.I.Z.)

13 Online Training Platform

SEAP_Alps Training Platform

SEAP_Alps has introduced an innovative approach to the field of local energy planning in the Alpine area that takes into account both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. As this kind of integrated approach is not yet widely used in energy planning at a municipal level, there is a lack of knowledge that has to be taken into account. Considering this situation an online-based SEAP_ Alps Training Platform has been created.

The platform supports pilot municipalities and other interested stakeholders in their activities by providing information tailored to target groups in five languages. The heart of the Training Platform is the dissemination of information and know-how related to the SEAP_Alps methodology.

The content of the platform is divided into three thematic parts: local mitigation actions, following the example of the Action Plan for Sustainable Energy of the Covenant of Mayors, adaptation to climate change strategies and a section on the integration of both approaches.

In order to deliver appropriate support, the platform consists of three modules. Firstly, downloadable training materials, illustra- ted with specific examples of implemented measures, graphs and links. Secondly, a SEAP_Alps test which allows users to assess their level of knowledge on the topic subsequently to the training. After having completed the test, users immedia- tely obtain the results. And finally, an overview of relevant inter- net-based documents sorted by country, satisfies the needs of those who want to delve even deeper into the topic of mitigation and adaptation to climate changes.

Jenny-Claire Keilmann Climate Alliance

14 Capacity Building

„The European Union assigns contributions for projects aimed at spreading sustainable Energy in the individual territories. In this context our focus is on energy efficiency in public buildings.“

Carlo Riva Vercellotti President of the Province of Vercelli Successful trainings foster the SEAP_Alps approach of integration

The integration of mitigation and adaptation concepts is a new issue for the Municipalities and needs an intensive training process. The Covenant of Mayors members has been invited to take part in learning sessions organized by the Province of To- rino with the active involvement of the Province of Vercelli. The framework topic was the draft of a SEAP, with a special focus on adaptation to climate change and implementation of mitigation actions through innovative financial schemes, such as the Energy Performance Contracts.

For a long time the Province of Vercelli has been very active with the policy of counteracting the climate change but no Municipality has yet adopted a SEAP. Through the project SEAP_Alps the ‚pilot‘ Municipalities of Vercelli and Borgosesia, the main towns of the province, had the opportunity to be the first, acting as trail-blazers, to the advantage of the rest of the provincial territory.

This path of training, and capacity-building started in Octo- ber 2014 with a seminar held in Vercelli. Many Mayors of the province, local stakeholders and other involved participants took part in the meeting, applying themselves to the lessons given by important environmental experts. During the project the Province of Vercelli has gone on to organize further seminars and training activities concerning SEAP methodology for Mayors and municipal engineers.

Davide Benasso Province of Vercelli

Silvio De Nigris Metropolitan City Turin 15 Financing Building Renovation

„The financial analysis is too often limited to feasibility questions. SEAP ALPS innova- - tes through its sharper ana - lysis. It pointed out our re-in vestment capacities generated by our numerous but small energy saving actions“.

Florin Malafosse Project Manager of 100% RES Trièves territory

Action plans for public building renovation – how to start

Generally small local authorities due to lack of technical and financial resources, just renovate their buildings regularly but without a consistent approach. Therefore, it is often difficult for them to value and communicate the implemented interventions. The Action Plans for Public Private Investments (APPI) proposes a methodology in order to draft a consistent refurbishment plan, starting with an analytical framework to take into account the municipalities’ context. These criteria can be a leveling of CO2 emissions, an energy consumption per m², an average price of energy per building, financial capacity, the political wiliness to enhance existing buildings, objectives of CO2 and energy consumption reduction.

Rather than the technical and financial analysis, the most important part of the job was to set up a pro-active dialogue between AGEDEN and the municipalities. For example, through constructive discussions with the Trièves territory, an adapted and realistic APPI was drafted. The methodology also estimated the impacts in terms of CO2 (-42%), energy expenses (-20%) and consumption, and also on socio-economic aspects (around 11,7 local jobs). Thanks to those estimations, the representatives of the municipalities can receive a positive feed-back more easily from the other representatives and also from their citizens.

Sylvain Min-Kim AGEDEN

16 Sustainable Refurbishment

„Joining the SEAP-ALPS project allowed the City of Orbassano to plan actions for a more sus tainable future, identifying energy efficiency measures on public- buildings that will be achieved through innovative public-private contractual forms“.

