ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK
14 May 2019 Denmark
Event organised in the frame of the Sustainable Energy Investment Forums funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union
ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK
COPENHAGEN, 14 MAY 2019
The event was organized by EASME in collaboration with Finance Denmark, the Energy Savings Council and the UN Environmental Financing Initiative (UNEP FI) within the framework of the Sustainable Energy Investment Forum, funded by the European Commission's “Horizon2020” programme.
Responsibility for the content of the document lies entirely with the authors, and it does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK
Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 2 BACKGROUND TO THE EVENT ...... 8 INTRODUCTORY PLENARY ...... 9 SESSION 1 ON HOME RENOVATIONS ...... 13 Intro and purpose ...... 13 Presentations ...... 14 Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations ...... 19 SESSION 2 ON SOCIAL HOUSING ...... 23 Intro and purpose ...... 23 Presentations ...... 24 Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations ...... 27 SESSION 3 ON INDUSTRY/SME SECTOR ...... 30 Intro and purpose ...... 30 Presentations ...... 31 Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations ...... 32 SESSION 4 ON MUNICIPALITIES AS FACILITATORS ...... 36 Intro and purpose ...... 36 Presentations ...... 37 Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations ...... 41 CLOSING PLENARY ...... 45 Closing remarks ...... 45
Copyright for pictures: EC Network, 2019
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The European Commission, in co-operation with Finance Denmark, the Energy Savings Council and the UN Environmental Financing Initiative (UNEP FI), organised a roundtable in Copenhagen on 14 May 2019 on financing energy efficiency. The participants included 70 representatives from the Danish energy efficiency and financial sector as well as representatives from the EU Energy Directorate and its agency EASME.
The purpose of the roundtable was to engage in detailed dialogue on the financing of energy efficiency with key stakeholders in Denmark in order to identify common goals and possible improvements in the national framework as well as to make proposals for concrete initiatives.
At the opening plenary, Jacob Krog Søbygaard, Head of the Secretariat in the Council on Climate Change, explained that the Council on Climate Change sees great potential in energy renovation as studies show that the socio-economic costs of energy renovation of buildings appear to be the least costly measures which at the same time facilitate the desired green conversion to a great extent. It is necessary to develop and implement appropriate tools to promote this development, which may include requiring the involvement of an energy adviser and the financial sector in a better way to ensure more drive in the area.
Niels Ladefoged, policy officer of the EU Energy Directorate, reviewed the EU policies and the forward- looking budget to ensure energy conversion. The goals are to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% compared to the 1990 level, to reach a renewable energy share of 32% and to achieve 32.5% energy savings compared to a business-as-usual scenario before the year 2030, and the Commission proposes as a long-term strategy that the EU will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions before 2050.
The EU energy strategy operates with energy efficiency first, and many regulatory measures have already been implemented to pave the way. EU countries are preparing national energy and climate plans (NECP), which must contain the concrete measures at a national level. On the financial front, efforts are being made to introduce a uniform classification system – a "taxonomy" – as a basis for identifying where sustainable investments can have the greatest impact. Furthermore, Niels Ladefoged presented the EU plans for support for green energy investments, including the budget period 2021-2017.
Peter Jayaswal, Director of Property Financing in Finance Denmark, presented Finance Denmark's work on securing sustainable finance. In order to promote this development, Finance Denmark has established the Forum for Sustainable Finance, which operates with a mandate to deliver recommendations to Finance Denmark's Board of Directors by the end of 2019.
An important element of the process is to define when a building is sustainable and use this as a basis for determining who can get "green loans". This is related to the work at EU level on creating a common framework and ensuring transparency, including "taxonomy" and the standard for green bonds. Finance Denmark is working to ensure that everyone has an incentive to raise the energy standard, for example by operating with categories of green.
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Claus Bugge Garn, Chairman of the Energy Savings Council, said that Denmark is currently transitioning from the Energy Saving Scheme (ESO) to a market-based tender pool of DKK 500 million per year in the period 2021-2024 for energy savings in buildings and DKK 300 million for energy savings in the industry and the service sector. He pointed out that there is a risk of expertise and momentum being lost in the transition between ESO and supply pools.
