Istrian region action plan
Action plan for fostering energy refurbishment of heritage buildings
Istrian region action plan
Table of content
General information ...... 3 1. Policy Context ...... 4 1.1 General context ...... 4 1.1.1 Regulative framework ...... 4 1.1.2 Instruments ...... 5 1.1.3 EE responsible intuitions in Croatia ...... 6 1.1.4 ERDF funding in Croatia ...... 6 1.1.5 State of art in the implementation of energy related policies and plans ...... 7 1.2 Policy instruments ...... 8 1.2.1 Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 – 2020 ...... 8 1.2.2 Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020 ...... 11 Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020 is the most important regional policy instrument for the future development of the Istrian region as: ...... 11 1.2.3 Sustainable action plan of City of Buje ...... 12 1.2.4 Sustainable action plan of City of Novigrad ...... 13 1.2.5 Joint SECAP ...... 13 1.3 Regional background analysis ...... 14 Action plan – implementation framework ...... 17 Action I: Establishment of framework for systematic approach to process of energy refurbishment of heritage buildings in Istrian region ...... 18 1.a Establishment of regional database of good practices through energy refurbishment of public heritage buildings ...... 22 1.b Fostering innovation in heritage building refurbishment process through introduction of new technologies in particular ones related to use of blue energy ...... 26 1.c Development of regional guidelines for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings ...... 29 Action II: Local synergies through joint actions ...... 31 Action III: save@work ISTRIA ...... 37 Action IV: Kids can do it! ...... 41
Istrian region action plan
General information
Project Title: SUPPORT – Support Local Governments in Low Carbon Strategies
Project Code: PGI02448
Programme: Interreg Europe
Document Title: Istrian region action plan
Partner Organization: IRENA – Istrian Regional Energy Agency ltd.
Other partner organizations involved: Center for Monitoring Business Activities in the Energy Sector and Investment and Istrian region
Country: Croatia
NUTS2 level: Jadranska Hrvatska
NUTS 3 level: Istarska županija
Legal Representative of the partner organization: Valter Poropat, Director of IRENA
Contact Person of the partner organization: Dalibor Jovanović, project manager
Contact details:
Adress: Rudarska 1, 52220 Labin tel: +385 52 351 553 mob: +385 99/538-9277 e-mail: [email protected] web: http://www.irena-istra.hr/
Istrian region action plan
1. Policy Context
The Action Plan aims to impact: Investment for Growth and Jobs programme European Territorial Cooperation programme Other regional development policy instrument
Name of the original policy instrument addressed: Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 - 2020
Name of the additional policy instruments adressed:
1. Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020 2. Sustainable energy action plan of City of Buje 3. Sustainable energy action plan of City of Novigrad
1.1 General context
By acceding to full membership of the European Union on 1 July 2013, the Republic of Croatia, along with other Member States, assumed an obligation under Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, to increase energy efficiency in the EU in order to achieve the Union’s 20 % primary energy consumption savings target by 2020 against projections (with regard to a ‘business as usual’ or baseline energy consumption scenario).
1.1.1 Regulative framework
The significance of energy efficiency in Croatia has been confirmed by its legislative and strategic framework. To implement the EED, changes have been made to national laws: Energy Efficiency Act (National gazette 127/2014) adopted in October 2014, promotes energy efficiency and development of the energy services market. Energy Efficiency Act creates the conditions for setting goals, adopting measures to reduce the consumption of primary energy in production, transmission and distribution of energy and mechanisms for promoting energy efficiency through institutional, financial and other frameworks in order to remove obstacles
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that hinder the development of an energy efficiency market. This will significantly contribute to the achievement of the national energy savings target of the Republic of Croatia. Building act (National gazette 153/2013, 56/2014) Act on Thermal Energy Market (National gazette 80/13, 14/14, 95/15 ) Also respective ministers had brought several subordinate regulation acts
Regulation on Contracting and Implementation of Energy Services (National gazette 11/2015) Ordinance on the Methodology for Monitoring, Measurement and Verification of Energy Savings (National gazette 71/2015) Ordinance on the Requirements of the Energy Efficiency of Energy-Related Products in Public Procurement Procedures (National gazette 70/2015) Ordinance on the Environmental Protection Label in the European Union - EU ECOLABEL (National gazette 110/2014) Ordinance on Determining Ecodesign Requirements for Energy-Related Products (National gazette 50/2015) Ordinance on the Systematic Energy Management in the Public Sector (National gazette 18/2015, 6/2016) Ordinance on the Method of Local Distribution and Billing of Thermal Energy (National gazette 99/14,027/2015, 124/2015) Ordinance on Energy Audit of a Building and Energy Certification (National gazette 48/2014, 150/2014, 133/2014, 22/2016, 49/2016) Ordinance on Energy Audits for Large Companies (National gazette 123/15)
1.1.2 Instruments
Other instruments developed to help implement EED with regards to Public sector:
The National Energy Efficiency Programme for 2008-2016 has been drawn up and adopted In compliance with the European Directive 2006/32/EC on energy end-use efficiency and energy services (ESD). In addition, the Croatian Government has adopted the Third National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the period 2014-2016. For the period 2014-2016 a total of 40 measures are planned. Of these, 28 measures are continued from the 2nd NAPEnU while 12 measures are new. Of the new measures, 7 relate to savings by and large of primary energy, and they will be carried out by certain energy distributors. A large number of measures, in particular information related, affect several sectors. 11 measures are of an informative nature, or it is not clearly specified what the extent of implementation of measures will be, which is why the effects of these measures were not calculated. Through the remaining 29 measures, savings of 10.16 PJ in 2016 were calculated
The Fourth National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the period 2017.-2019. of the Republic of Croatia is currently in the final phase of making.
Programme of energy renovation of public sector buildings 2014 - 2015
Croatian Government in October 2013. adopted a program of energy renovation of public buildings for the period 2014 – 2015. which stipulated that in 2014 and 2015 aprox. 200 public buildings will be
Istrian region action plan renovated, with a usable floor area of approximately 420 000.00 m2. The overall cost of reconstruction was estimated of about 53,8 million EUR. The Programme should be presented publicly and ESCO companies, as well as other private companies, should be encouraged to participate in the implementation of activities
Programme of energy renovation of public sector buildings 2016 - 2020
Croatian Government in March 2017. adopted a programme of energy renovation of public buildings for the period 2016 – 2020. Aim of the Programme is to renovate public buildings and reduce energy consumption by 70% in renovated buildings. The overall allocated co financing for reconstruction is 82,4 million EUR by the end of 2020., and total amount for public building reconstruction until 2023. is 212 million EUR. The Programme should be presented publicly and ESCO companies, as well as other private companies, should be encouraged to participate in the implementation of activities
1.1.3 EE responsible intuitions in Croatia
The main institutions responsible for energy efficiency in public sector are:
Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE): Responsible of the implementation of the EED, developing Public Lightning Renovation Programmes Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning (MCPP): responsible for developing the Programmes of energy renovation of public sector buildings National Energy Efficiency Authority CEI (described above under partner) The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (EPEEF): co-financing Programmes of energy renovation of public sector buildings, and other energy efficiency measures defined by NEEAPs. Agency for Transactions and Mediation in Immovable Properties (APN) is responsible for the implementation of Public building renovation programs, in charge of Energy management information system EMIS. EMIS contains data on energy consumption and technical characteristics (floor area, type of heating/cooling, location etc…) of all public buildings.