Eugenio Gambetta Mayor of Orbassano Action plans for public private investments (APPI) in a city

The Municipality of Orbassano started its energy planning process in 2013 by joining the Covenant of Mayors and the SEAP_Alps project. The job has been focused on drafting a Sustainable Energy Action Plan, by analyzing the energy and emissions balances for the whole territory and identifying the best solutions for achieving or even exceeding a 20% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2020.

One of the detected priorities was the energy refurbishment of public buildings. Thus, the next step was the drafting of an Action Plan for Public Investments – APPI – implemented by selecting the public buildings with the worst energy performances (four schools).

The buildings have been analyzed by an energy auditor. The result was an energy-efficiency retrofitting list of actions: from those with a higher cost and a longer pay-back time, such as the roof insulation („Fermi“ school), to the most convenient ones, such as the installation of ther- mostatic valves. Since financing the foreseen investments is nowadays a big issue due to budgetary constraints, the City of Orbassano joined the 2020 EU project (IEE), led by the Metro- politan City of Torino. With the involvement of private operators (ESCO) and the application of Energy Performance Contracts (EPC), the selected Orbassano’s buildings will be grouped with the other buildings belonging to other municipalities in order to launch a larger call for bids that should lead to more economical implementation of reconstruction measures. Thus leading to a successful example of public private cooperation.

Giovanni Vicentini Metropolitan City of Turin

17 SEAP_Alps Action Tool

„Ist’s hard to believe which sa ving potentials new heating con- - cepts bear. Almost all measures adopted have meanwhile been implemented and are saving CO2 month after month“.

Eberhard Jehle, Wertach

Defining measures with the help of the SEAP_Alps Action Tool

In the frame of the project SEAP_Alps, an online action tool has been developed which provides valuable assistance to municipalities and working groups in finding out which sustainable energy projects can be considered for the action plan. Within each area of intervention a variety of possible actions are dis- played, complemented by examples which are provided in project sheets. These project sheets can be selected and downloa- ded as word files for further modification.

With this in mind, the action tool not only makes it easy to draft a SEAP but also provides numerous ideas and suggestions. The most important feature is probably the listing of best practice examples from other municipalities. The tool provides a valuable support especially for municipalities who have just started the process, which was the case in the city of Füssen. But also more experienced wor- case in the city of Füssen. but also more experienced working groups such as the one in Wertach appreci- ated the project sheets and adopted some of the examples described in the SEAP_Alps action tool, for example the optimization of the heating control.

Hans-Jörg Barth Energy and Environment Center Allgäu (eza!)

18 Legal notice

Project Observer Imprint

We thank our observers for their support: Sustainable Energy Action Plans in Alpine Space, Best Practice Examples, Handbook of the Alpine Space Project SEAP_Alps Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment 1st edition, March 2015 and Consumer Protection, Germany The handbook was elaborated within the framework of the Interreg Alpine Space Project “SEAP_Alps – Supporting Municipalities in the Implementation of Sustain- able Energy Action Plans”. The project was co-funded by the European Regional Bavarian District Miesbach, Germany Development Fund. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Communities, the ETC- Bavarian District Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, ASP Managing Authority, ETC-ASP Joint Secetariat of the Land Salzburg. None of the authorities and institutions is responsible for any use that may be made of the Germany information contained therein.

Editor: Energiewende Oberland, Civic Foundation Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research for Renewable Energy and Energy Savings (EWO) Design/ (IMK-IFU) of the Campus Alpin of Karlsruhe Institute Layout: t.media - Medienproduktion of Technology (KIT), Germany Geretsried, Germany Printing: Druckhaus Weber, Bad Tölz, Germany International Office of the Forum European Pictures are courtesy/copyright of the respective partner organizations and of: Energy Award e.V., Germany Page 1 /2: Horst Esser Page 3: Gianluca Cericola (View of Turin) Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), Page 4: Danilo Zrim (Landscape of Kuzma)and Municipality Turnišče (View of Turnišče) European Secretariat Page 5: City of Klagenfurt Page 6: Mario Fletzer (Views of Venice) Pagie 8: City of Geretsried Piedmont Region, Italy Page 14: NOAA (Air planes) and Chad McDermott - Fotolia.com (Jogging) Page 18: senohrabek - Fotolia.com (Solar panels)

Province of La Spezia, Italy Download: The booklet can be donwnloaded from www.seap-alps.eu/Project/Project Results Regional Government of Carinthia, Austria

Region Rhône-Alpes, France

Union of Italian Provinces Association, Italy 19 ENVIRONMENT

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