Furthermore, Claus Bugge Garn encouraged better implementation of the Building Directive (EPBD) in the efforts going forward, including goals and requirements for an energy-efficient and decarbonised building stock in 2050, the elaboration of a long-term renovation strategy and easier access to financing (via grouping, risk minimisation and support). In this context, funding can be a fourth pillar on which to promote energy efficiency in existing buildings.
Then the roundtable participants went to parallel sessions on the topics 1) home renovations, 2) social housing, 3) industry/SME and 4) the municipality as facilitator. Discussion points, main conclusions and forward-looking recommendations of the four sessions are found below:
Home renovations • Overall status, challenges and opportunities We need to make buildings more energy efficient by a total of 1% per year, but we only increase efficiency by 0.25% – so the pace must be quadrupled since private homes make up 50% of the building energy consumption. 2/3 of the building owners say they are interested, but only 11% do something. The motivation must come through a focus on the entire home, so that maintenance, energy and a healthy and modern home are considered interconnected. A light "one-stop shop" package that is easily comprehensible makes it easy to decide and implement.
• Concept The effort must be based on the concept of a customer journey all the way though the energy renovation. The facilitator may be the municipality, while a number of other players participate in the process. However, there are no plans for a large roll-out. This is probably too much for the municipalities to undertake alone. Homeowners must be approached at a time when they are receptive, e.g. when they are buying a house or when the children move out. The approach must be based on the natural "touch points", where there is contact with the homeowner anyway.
• Energy counselling Energy counselling is important in order to be able to help the customer throughout the journey towards a successful project – and this must be trustworthy and preferably unbiased. The homeowner is not willing to pay for all the necessary advice, but it can be an advantage, if the homeowner pays some smaller amount to ensure commitment, for example DKK 1000. The remaining costs of the advice could be paid for by the state, the district heating companies, bank or through the mortgage.
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• Financing • The tax deduction scheme for renovation work is too low to motivate for "heavy renovations" o But can it be used for demolition in the outer areas? o Would it be possible to add up the tax deductions over several years and then use them all on one major renovation? • Can renovation be linked to a new assessment of the home in order to increase the value and borrow more money? • Could a building be required to live up to a certain energy label to be sold? • When a home is to be assessed, an energy consultant could be included to draw up a report. • A Green Housing Tax could be linked to the energy label in order to motivate the homeowner to get an energy label in connection with a renovation. • "Subscription concepts" similar to district heating solutions for heat pumps may be an option, but where the entire renovation is financed. • Loans will not be cheaper than they are today. • How do we define the right loan products, so they can take into account long payback times of e.g. climate screen projects that can last for 50 years? • It is possible to investigate to what extent EU programmes and funds can support development in Denmark. This includes the InvestEU programme, which can provide guarantees for investments in energy efficiency from the year 2021, including an opportunity to provide long-term loan guarantees. • It is difficult to solve the problem with borrowing money in the outlying areas of Denmark. However, subscription concepts could be a solution.
• Home requirements • When applying for a building permit, there must be a requirement for energy renovation. • It would be interesting to look at experiences from Finland, where district heating companies start to make demands on the buildings in connection with phasing out coal and the conversion to low temperature.
Social Housing • The biggest barrier in relation to financing energy efficiency in the social housing sector is trust. The implementation of energy efficiency projects requires a majority of the residents' votes as well as confidence in the present decision-making basis, including the calculations of the energy savings.
• The dynamic accounts are based on three measuring points – CO2, humidity and heat – and is a way to encourage trust, because, in addition to providing a more holistic overview of consumption, it can form the basis for increased fairness in the settlement between consumers.
• It is often a big problem that the energy consumption in the building is not sufficiently documented in connection with energy renovation projects, and Social Housing often does
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not apply the energy labels. Projects should be subject to a requirement that the energy consumption be automatically disclosed.