1.1.4 ERDF funding in Croatia
Period 2007-2013
Final report from European Commission on ex post evaluation focused on the 2007-2013 programming period and Croatia only joined the EU in 2013 in order to avoid the complexity of different time periods Croatia was not included in this evaluation. Furthermore, Croatia did not allocate any ERFD/CF funding for the priority theme on energy efficiency, co-generation and energy management
Period 2014-2020
As mentioned, Croatia has two Programmes of energy renovation of public sector buildings, for periods 2014.-2015., and 2016.-2020.
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The first Programme was co-funded entirely with National funds (through The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund). The total cost of Programme was estimated of about 53,8 million EUR., co- funded with 22,3 million EUR, which makes a little over 40% (National funds).
The second Programme will be co-funded with ERD Funds. For this Programme it is allocated a total of 82,4 million EUR (40% out of total cost of Programme) from ERD Funds by the end of 2020. ERD Found total amount for public building reconstruction in Croatia of 212 million EUR will be spent until year 2023.
1.1.5 State of art in the implementation of energy related policies and plans
Energy Efficiency Act in Croatia states that all counties and all cities with over 35 000 inhabitants are obligated to plan energy efficiency measures. This makes 37 obligated parties in planning. By that local government is induced to systematically manage energy and plan which steps to take in order to consume energy more rationally and reduce expenses at the same time. Plans are made on a three-year and annual basis. The three- year Action Plans are developed for the period in accordance with NEEAP, so currently counties and big cities have made Energy Efficiency Action plans for the period 2017.-2019. Annual Energy Efficiency Plans are made every year, and they represent a ground basis for national report on the implementation of measures set in NEEAP. The purpose of the report is to coordinate national plans with local activities – from now on National plans will be made by guidelines that come from local government. While counties and big cities are obligated to plan energy efficiency measures, other cities and municipalities are invited to participate on a voluntary basis. That way they would increase their chances to receive co-financing for certain activities they intend to realize, since National action plan is a basis for planning distribution of Environmental protection and energy efficiency fund resources.
All Energy Efficiency Plans (Action and Annual) needs to be sent to National Energy Efficiency Authority to review and final approval. This is defined by Energy Efficiency Act.
2016 Report on Annual Energy Efficiency Plans Results from report created by Natiin 2016 states that by the May 1. 2016. National Energy Efficiency Authority has received 31 Annual Energy Efficiency Plan for 2016. Out of these 31 Plans, 27 are received by obligated parties in planning (there are total 37 obligated parties), and 3 were sent voluntary. Two of the remaining Plans have been received after May 1. 2016. when analysis was made, but 8 obligated parties still have not submitted Annual Action plan for 2016. There are a total of 236 energy efficiency measures in these 31 Annual plans, most of the measures are in Service sector (120 measures), then follows Transport (36 measures), then Households (24 measures), Public lighting (22 measures), Industry (4 measures). Other 30 measures are not sorted in any of the main 5 sectors. Total planned savings according to delivered Annual plans sums up to 96.039.378,59 kWh or 0,3457 PJ. Total measure cost is 98.684.358,00 EUR, and total amount co-financed by The
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Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (EPEEF) is 31.865.939,00 EUR.
1.2 Policy instruments
During project implementation, and due to difficulties in influencing original policy instrument, IRENA and Istrian region decided to introduce three new policy instruments that they are going to try to influence in order to achieve goals initially set by project SUPPORT. Two of those instruments have local character:
- Sustainable energy action plan of City of Buje - Sustainable energy action plan of City of Novigrad
And one of them is regional one:
- Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020
Nevertheless, this document is still trying to influence original policy instrument, Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 – 2020, which remains its focal point of interest.
1.2.1 Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 – 2020
The policy instrument is the most important tool to promote energy efficiency of public sector in Croatia. Targeted specific objective contributes to the achievement of the obligation stemming from Directive 2012/27/EU, to renovate (in terms of EE) 3% of the total floor area of public buildings per year. Investment priority Investment priority 4c "Supporting energy efficiency, smart energy management and renewable energy use public infrastructure, including in public buildings, and in the housing sector" as selected as one best suited to the overall goals of project SUPPORT.
During project implementation, IRENA, CEI and later Istrian region, faced difficulties in attempts to influence the policy instrument as the calls for funding based on it were not well aligned with regional objectives. Calls for funding differ from the policy instrument in a way that they narrow the field of application.
Extracts from the policy instrument Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 – 2020
Istrian region action plan
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As it can be seen from the extract, policy instrument support various interventions in both E and RES use measures with no clear favoritism towards any of them. Term “reduction of energy consumption” is generic and offers wide range for interpretation as it is not clear whether primary or absolute energy is considered.
Managing body, Ministry of construction and physical planning, decided to adopt the second option in even more restrictive form as basis for calls publishing. Reduction of energy consumption is going to be monitored in terms of absolute energy reduction, but only annual energy required for the heating of the building – Qhnd.
Regional background analysis (RBA) showed positives of current model of implementation of policy instrument and this specific investment priority but also limitations within policy instrument that could stifle its future implementation. Calls for financing of energy refurbishment of public buildings published by Ministry of construction and physical planning are clear, well-adjusted to the needs and adopted by public bodies. Allocation of each call was spent with amount of funds being asked far greater than the
Istrian region action plan allocation. On the other hand, there are issues that need to be resolved in current and future models of funds allocation.
There is a feeling that after first cycle of refurbishment is completed (mostly envelope insulation), process continuation (e.g. RES adoption) will not be financially opportune. Proscribed methodology of energy savings calculation is based solely on measures that secure reduction of annual building heating needs (Qhnd) thus leaving large sector of public buildings, (heritage buildings), out of the process. New legislation and rules for refurbishment of public buildings that will come into force in 2019 (adoption of nZEB standard) will, according to survey conducted on regional level, slow (or stop) the process. There is a dominant opinion that this is a premature measure as largest part of building stock is not yet refurbished in accordance with current standard which represent optimal investment/energy savings ratio. On the other hand, heritage buildings could become a topic as methodology of savings calculation will be changed with shift to measuring of primary energy consumption reduction.
Adoption of nZEB standard in both building construction and refurbishment (in force for public buildings in Croatia from 2019) will bring shift in methodology of energy savings calculation that should be incorporated in calls published by the Ministry of construction and physical planning from 2019 onwards (calls based on Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014-2020). On multiple SUPPORT events, IRENA mentioned current methodology (annual heating energy consumption) as a significant problem with need to shift toward primary energy reduction monitoring. This is a methodology that is discriminatory toward certain sets of buildings, businesses and even regions in Croatia (ones in warmer climate zones).