• It is important to collect data both before and after renovation. Uniform data that can be compared across homes and housing companies should be ensured.
• There should also be greater visibility as regards energy consumption. The utilities are currently not authorised to disclose who has a high energy consumption. Other options for visibility of consumption should be considered.
• Greater trust in the building processes can also be built by using more energy to get the residents/tenants involved in the different phases of the process. "Better Building Processes", for example, have developed a number of concepts that create a basis for efficient and productive building processes through enhanced collaboration and involvement.
• It is also important to consider socio-economic aspects in order to understand the residents' reactions, as there is a very mixed clientele in the social housing associations.
• Furthermore, it is important to make sure that there are resources available in the housing associations to be able to carry out the energy renovations. ESCO companies could possibly be involved for a larger part of the project phase.
• In the future, several measures are needed, including legislative ones. Optimisation of resources can be created through departments across land registers, but there are some regulatory obstacles that prevent this. In addition, there are barriers limiting the extent of how much the municipalities can support the actual project development.
• The National Building Fund had a presentation on an insurance scheme that insures the tenants' energy savings based on the dynamic accounts. The insurance model aims to modify the risk of the consumption savings not occurring, including the risk as regards tenant behaviour. There are some challenges associated with moving forward with this, among other things, there is a need for legislation on open measurement standards and on which players can act as insurance companies, including municipalities.
• In addition, it was suggested that there should be a general requirement for the integration of energy efforts in renovation projects.
Industry/SME sector • There is a need to promote one-stop shops at municipal or cross-municipal level that can assist SMEs throughout the value chain and by developing a trust-based relationship with an overall process consultant. It is necessary to find solutions as to how these can be financed through contributions from the various involved players and, possibly, via the future tendering scheme, which will replace the energy saving scheme.
• While a relatively large number of smaller SMEs are not considered creditworthy by the financial sector, there may be a need to develop regular procedures for risk assessments of
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these as well as regarding the implementation of energy efficiency improvements. This could be combined with a standardisation of solutions and procedures in relation to financial instruments such as guarantee funds.
• Energy efficiency improvements will have to be sold to SMEs as regards a more holistic approach, which also includes Non-Energy Benefits. This is supported by the new guidelines from the Danish Energy Agency. In addition, many SMEs are motivated by the UN’s world goals. In this connection, there is a need for knowledge building among advisors and technicians, who needs to be better at understanding what they are selling as well as advising on what is important for the companies. This is often related to suggestions that improve the companies' productivity and competitiveness and which are indirectly linked to energy savings.
• Overall, funding is available within the companies themselves and from the financial players. However, there is a general need to provide a basis for decision-making, which gives access to use the funds. This can be done, among other things, through the above-mentioned one-stop shops and support of business models based on a holistic approach.
Municipalities as facilitators • Overall status, challenges and opportunities There are many profitable energy projects in the municipalities and regions that have not been completed. Among others, a maintenance backlog in the public buildings of DKK 50 billion has been estimated. Most municipalities appear to be interested in energy savings, but there are a number of obstacles that stop the momentum. The municipalities have access to attractive financing of municipal investments; however, challenges arise in the efforts to get the projects organised, prioritised and bundled as well as when municipalities facilitate investments in private homes and in businesses. The ESCO concept entails advantages by being able to ensure large and rapid energy savings, and it deserves better support in the future. A good example of this can be seen in Norway where the state provides support for facilitation/counselling.
• Motivation and commitment of the municipalities It is imperative to set more ambitious goals at the municipal level; this is absolutely crucial in order to ensure the necessary priorities and management of the efforts. This can be supplemented by strengthened political and administrative frameworks as well as other initiatives, both nationally and locally. Requirements for reductions in the energy consumption in municipal and regional buildings would greatly increase and make visible the efforts of the individual municipalities/regions. The realisation of energy and climate plans requires the individual municipalities to continuously keep the process on track and interact with the relevant internal and external parties. National support and effective cross-municipal partnerships are among the keys to moving from plan to action.