On national level, dialogue between Ministry of construction and physical planning, Ministry of culture and regional conservation offices was started in 2019 with main goal being development of new calls for funding exclusively for refurbishment of heritage buildings. Influenced by SUPPORT various exchange of experience events and frequent meetings with IRENA and Istrian region, Istrian region conservation office is proposing shift toward measuring of primary energy reduction. This methodology would level the playing field for all the technologies and approaches to process of energy refurbishment. ”If change of calculation methodology is adopted, IRENA will help public bodies in Istrian region to prepare technical documentation for future calls applications.
1.2.2 Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020
Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020 is the most important regional policy instrument for the future development of the Istrian region as: - It defines a vision, strategic goals, priorities, measures and projects for the entire region, and as such, represents a long-term but adaptable framework for individual development of projects
- It provides the basis for guiding and ranking regional and local projects
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- It creates the prerequisite for the development of projects that are compatible with the strategy in order to apply them for EU and other funds
- It enables linking projects of region, cities and municipalities and their more effective implementation
- It contributes to the strengthening of inter-regional, cross-border and interregional cooperation in the implementation of joint projects
- It establishes the partnership of all stakeholders - from public and private sector to civil society and general public
- It provides the basis for attracting investors, both domestic and foreign.
This policy instrument is managed by Istrian region. Within framework of this action plan, IRENA and Istrian region will target:
- Objective 3: Strengthening Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Space Management and Resources. and
- Development Priority 3.1. Encouraging energy efficiency and the application of renewable energy sources
The influence of policy instrument will be made on two levels:
1. By fostering its implementation through development of new actions. This is specifically related to the activity planned by the policy instrument: “education of workers for construction of energy efficient buildings” 2. By changing the policy instrument. Policy instrument doesn’t have heritage buildings as specific topic within its framework. This topic along with proscribed methodology for their energy refurbishment will be added to the policy instrument.
1.2.3 Sustainable action plan of City of Buje
th City of Buje (population: 11,426) joined Covenant of Mayors on 18 March 2011 with a 29% overall CO2 emission reduction target. A long-term vision of this Action plan is to influence the public to use the energy efficient solutions in their everyday lives.
Document contains set of measures with identified financing mechanisms that are to be adopted in order to reach the targets set. Measures such as envelope insulation, RES use, public lightning optimization are mentioned, but with no clear link to the micro location specific characteristics which should be essential for such document. Contrary to that, document promotes generic measures with
Istrian region action plan questionable real value to the community. Public buildings and buildings in general are identified as sector with largest carbon footprint.
1.2.4 Sustainable action plan of City of Novigrad
City of Novigrad-Cittanova (population: 4,345) joined Covenant of Mayors on 18th June 2015 with a 20% overall CO2 emission reduction target. Expected evolution in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce CO2 from 24.534,691 tons from year 2012 to 19.627,7528 tons for year 2020.
Long-term goals of the policy instrument are to make Novigrad-Cittanova an energy efficient city and to make its citizens responsible in the fields of energy saving and environmental protection. Similar to policy instrument of City of Buje, the document list potential measures and financing mechanisms planned to be adopted. Measures are again generic with no real connection to specific locality and thus hard to implement.
1.2.5 Joint SECAP
One of the actions of this action plan is replacement of SEAPs of cities of Buje and Novigrad with new policy instrument, SECAP that will include both cities and their neighboring municipality of Brtonigla. This document will resolve all the problems evident n the previous ones, especially ones related to the localization of proposed measures. New policy instrument will foster cooperation between communities in order to create synergies, especially in infrastructural projects with common benefits for the area.
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1.3 Regional background analysis
In order to explain the rationale of actions development, only fragments of RBA will be presented here. Full RBA is annexed to this document (ANNEX I). In this section, only SWOT analysis will be presented.
SWOT analysis is presented as main tool to identify topics that need to be targeted by this action plan.
STRENGHTS WEAKNESSES Multilevel energy planning – National, regional local Large number of small communities
Overall good quality of infrastructure especially Limited technical capacities of public sector electric energy sector Overall lack of technical capacity, especially in RES Obligatory energy monitoring online tool (ISGE) for use field all public buildings Lack of regional RES use good practices Involvement in interregional initiatives Limited financial capacity Great experience in implementation of EE measures in public and private sector Lack of clear regulation, especially in terms of RES energy production Clear structure of calls for funding Large number of buildings do not clear ownership structure
Lack of responsibilities of public buildings employees OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
Favorable climate conditions especially for large Shift in methodology of project financing – financial uptake of PVs instruments instead of grants
Prevailing industry (tourism) favors RES Favoritism of certain technologies in grant schemes
Significant number of buildings need refurbishment No clear incentive for second phase of projects – after initial refurbishment School curriculum is undergoing adjustment on national basis Negative demographic trends
Overall sentiment towards RES and EE measures is Large segment of building is not well suited to improving partially due to evident climate changes current model of refurbishment
Education for public building employees Resistance to changes
Three key issues were extracted from the SWOT analysis:
1. Lack of technical capacity in small communities 2. Large number of heritage buildings with no clear strategy of intervention 3. Behavior of employees in public buildings
Istrian region action plan
As all of the actions envisaged by this action plan can in some way be linked with fostering of heritage building energy refurbishment, a brief overview of these building in Istrian region is needed. Overall, there is more than 12.500 heritage buildings in Istrian Region making it (per capita) one of most dense ones in Croatia but also Europe. Out of 571 public buildings in Istrian region (reginal and local level of authority), 43 are heritage ones. These are mostly large buildings where significant funds are required for any kind of intervention. There are 36.235 users of public buildings and their total net surface is 446.065.
Energy consumption of public buildings in Istrian region
Energy use Energy source Unit Consumption Consumption [kWh] Cost [€] CO₂ emmision [t]
Electric energy Electric energy kWh 37.628.915,15 37.628.915,15 4.531.284,37 8.835,65
Heating Diesel l 1.350,00 13.772,48 1.864,16 3,636
Heating City gas kWh 29.518,53 123.029,36 27.237,36 18,749
Heating Oil, light l 2.006.975,63 20.474.836,19 1.339.153,67 6.133,65
Heating Oil, crude kg 211.140,00 2.027.308,85 118.647,36 559,537
Heating Bottled gas kg 1.248,40 16.277,29 1.864,23 3,662
Heating Natural gas m³ 1.492.575,55 14.167.961,59 836.682,41 3.119,79
Heating Waste heat kWh 36.572,07 476.383,15 4.907,70 124,279
Heating LPG kg 17.338,59 164.659,00 43.082,01 36,258
DHW Natural gas m³ 309.817,82 0 7.255,12 69,474
Water Water m³ 873.919,37
TOTAL 75.093.143,06 7.785.897,75 18.904,67
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With almost 8 million € of cost, more than 75 GWh of energy consumption and almost 19 kt of annual CO2 emission, potential in energy refurbishment of public building sector is evident. This is especially relevant for heritage buildings as, due to their physical characteristics, they’ve are often on the negative side of the consumption scale. Additionally, large percentage of fossil fuel in overall consumption should act as additional incentive to further speed up this process.
In order to tackle all of the afore mentioned problems, four main action are planned with this document. Focus on several key issues and multidimensional approach to identified problems led to interconnection of actions where elements of one are often key to successful implementation of other.
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Action plan – implementation framework
Istrian region action plan
Action I: Establishment of framework for systematic approach to process of energy refurbishment of heritage buildings in Istrian region
Heritage buildings represent significant part of total and public building stock in Istrian region. Their value to the community as both cultural and economic entities requires specific approach to their refurbishment, and especially energy one which is usually an intrusive process. Standardized methods and approaches are no suitable to these buildings and because of that, they have been left out of the current funding scheme of the Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 – 2020. Separate calls for funding of heritage buildings energy refurbishment is announced for 2019 and Action I and its subactions are going to influence Operational programme by:
- improving its implementation within region through preparation of applications for funding
In addition, this action is going to influence Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020, Sustainable energy action plan of City of Buje and Sustainable energy action plan of City of Novigrad by changing the instruments. Energy refurbishment of heritage buildings as specific priority is going to be added into Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020 and in Joint SECAP of cities of Buje and Novigrad and municipality of Brtonigla that is going to replace the existing two documents.
Exchange of experience benefits:
Heritage buildings more often than not require one off solutions that are seldom easily replicable in whole. Because of this, IRENA and later Istrian region started the process of identification fragments, elements, approaches and processes that could later constitute some kind of database from which certain elements could be pulled and combined in order to resolve particular demand imposed by specific building being discussed.
Multitude of exchange of experience activities were beneficial for definition of this action with main ones being:
1. staff exchange organized on Malta in March 2019
2. good practice “Ensuring the energy sustainability from renewable sources for 4 buildings of public institutions”
3. staff exchange organized in Sweden in March 2019
4. and good practice “Aprilia Innova – Local Urban Development Plan“
During previous meetings with GRC, the Maltese partners, IRENA learned about difficulties of heritage buildings refurbishment process in Malta, conservation wise one of the most restrictive countries in
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Europe. This restrictiveness of procedures that goes beyond ones imposed in Croatia, but also the density and number of culturally important sites, was the reason that IRENA specifically asked GRC to identify several examples of heritage buildings refurbishment that included energy refurbishment. GRC proposed two projects:
- refurbishment of Xrobb l-Għaġin Sustainable Development Centre
- refurbishment of Malta Stock Exchange
It was decided that study visit to both of the sites is going to be arranged. The visiting party from Istrian region consisted from representatives of IRENA and Istrian region as project partners and:
- representative of regional conservation office
- representative of only national park in Istrian region (National park Brijuni, Natura 2000 site
- representative of port authority of City of Rovinj
Visit was organized in order to showcase the representatives of different institutions from Istrian region that this process is ongoing even in countries with more restrictive rule set but also to see some technologies implemented that have great potential for transfer in coastal parts of Istrian region.
During this activity, several important aspects of approach to heritage buildings refurbishment process became apparent:
- Building has a life of its own and to certain extent it is essential to allow its users to use it in accordance with current trends and technology possibilities. Quite often, in Istrian region and in whole of Croatia, this is not taken in consideration and such tendencies often create buildings unsuitable for any contemporary use which, in more extreme cases, are then abandoned and left to deteriorate. Again, this adaptation process needs to have clear rules and boundaries as showcased by Malta stock exchange building:
- These buildings have specific value that goes beyond the general principles embedded into regulations related to implementation of energy efficiency agendas. Unlike most of the other public buildings, these building are income generators, not solely for themselves but also for their surroundings. This capacity is almost exclusively related to their visual identity that needs to be, especially in relation to exterior, preserved as much as possible
- It is essential to approach to each building as to unique entity. It is quite possible that time spent for developing solution will not be of value for any other building approached afterwards. The techniques used have to be the least aggressive ones with out of box thinking often required. The refurbishment process is the one to be adapted, and not the building. Construction of independent building within a building of Malta stock exchange is great example of this principle. If needs of the users cannot be
Istrian region action plan satisfied within the building even with this approach, maybe it’s time to find a new use for the building and new building for the users.
- In relation to energy efficiency, different ruler ratio needs to be used, as the building is integral parts of its surroundings, surroundings should be seen as integral part of the building when evaluating its environmental impact. This means that measures adopted somewhere else could be used by the community to balance or offset the influence of the building that is not suitable for them.
This concept was first evaluated once Romanian partner, ALEA, presented their good practice “Ensuring the energy sustainability from renewable sources for 4 buildings of public institutions”. During that period, IRENA was involved in process of designing of technical solution for Hospital Martin Horvat, Rovinj. The process was done in cooperation with regional conservation office. Good practice proposed by ALEA envisaged production from RES as methodology for reduction of CO2 emission and primary energy production. This kind of approach was, unlike in Croatia, eligible for funding in Romania. Since no works on the exterior of the afore mentioned hospital were allowed by the conservation office, IRENA proposed use of surrounding park as site for PV production facility that could offset buildings environmental impact. The proposal was rejected as park was also protected as monument of horticulture. Nevertheless, IRENA continued to explore the options. When GRC proposed Xrobb l-Għaġin Sustainable Development Centre, one of the reasons for the proposals was use of wind turbines as buildings energy source. Heritage buildings in Istrian region re mostly situated in densely populated urban areas so this kind of solution was mostly not acceptable, but, considering the facts that most of those urban areas are on coast and that Malta is maritime country, IRENA asked GRC to try to identify good practices of close to shore blue energy use facilities in Malta. GRC was able to identify one such solution:
- FLASC pilot facility in port of Valletta.
FLASC - Floating Liquid-piston Accumulator using Seawater under Compression, is a novel energy storage technology concept which features a dual-vessel compressed air energy storage system suitable for integration with offshore renewable energy sources. Prototype seen in Valletta was using PVs as energy source. The facility was presented as possible “carrier” for RES based energy production facility of heritage buildings in coastal areas. Representatives of both conservation office and port authority expressed their willingness to adopt this kind of solution. During additional regional discussions about these technologies, representatives of port authorities of cities of Rovinj and Poreč proposed the idea for use of this solution as source of energy for off-shore ice production required by the fisherman in the area. Since this is a patented technology, IRENA started the discussions with University of Malta about procurement of feasibility study and technical designs for facility in Istrian region. One of the results of the meeting was agreement of IRENA, Istrian region and regional conservation office was to consider blue energy, along with geothermal energy, as one of the, more or less, universally accepted solutions in process of energy refurbishment of heritage buildings.