• Strengthening the role of the municipality as facilitator in private homes and businesses. When municipalities act as facilitators in private homes and businesses, they are outside their "comfort zone", which presents challenges in relation to how the effort is handled. In general,
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a very direct and proactive effort is needed to succeed, which requires resources. The discussion showed that there may be some undiscovered opportunities that could provide better conditions for project financing in private homes and businesses, and it is important to investigate these opportunities further in the process. In addition, incentives should be increased by including Non-Energy Benefits, such as improved indoor climate, as a result of energy renovations.
• Connection to the international/EU There are many promising activities at European/international level regarding the development of new concepts in line with the new policies. Danish municipalities and related players could become better at interacting with these initiatives in a way that makes them a requirement for local development. Some Danish municipalities show how this can be done in conjunction with energy and climate plans.
• Follow-up o Ensure integration of recommendations in the political and administrative processes after the election. This includes developing new knowledge, methods and tools dedicated to the specific challenges. In this regard, it is relevant to consider possible innovations in relation to ensuring funding in relevant areas, besides the existing ones such as private housing and businesses. o Connect this to the further development of ESCO and other concepts such as one-stop shops that can be tailored to the various interests and needs among municipalities in order to provide more momentum in the implementation. The state level, for example, as prescribed by the EU directives, can do more to support the ESCO concept as well as to contribute to a better facilitation of the projects. An example from Norway was pointed out, where the state seems to be successful in breathing new life into the market. o Last but not least, it is vital to support the municipalities' role in propagating ESCO as the opportunity to get funding for EE in the companies. The ESCO method's ability to implement energy efficiency in companies "outside the balance" is crucial in moving from projects with a 3-year terms as the maximum to being able to carry out projects with up to a 10 years term.
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BACKGROUND TO THE EVENT
As part of the "Smart Finance for Smart Buildings" initiative, the European Commission organises a number of events under the Sustainable Energy Investment Forums project, which intend to inform as well as strengthen cooperation between public and private players that are involved in the financing of energy efficiency investments. SEI Forums consist of more than 30 events in 15 Member States during the period 2016-2019. Information about past and planned events can be found on the SEI Forums website .
The European Commission, in collaboration with Finance Denmark, the Danish Energy Savings Council and the UN Environmental Financing Initiative (UNEP FI) arranged a roundtable in Copenhagen on 14 May 2019 on financing energy efficiency. The participants included 70 representatives from the Danish energy efficiency and financial sector as well as representatives from the EU Energy Directorate and its agency EASME (Executive Agency for SMEs)
The purpose of the National Roundtable was to bring together key players for a dialogue on financing energy efficiency in buildings and businesses in Denmark with a view to discuss the framework for the efforts as well as proposing concrete initiatives for future actions. The selected topics for the sessions were 1) Private home renovations, 2) Social Housing, 3) Industry/SMEs and 4) Municipalities as facilitators.
Copies of the presentations can be found at the event site.
The event serves as a follow-up session to a previous national roundtable, which took place on November 16th, 2017 and which gathered stakeholders from both the energy sector and the financial sector. Reports from this event can be found via this link.
An initial public conference on financing energy efficiency in Denmark, Sweden and Finland took place in Copenhagen on May 19th, 2017. This event brought together more than 100 participants from national agencies, the financial sector, project developers, suppliers, interest organisations, regions, municipalities, etc. Presentations from this conference are available here.
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INTRODUCTORY PLENARY
Session chaired by Claus Bugge Garn, Chairman of the Danish Energy Savings Council
Welcome
Claus Bugge Garn welcomed the participants on behalf of the EU Commission and the event partners, the UN's environmental financing initiative (UNEP), Finance Denmark and the Danish Energy Savings Council. He emphasised how the roundtable could boost the energy-saving efforts in Denmark and encouraged good discussions and designs of ideas for this process.
Meeting the challenge of bridging between energy efficiency and the financial sector
Jacob Krog Søbygaard, Head of Secretariat, The Danish Council on Climate Change
Presentation here.