Use of geothermal energy via heat pumps is universally considered to be one of the most suitable solutions for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings. Nevertheless, there is potential environmental risk that can be attributed to these systems – possibility of toxic antifreeze leakage (glycol or propylene
Istrian region action plan glycol is used). This risk is especially emphasized in Istrian region, it being a karstic area with sparse aquifers so most systems are closed loops ones – antifreeze is required. IRENA found good practice called “The sea warms a nursing home at Ringö” on Interreg Europe website. The heat exchanger presented in the good practice uses ethanol as antifreeze. Ethanol has no negative environmental impact, but there are no examples of such systems in Istrian region. Good practice was reported within project ENERSELVES, but by the ESS which is also partner in SUPPORT. Istrian region contacted ESS to inquire about the possibility to visit the facility and explore the possibility for adoption of such solution. The visit was not possible at the moment so ESS proposed visit to kindergarten near Kalmar that uses same technology. This activity constituted part of second staff exchange. The visiting party from Istrian region consisted from representatives of IRENA and Istrian region as project partners and:
- representatives of cities of Pula and Buje and municipality of Vrsar.
Along with technical solutions and approaches, IRENA and Istrian region tried to identify different methodologies of energy refurbishment evaluation that differ from reduction of Qhnd methodology adopted by the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning. Talks of representatives of Ministry and stakeholders from other countries were organized during interregional seminar in Seville. IRENA had bilateral meeting with the Ministry in April 2018 covering the same topic, and another round of talks was organized during Alba Iulia interregional seminar. In addition, IRENA presented good practice “Aprilia Innova – Local Urban Development Plan” to both Ministry and regional conservation office. This good practice clearly demonstrates the approach adopted in Italy which considers measures of EE and RES use as equal as it compares them on the base of primary energy reduction.
All of these experiences and solutions were combined in order to draft Action I of this action plan but they also represent input that Conservation office of Istrian region has brought to the national taskforce that consists of representatives of Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, Ministry of culture and regional conservation offices. Taskforce was organized in 2019 with goal of developing new call for funding within Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 – 2020 for the first time aimed exclusively towards heritage buildings.
This is a complex action so in order to monitor it more easily, it is divided into three subactions:
- 1a: Establishment of regional database of good practices through energy refurbishment of public heritage buildings - 1b: Fostering innovation in heritage building refurbishment process through introduction of new technologies in particular ones related to use of blue energy - 1c: Development of regional guidelines for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings
Istrian region action plan
1.a Establishment of regional database of good practices through energy refurbishment of public heritage buildings
Sub-action proposes refurbishment of public buildings with different characteristics, differing intervention level needs and in different preservation state. The main goal of this action is to kick start the process of reassessment of the role and future of heritage buildings within region. The visibility of the action justifies its position and the reversal of the whole process – guidelines for refurbishment of such building are 1c, while actual physical intervention that should be based on them is 1a. Partially, this was made possible by the fact that large number of technical solutions that are to be adopted, but also the approach to the whole process of refurbishment and the idea of the end result were imported from various exchanges of experience activities. All these findings were used to define action unifies two concepts often viewed as opposing: Energy efficient and visually preserved heritage building.
Refurbishment of three public buildings is envisaged by this action:
- Kindergarten Radost, Poreč - City of Novigrad main administration building - Hospital Martin Horvat, Rovinj
Implementation workplan (Action 1a):
Establishment of regional database of good practices through energy refurbishment of public heritage buildings
Activity Cost
Public procurement for selected heritage buildings refurbishment designing process. Public procurement is to be undertaken exclusively for two buildings:
1 - Kindergarten Radost, Poreč 1.000,00 € - City administration building, Novigrad
Technical documentation of energy refurbishment of Martin Horvat Hospital, Rovinj was developed in 2017 and 2018 and it was funded by IRENA and the hospital.
Development of technical documentation of energy refurbishment through joint action of different local/regional authorities under supervision of IRENA.
25.000,00 € 2 Joint action is performed by a team constituted through action 2, activity 1. Team will consist from employees of Cities of Poreč and Novigrad, public company Parentium d.o.o. and Istrian health care institutions which will share and combine their specific skill set in order to create team of experts unavailable in singular communities/institutions.
Analysis of technical solutions, proposed measures ranking, cost benefit analysis and selection of 10.000,00 € 3 measures measures that should be implemented even without access to grants (either due to necessity or short payback period)
Istrian region action plan
Preparation of documentation for applying to calls for funding organized under Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 - 2021, Call 4c1.3 'Energy renovation of buildings 4 and the use of renewable energy sources in the public institutions that perform activities in 4.000,00 € education sector and Call 4c1.4 'Energy renovation and use of renewable energy sources in public sector buildings
5 Execution of works 2.200.000,00 €
Activity involvement Involved actors 1 2 3 4 5
IRENA
Conservation Department in Pula for the Istrian region
City of Poreč
Kindergarten Radost, Poreč
Parentium d.o.o.
City of Novigrad
Martin Horvat Hospital, Rovinj
Port authority of City of Poreč
Ministry of the sea, transportation and infrastructure
Croatian waters
Istrian region
Activity Financing sources 1 2 3 4 5
IRENA - Interreg MED project ENERJ (ERDF funds)
Kindergarten Kindergarten City of Poreč (own budget) Radost, Poreč Radost, Poreč
Istrian region action plan
City City administration administration City of Novigrad (own budget) building, building, Novigrad Novigrad
Istrian region - Interreg MED project ENERJ (15% partners' contribution) Martin Horvat Martin Horvat Istrian region (own budget) Hospital Rovinj Hospital Rovinj Martin Horvat Martin Horvat Martin Horvat Hospital Rovinj (own budget) Hospital Rovinj Hospital Rovinj Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 - 2020, Call 4c1.3 'Energy renovation Kindergarten Kindergarten of buildings and the use of renewable energy Radost, Poreč Radost, Poreč sources in the public institutions that perform activities in education sector
City City Operational programme competitiveness and administration administration cohesion 2014 - 2021, Call 4c1.4 'Energy renovation building, building, and use of renewable energy sources in public Novigrad/Martin Novigrad/Martin sector buildings Horvat Hospital Horvat Hospital Rovinj Rovinj Martin Horvat Martin Horvat Commercial bank loan Hospital Rovinj Hospital Rovinj
Istrian region action plan
Performance indicators Number
2 1 Set of technical documentation for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings
2 3 Submitted application for structural funds use (Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 - 2020)
3 3 Completed energy refurbishment of public buildings
50% 4 Reduction of CO2 emmision and primary energy consumption (per building)
Timeline of activities
Year 2019 2020 2021 Quarter 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
1
2
3
Activity
4
5
Istrian region action plan
1.b Fostering innovation in heritage building refurbishment process through introduction of new technologies in particular ones related to use of blue energy
Sub-action proposes introduction of blue energy technologies as detached facilities that can offset negative environmental effect of nearby heritage buildings. Additionally, through activity 2, sub-action promotes “out of the box” and “one-off” design principles showcased by case of Malta stck exchange refurbishment solution. In particular, due to specific micro location characteristics (elevation and distance from the sea), it has been agreed that, if proved possible, thermotechnical system of Kindergarten Radost will be based on use of sea water through exploitation well, while injection well will be used for placement of small scale turbine in order to offset part of electric energy consumption. Significant part of remaining consumption will be covered by detached PVs thus making the building, in terms of primary energy consumption, environmentally neutral. Other activities are aimed to further promote blue energy in the region.
Implementation workplan (Action 1b)
Fostering innovation in heritage building refurbishment process through introduction of new technologies in particular ones related to use of blue energy
Activity Cost
Development of feasibility study and technical documentation for installation of FLASC 25.000,00 € 1 technology in port of Vrsar. End use of the facility will be determined through feasibility study.
To be financed Development of technical documentation for use of small scale sea water based turbine in as part of Action 2 Kindergarten Radost, Poreč 1a, activity 1
Guidelines for use of blue energy technologies as part of heritage building energy 10.000,00 € 3 refurbishment process
Technical documentation for two pilot solutions of blue energy use in the area of port 50.000,00 € 4 authorities of Poreč and Rovinj. Activity includes development of feasibility studies as part of technology selection process and technical design of chosen solutions. Activity involvement Involved actors 1 2 3 4
IRENA
Conservation Department in Pula for the Istrian region
Istrian region action plan
City of Poreč
City of Rovinj
Municipality of Vrsar
Port authority of City of Poreč
Port authority of City of Rovinj
Parentium d.o.o.
University of Malta
HEP d.d.
Istrian region
Activity Financing sources 1 2 3 4
IRENA - Interreg MED project MAESTRALE (ERDF funds)
IRENA - Interreg MED project ENERJ (ERDF funds)
IRENA - Interreg Italy - Croatia project COASTENERGY (ERDF funds) Istrian region - Interreg MED project MAESTRALE (15% partners' contribution) Istrian region - Interreg MED project ENERJ (15% partners' contribution) Istrian region - Interreg Italy - Croatia project COASTENERGY (15% partners' contribution)
Istrian region action plan
Performance indicators Number
1 Technical documentation for installation of blue energy based facility in Istrian region 3
Guidelines for use of blue energy technologies as part of heritage building energy refurbishment process 3 1
Timeline of activities
Year 2019 2020 2021
Quarter 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1
2
Activity 3
4
Istrian region action plan
1.c Development of regional guidelines for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings
Sub-action proposes development of detailed set of instructions that will both formalize and simplify process of energy refurbishment of heritage buildings. Guidelines comprised of list of recommendations, overview of available technologies and processes will establish step by step procedure that needs to be followed in order to get approval for the project from the regional conservation office. They will be based on all the exchange of experience activities described in earlier, elements of which will be adapted to specific regional context.
Implementation workplan (Action 1c)
Development of regional guidelines for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings
Activity Cost
1 Development of regional guidelines for energy refurbishment of heritage buildings 25.000,00 €
Involved actors Activity involvement
IRENA
Conservation Department in Pula for the Istrian region
Istrian region
Activity Financing sources 1
IRENA (own funds)
Conservation Department in Pula for the Istrian region (own funds)
Istrian region action plan
Performance indicators Number
Regional guidelines for energy refurbishment of heritage buildingsEstablishment of joint action team 1 1
Timeline of activities
Year 2019 2020 2021
Quarter 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1
Activity
Istrian region action plan
Action II: Local synergies through joint actions
Administratively, the Istrian region is divided in 41 territorial units of local self-government - 10 cities and 31 municipalities. Region has population of 206.344, and almost 28% of the number accounts to City of Pula as largest city in Istrian region. Remaining population resides in small communities of under 15.000 inhabitants (City of Poreč is only exception with 16.696). Regional background analysis identified lack of technical capacity in such small communities as one of key obstacles for carrying out energetic projects, especially more complex ones such as refurbishment of heritage buildings.
The idea and methodology of overcoming this obstacle was born out of fragments of different exchange of experience activities. It was decided that it was necessary to:
- increase level of technical capacity of community
- foster exchange of experience and share of “skill sets”
- reduce costs of procurements within communities with severely limited budgets
- move beyond strictly local projects through organization of joint actions of neighboring communities.
Action II is going to influence Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020, Sustainable energy action plan of City of Buje and Sustainable energy action plan of City of Novigrad. Cooperation between different regional and local authorities in energy based projects is one of the priorities envisaged by Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020. Same kind of cooperation will be additionally fostered in areas of cities of Buje, Novigrad and municipality of Brtonigla. This cooperative model will be established through creation of new policy instrument, Joint SECAP of cities of Buje and Novigrad and municipality of Brtonigla that is going to replace the existing two documents.
Istrian region action plan
Exchange of experience benefits:
The activity is partially derived from several exchange of experience activities and then adapted to specific regional context:
1. presentation “Central Purchasing and contracting of Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces” by FEMP during interregional seminar in Seville
2. presentation “GreenPowerGrid” by Fraunhofer ITWM and Die Stadtwerke Speyer (SWS) during interregional seminar in Seville
3. presentation “Energy management on municipal level in Rhineland-Palatinate” by EARLP and VG Jockgrim during interregional seminar on Gozo later also presented in
4. good practice “Energy Efficient Municipalities“ by EARLP.
Joint actions would be implemented either by ad hoc teams (formed for specific action) or by permanent associations formalized through production of common policy instrument (Joint SECAP). In both cases, IRENA would take over the coordinating role similar to one of EARLP and dena as shown in good practice “Energy Efficient Municipalities“. For IRENA, regional energy agency owned by the Region and with no direct obligations toward local level of government, this arrangement present significant increase of activity.
Piloting both ad hoc team and permanent association is provisioned by this action.
Ad hoc team is organized exclusively to perform action 1a. Its formation, rationale and methodology, is the focus of this action. Team consists of representatives of:
- Cities of Poreč and Novigrad
- Conservation Department in Pula for the Istrian region
- Parentium d.o.o., building and energy management public company of City of Poreč
- Port authority of City of Poreč
- Istrian health care institutions
The main actors are cities of Novigrad and Poreč and Istrian health care institutions which enter the team in order to jointly work on refurbishment of three buildings that they own. These three buildings represent complex objects. Two of them are heritage buildings and are included into action 1a of this action plan, a the third one, owned by Istrian health care institutions is architecturally complex object that is included into action 4.
Istrian region action plan
Poreč is small city on western side of Istrian peninsula with population of 16.696. Novigrad is even smaller city with population of 4.345 situated in the same part of peninsula. The area is continuously inhabited from ancient times so both cities have rich culture and large number of heritage buildings. Due to their size and economy heavily oriented toward tourism, cities lacks capacity to deal with complex, one off refurbishments of heritage buildings on their own. Istrian health care institutions is organization owned by Istrian region that provides primary health care in Istrian region. It manages 43 buildings with total net surface of 32.482,63 m2. Large number of these buildings is either under protection of conservation office (heritage buildings) or is building with complex architectural design. Energy management of all buildings is carried out through one office with single employee.