The role of the Danish Council on Climate Change is to provide advice on Denmark's green transition. The starting point is the international climate goals, which were determined in connection with the Paris agreement, and how these should be adopted into the Danish reality.
Energy efficiency plays a major role in achieving the goals, including reduction in the energy consumption of buildings. An effort to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings is to ensure optimal balance between energy efficiency and the introduction of renewable energy in the buildings.
The Danish Council on Climate Change sees great potential in energy renovation, as studies show that the socio-economic costs of energy renovation of buildings appear to be the cheapest way, while at the same time greatly facilitating the desired green transition.
The question is: Which measures should be used to promote such developments? It must be seen against the backdrop that there is a lag in releasing the potential, despite several number of political initiatives over time and high taxes on energy.
This is due to a number of barriers such as homeowners not making sufficiently long-term decisions and possible problems with obtaining funding, which the measures should address. Jacob Krog Søbygaard suggested, for example, that maybe it is time to impose requirements that an energy advisor and the financial sector should be involved in a better way in order to ensure more dynamics in the area.
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The European perspective
Niels Ladefoged, Policy Officer, Energy Efficiency Unit of the EU Commission
Presentation here.
Niels Ladefoged reviewed the EU policies and forward-looking budget to ensure energy efficiency. The targets leading up to 2030 are a reduction of CO2 emissions by 40% compared to the 1990 level, a renewable energy share of 32% and 32.5% in energy savings compared to a business-as-usual scenario, and the Commission proposes, as a long-term strategy, that the EU achieves net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2050. A graph was shown of the estimated reduction in the various sectors over the years.
The EU energy strategy operates with "energy efficiency first", and several regulatory measures have already been implemented to pave the way. A key element of the process is that EU countries are to prepare national energy and climate plans (NECPs) that must contain the concrete measures at national level. The countries' drafts of these NECPs were submitted in the end of 2018, and they must be completed during 2019 based on EU recommendations and must include involvement/consultation of relevant stakeholders.
On the financial front, strides are taken to introduce a uniform classification system – a "taxonomy" – as a basis for identifying where sustainable investments can have the most effective impact. Another initiative is to clarify investors' responsibility for taking sustainability into account, as agreed in a political agreement in March 2019. Another adopted initiative is to introduce two new categories of benchmarking for climate change.
The EU proposal for the budget period 2017-2021primarily focuses on funds for research and development, EU strategic investments and regional development in order to support the energy transition. A target has been set that 25% of the funds are allocated to counter the climate challenge, which shows its high priority on the agenda.
Support for sustainable energy can be divided into:
• Capacity building and policy support – under the LIFE/Clean Energy programmes • Direct support for green energy investments – under ERDF/CF, CEF • Mobilisation of private investments through de-risking – under the InvestEU programme • Research development – under Horizon Europe
In the draft under the InvestEU programme, EUR 38 billion has been allocated as a green investment guarantee scheme – of which EUR 11.50 billion are set aside for sustainable infrastructure, including energy efficiency.
Under the LIFE program, EUR 1 billion has been allocated for the "clean energy transition" in the form of capacity building within relevant areas.
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Perspectives from the financial sector
Peter Jayaswal, Executive Director, Property and Finance, Finance Denmark
Presentation here.
Peter Jayaswal presented Finance Denmark's work on securing sustainable finance. This is based on a desire to contribute to an ambitious and sustainable transition, in which the financial sector plays an important role in helping to secure the financing. At the same time, Finance Denmark's objective is to contribute actively to the EU action plan for financing sustainable growth. In order to promote this development, Finance Denmark has established the Forum for Sustainable Finance, which operates with a mandate to deliver recommendations to Finance Denmark's Board of Directors by the end of 2019. In this forum, a number of key players from the Danish finance, business and knowledge sector participate.
New energy-friendly buildings and energy renovations will contribute to reaching the climate goals. One third of Danish houses have energy labels in the categories E through G, which implies a significant potential for improvement. The Danish mortgage credit sector can help ensure cheap financing for energy-improving investments, including loans to owner-occupied homes, rental properties, social housing, cooperative housing and the business sector.