Idea to create a joint team to alleviate issue that is lack of technical capacity shared by all three entities was taken from good practice “Energy Efficient Municipalities“. Similar to the methodology of the good practice, it was agreed that specific taskforce is needed for each entity will provide experts at their disposal. Such taskforce would have expertise in different fields that neither included entity could have by itself. Activity follows main timeline proposed by good practice:
- Step 1: Create organizational structures
- Step 2: Analysis of the starting situation
- Step 3: Set operative goals
- Step 4: Financing and planning
- Step 5: Realization of measures
Content of the joint action and usual timeline of such activities demands more frequent meeting s than those proposed by the good practice so team will meet monthly. Action is coordinated by IRENA.
Joint actions performed through permanent associations constitutes second activity of this action. Cities of Buje and Novigrad along with municipality of Brtonigla will join their resources in order to create new policy instrument for the area – Joint SECAP. SECAP stands for sustainable energy and climate action plan. Cities of Buje and Novigrad are signatories of Covenant of Mayors and both have SEAPs – sustainable energy action plans. This newly developed policy instrument would replace those SEAPs and municipality of Brtonigla would become signatory of Covenant of Mayors. The policy instrument will be developed jointly but it will also foster joint actions of included communities. These are neighboring communities with lots of interconnections and possible synergies. Using experience gained from “GreenPowerGrid”, Joint SECAP will promote creation of RES based micro grid shared by three communities. The document will also promote joint public procurements based on the methodology transferred from good practice “Central Purchasing and contracting of Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces”. This activity will be coordinated and monitored by IRENA which will use these communities and their experience in a way similar to one EARLP showcased in good practice “Energy Efficient Municipalities”, as nucleus that is formed in order to be spread across region.
Istrian region action plan
Implementation workplan (Action 2)
Local synergies through joint actions
Activity Cost
Establishment of joint team that will monitor the process of planning, designing and implementation of measures related to refurbishment of buildings. Team will consist from employess of Cities of Poreč and Novigrad, public company Parentium d.o.o. and Istrian health care institutions which will share and combine their specific skill set in order to create team of 1.000,00 € 1 experts unavailable in singular communities/institutions. This subaction is shared with Action 3 – Raising of capacity in small communities through joint actions, in terms of rationale and formation. Composition of the team is adjusted to specific task provisioned by subaction 1a. Establishment of joint team is supervised by IRENA.
Creation of joint sub-regional policy instrument for neighbouring cities of Novigrad and Buje 34.000,00 € 2 and municipality of Brtonigla.
Activity involvement Involved actors 1 2
IRENA
City of Novigrad
City of Poreč
City of Buje
Municipality of Brtonigla
Parentium d.o.o.
Istrian health care institutions
Activity Financing sources 1 2
Istrian region action plan
IRENA - Interreg MED project ENERJ (ERDF funds)
IRENA - Interreg Italy - Croatia project Joint SECAP (ERDF funds)
IRENA - Interreg MED project ENERJ (own funds)
IRENA - Interreg Italy - Croatia project Joint SECAP (own funds)
Istrian region action plan
Performance indicators Number
Common policy instrument for area of cities of Novigrad and Buje and municipality of Brtonigla 1 1
Timeline of activities
Year 2019 2020 2021
Quarter 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1 Activity 2
Istrian region action plan
Action III: save@work ISTRIA
”The first 15% of Energy savings can be done without paying one EUR“, sentence introducing one of the presentations EARLP made during Interregional seminar in Rovinj is the driving rationale of this action. IRENA, as ISGE administrator for all the public buildings owned and managed by Istrian region, has long been aware of the negative impact that employee behavior can have on the energy performance of buildings. This was confirmed during multitude of energy audits conducted by IRENA in last couple of years. This negative effect is especially harmful in case of newly refurbished buildings which rarely, if ever, perform in accordance to refurbishment projections and, because of that, quite often induces negative perception of the whole energy refurbishment process. The question is, how to influence these behavioral patterns especially in public buildings where it seems that the gap to be bridged in terms of energy efficiency is quite higher than in private ones? If possible, it would be highly beneficial, especially as it would offer a non-intrusive alternative for energy refurbishment of buildings that have restricted potential for physical intervention. Even if partial, when number of these buildings in Istrian region is taken into account, that kind of solution would ensure significant reductions in terms of both energy consumption and emissions.
Action II is going to influence Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020, Sustainable energy action plan of City of Buje and Sustainable energy action plan of City of Novigrad. Model of fostering reductions of energy consumption through behavioral changes will be included into Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020 and , Joint SECAP of cities of Buje and Novigrad and municipality of Brtonigla as possible implementation measure.
Exchange of experience benefits:
Even if the problem is long standing and from the start of the project implementation the idea that action related to it needs to be included in the action plan, idea how to do it did not exist until the Alba Iulia interregional seminar. During one of the focus groups, ESS presented their experience with save@work to IRENA. The practice was ideally suited to be directly transferred so ESS sent detailed instructions to IRENA which started the process of regional dissemination of the idea. ESS was asked to present the practice during Interregional seminar in Gozo to other partners and stakeholders as it seemed that the practice is ideal for implementation across partnership. Later one, practice was published on the projects’ website and both IRENA and Istrian region decided that second staff exchange in Sweden should be organized in order to obtain information from entities that were directly involved in save@work project. The visiting party from Istrian region consisted from representatives of IRENA and Istrian region as project partners and:
Istrian region action plan
- representative of City of Pula
- representative of City of Buje
- and representative of municipality of Vrsar.
These stakeholders were selected as they’ve expressed their willingness to participate in pilot action save@work ISTRIA that is to be organized during phase 2 of the project.
Save@work ISTRIA is a pilot action almost completely transferred from one of the best practices presented during the 1st phase of the SUPPORT project. Involvement of several different municipalities is foreseen by directly involving their buildings in planned activities in order to set a good example and to show other public communities and the citizens that the public administration is always looking to take that extra step when energy efficiency and environmental protection is concerned. The idea is to organize a competition between these buildings that will measure how much energy can be saved by influencing the behavior of their employees, just like it has been done in the original save@work project. There will be no investments since the main goal is to monitor the impact of employee behavior on energy savings. Energy managers will be appointed and will conduct onsite inspection to see how well employees are doing in each building, they will monitor the progress and inform all involved personnel about the pilot action, its scope and the progress made. They will also be tasked with constantly adjusting the process in order to find best possible approach suited to specific building/set of employees. Small changes done in the behavior of the employees will be fostered in order to have larger cumulative effect size of which should serve as invitation to other communities to join the action. The cities or municipalities that have currently selected one of their buildings to be involved in the pilot action are: City of Buje, City of Buzet, City of Labin, Municipality of Vrsar and the Region of Istria (building located in Pazin).
Since all public buildings in Croatia have obligation to monitor their energy and water consumption through ISGE online platform, comparing the results will be easy. On the basis of recommendation of ESS, it was decided that average consumption for the last three years will be used as base consumption. Each building stimulates change of employees behavior in order to compete against its own average and against other buildings included in the competition. Complete comparing methodology that uses degree days will be transferred from save@work good practice. There is only one modification that will be made during implementation of save@work ISTRIA. As it was mentioned earlier, monitoring of buildings that underwent energy refurbishment process often shows unsatisfactory results that substantially differ from projections. Because of this, one building in City of Buje that is going to be refurbished by the end of 2019 is going to be included in the competition. This buildings’ performance is not going to be compared to its last three year average, but to consumption projected by refurbishment technical documentation. Its goal will be to be as close to that projection as possible.
This action has special relevance for the regional conservation office as it offers new perspective to energy saving in buildings, especially ones inhibited by their conservation status. Because of this, it is going to be included in all activities in order to further promote the practice.
Istrian region action plan
Implementation workplan (Action 3)
save@work ISTRIA
Activity Cost
Establishment of methodological framework for intruduction of save@work good practice into 2.700,00 € 1 Istrian region
2 save @work competition 32.530,00 €
Activity involvement Involved actors 1 2
IRENA
Conservation Department in Pula for the Istrian region
City of Buje
City of Buzet
City of Labin
Municipality of Vrsar
Istrian region
Activity Financing sources 1 2
Interreg Europe funding (pilot action)
Istrian region action plan
Performance indicators Number
Average reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emission in involved buildings 1 15%
Timeline of activities
Year 2019 2020 2021
Quarter 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1
Activity 2
Istrian region action plan
Action IV: Kids can do it!
“Lack of technical capacity” was the common denominator of all issues troubling process of large scale uptake of buildings’ refurbishment process in Istrian region identified in regional background analysis. This problem manifests itself on several levels:
- Regional and local authorities during process of preparation, implementation and monitoring of such projects
- Private companies and especially SMEs in ability to perform more complex works and even to employ sufficient number of adequate employees
- Public buildings in lack of personnel able to monitor and maintain the installed systems.
Action “Kids can do it” is envisaged in order to resolve issues of the latter two by providing new employees with specific skill sets that are severely lacking in the region.
Action II is going to influence Development strategy of Istrian Region until 2020, more specifically its activity: “education of workers for construction of energy efficient buildings”.
Exchange of experience benefits:
During exchange of experience with regional stakeholders, deficits of labor market in Istrian region became apparent. SMEs, especially in construction and HVAC sector are having serious difficulties in acquiring new employees in period of extensive growth, at least in terms of demand, of the sector. Public buildings are facing similar problems with lack of employees capable of carrying tasks of maintenance and system monitoring, especially when newer systems that use RES are concerned.
During Interregional seminar in Rovinj EARLP presented non-technical measures that they are carrying out within their region.
Two of such practices were presented:
• Training courses for janitors
• To know how to use the technical systems devices in public buildings
• To identify saving opportunities
Istrian region action plan
• Holzbaucluster
• Knowledge and technical advice in the field of using wood as a regional building material, providing help in applying for ERD-funding (2007-2013)
The first presentation, “Training courses for janitors”, influenced development of action Kids can do it! Initially, IRENA wanted to transfer the activity in more or less original form and such idea was presented to several communities. Initial contacts were made with cities in which IRENA had some previous experiences with refurbishment of public buildings. One of them was City of Buzet. Kindergarten of City of Buzet was refurbished in common effort by Istrian region and IRENA through IPA Adriatic CBC project Alterenergy. Kindergarten was equipped with highly complex RES based system which proved to be hard to maintain and monitor without specialized employee. The problem with transferring “Training courses for janitors” lied in the fact that even if this is a1.100 m2 building with more than 300 users, it had no janitor. Similar problem was identified in many other kindergartens and schools across the region, some had no janitor, some were sharing it with other buildings. Because of this, many systems, especially more complex HVAC systems, are poorly managed and left to deteriorate.
With this in mind, IRENA and Istrian region decided to adjust the concept and keep the education part, but direct it toward pupils of technical high schools that could find interest in these jobs. Set of highly practical educational activities is planned in order to significantly boost regional technical capacity.
Action envisages annual refurbishment of one smaller public building through work of high school students. All activities ranging from refurbishment designing to physical works are to be carried out by students under supervision by in field experts. Depending on their educational course, students are participating in different activities:
- HVAC, thermo technical, electric, construction system designing
- HVAC, thermo technical, electric, construction works
Prior to start of activities, students will undergo series of theoretical and CAD drawing classes and after the completion of process, they will be expected to monitor the building that is refurbished.
Each partner has specific role in the action:
- IRENA will organize all the activities
- Istrian region, as owner of large building stock will candidate a building suitable for refurbishment through this kind of workshop.
This action is planned as permanent annual action that is going to be continued even after completion of phase 2 of project SUPPORT. This action plan includes first such action. Building that is going to be refurbished by use of this methodology is Health care institution of City of Motovun. This is a 250 m2 building owned by Istrian region. The building is in poor condition so detailed refurbishment is envisaged. Refurbishment will be performed by students of closest technical high school, one in City of Buzet. Works on hydro insulation, windows change, envelope insulation, roof change and insulation,
Istrian region action plan
HVAC systems and PVs installation is foreseen. In order to enable same students to perform system monitoring after the completion, it was decided that 2nd and 3rd class students will be included in the activities. Since these students are minors, strict supervision by certified experts is required.
Implementation workplan (Action 4)
Activity Cost
1 Preparation activities - RES use and EE lectures, system designing and CAD drawing lectures 10.500,00 €
2 On site lectures and works - geothermal exchanger installation 14.800,00 €
On site lectures and works - thermotechnical system, electro installation and automatization 85.000,00 € 3 and monitoring system
On site lectures and works - constructon activities, envelope insulation, changing 125.000,00 € 4 windows/doors
Activity involvement Involved actors 1 2 3 4
IRENA
High school Buzet
High school Buje
Thermo technical, electro system design SMEs
Construction and installation works sector SMEs
Health care institution Motovun
HEP d.d.
Istrian region action plan
Activity Financing sources 1 2 3 4
IRENA - (own funds)
Operational programme competitiveness and cohesion 2014 - 2021, Call 4c1.4 'Energy renovation and use of renewable energy sources in public sector buildings
Istrian health care institutions (own funds)
Istrian region action plan
Performance indicators Number
1 Number of high school students with increased technical capacity 40
Reduction of primary energy consumption and CO2 emission in Health care insttution Motovun 3 80%
Timeline of activities
Year 2019 2020 2021
Quarter 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1
2
Activity 3
4
Istrian region action plan
Action plan endorsement
Once finalized, this action plan is going to be endorsed by:
- Istrian region - City of Buje - City of Novigrad - Municipality of Brtonigla - Other local authorities in Istrian region that participate in various actions of the action plan - Regional conservation office