An important element of the process is to define when a building is sustainable as a basis for who can get a "green loan". This is related to the work at EU level on creating a common framework and ensuring transparency, including a "taxonomy" and a standard for green bonds. Finance Denmark is working to ensure that everyone has an incentive to raise the energy standard, e.g. by operating with different categories of green.
Perspectives from the energy efficiency sector
Claus Bugge Garn, President of the Danish Energy Savings Council
Presentation here.
Since 2006, the main instrument in the Danish energy saving efforts has been the Energy Saving Scheme (ESO) as well as the fulfilment of Denmark's obligation to save energy under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). However, the ESO scheme has been criticised for low additionality in buildings, inadequate control and high costs.
According to the 2018 Energy Agreement, the Energy Savings Scheme expires in the year 2021 and is to be replaced by a market-based tender pool of DKK 500 million annually in the period 2021-2024. Hereof, DKK 200 million are targeted at energy savings in buildings and DKK 300 million at energy savings in the industrial sector and the service industry. There is a risk that expertise and momentum will be lost in the transition between ESO and the tender pools.
So far, the energy saving efforts have seen both successes and failures. Among the successes mentioned were the efforts within new building construction, electrical appliances and businesses, while the failures comprised existing buildings and transport. The future efforts present opportunities
Page 11 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK to ensure better implementation of the Building Directive (EPBD), including the given targets and requirements for an energy-efficient and decarbonised building stock in 2050, to draw up a long-term renovation strategy and to provide easier access to finance (via grouping, de-risking and support measures).
The energy efficiency efforts currently rest on three legs: 1) Regulation, including building codes and eco-friendly designs, 2) grants/incentives and 3) information. The question was raised whether financing should be a fourth leg to promote energy efficiency in existing buildings. In principle, a lot of funding is available, but the key is finding out how to bridge the two worlds.
With this question and a summary of the morning's presentations, Claus Bugge Garn called for constructive and productive roundtable discussion on the topics 1) Home renovations, 2) Social Housing, 3) Industry/SME and 4) Municipalities as facilitators.
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SESSION 1 ON HOME RENOVATIONS
Session chaired by Claus Bugge, Chairman of the Danish Energy Savings Council
Intro and purpose
The session sought to investigate how to promote integrated home renovations by trusted market operators to thereby ensure better awareness from homeowners. The developed services must cover the whole "customer journey" from technical and social diagnosis, contracting of works and provision of finance to the monitoring of works and quality assurance. The session built on the discussion at the first roundtable in 2017, including pioneer examples from inside as well as outside the Danish borders. The banks can help motivate the homeowners and follow the process all the way through. The intention is to seek to optimise this dimension.
Key ques�ons:
1. What is the general situation in terms of promoting more energy renovations of private homes? – What are the main challenges to be addressed?
2. What are the most important experiences from the local initiatives in Frederikshavn and Sønderborg in terms of using an upscale approach to home renovations in Denmark, including ensuring the possibility of deep renovations?
3. What are the learnings from existing sustainable renovation projects and nationwide schemes that can be part of the forward-looking efforts?
4. Which EU support schemes can be used to support such forward-looking efforts?
5. How can an upscale approach be adopted to energy renovations in private homes – broken down by regulatory issues, support schemes and project initiatives? And which action steps can the sectors complete by themselves?
Session agenda:
• Approach – why is so little happening? The broad picture by Claus Bugge Garn, followed by contributions from Torben Liborius, the Danish Construction Association, and Kim Tobiasen, Sparekassen Kronjylland
• Experiences from Refurb: Claus Bugge Garn presented the main findings from this project
• Presentation by Bahram Dehghan, Energy City Frederikshavn, about experiences from activities in Frederikshavn, including the "one-stop-shop" under the EU project "Innovate". Carsten Schiødte, Jyske Bank, contributed his experience, among others, based on the project in Frederikshavn. This was followed by reflections from Niels Kjær Hansen, Ringkjøbing Landbobank
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• Presentations on experiences with sustainable renovation projects, Balder Johansen, Logik & Co followed by comments from Ole Sørensen, Jyske Bank and a speech by Tommy Olsen, Gate 21
• Presentation on existing nationwide scheme – both from Niels Kåre Bruun, Better Home, and Katrine Havemann Olsen, Nykredit
• Presentation of EU funding options under different schemes – are there any untapped opportunities? Niels Ladefoged, DG ENER
• Discussion, summary – conclusions
Presentations
Approach Why is so little happening? The broad picture by Claus Bugge Garn
Presentation here.
Energy renovation of private homes is a necessary area of action, which holds great potential and benefits the economy at a national level. At the same time, the efforts – to a great extent – facilitate the green transition according to the Danish Council on Climate Change's assessment. Concurrently, EA Energy Analysis estimates that the optimal level of energy saving in terms of reaching the targets in 2050 is 1% per year, i.e. a total of 31%. The realised heat savings have been 0.25% per year since 2007.
Several barriers must therefore exist, which prevent the energy renovations from being carried out. These could be:
• Owner/tenant issues • Lack of knowledge among homeowners • The decision-making and renovation processes are cumbersome • Lack of access to finance
Hence, we must learn from enthusiasts and pilot projects around the country in order to identify the necessary framework conditions and successful approaches, which can then be implemented and scaled up across the board. It is possible to initiate a quick transformation. Denmark showed this in the 1980s when the energy consumption was reduced by 20% over a few years.
Renovation needs in private homes by Torben Liborius, the Danish Construction Association
Presentation here.
The existing building stock is our major challenge, as the new buildings account for only a few percent of the building stock. However, the homeowners' focus on energy is declining, perhaps because they have more money to spend. This is revealed in the fact that only approx. 11% have carried out energy
Page 14 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK renovations in 2018, while 28% have completed other maintenance work. Another problem is that the homeowners' awareness of the state of their home in terms of energy is low. Only 8% of homeowners believe their home is in poor energy condition, but 34% of the homes belong in energy category E or lower, which is considered in poor condition. However, the Danish Construction Association believes that the interest is increasing from 2018 to 2019.
The barriers to energy renovation are:
• Knowledge and interest – what are the right thing to do? • Practical barriers – Trouble with the process • Finances – can we afford it? Will it pay off? • Absence of concrete goals
The incentives are bigger than energy savings:
• Lower operating expenses • Indoor climate and comfort • Increased value • "Feel good" (green conscience) – can it stir excitement?
Maybe a "no cure, no pay" scheme is an option?
Experience input from Kim Tobiasen, Sparekassen Kronjylland
The bank participated in a joint village project. It was optional for the residents whether they wanted to participate or not. It offered a solar cell package and unbiased advice. No bias is important, and that is why many people joined. The bank provided financing and has hosted 15-20 energy meetings with a total of 1500 participants.
A geothermal heat trial project has also been carried out among customers currently using oil-fired burners. 100 properties have been set up. Energy credits were issued and were paid for by the customers.
Experience shows that it is difficult to train/motivate the advisors in the bank. The screening tools are not used properly. The bank advisor should therefore only present the options to the homeowners. The owners are confused and are thus in need of sound, unbiased advice on energy matters.
Experiences from Refurb: Claus Bugge Garn presented the main findings from this project
Presentation here.
Refurb has aimed to create an overall "journey" for the homeowners from when they first consider implementing an effort: Clarification, decision-making and finally project completion, similar to a "one-stop-shop" model. It is important to offer the package to the homeowners at the right time. All
Page 15 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK homeowners have times in their lives when energy renovations make sense. Focus must be on both technical, financial and social aspects when pitching the energy renovations to the homeowners.
A "customer journey" has been created, which provides both technical and financial guidance. To avoid "drop-outs", focus must be on:
• Providing a personal approach and tailored guidance • Understanding the possibilities in groups of "communities"/unity • Providing a long-term perspective on the renovation • Presenting a clear floor plan • Presenting a clear funding plan
The non-technical solutions (financing, quality assurance etc.) motivate more than technology. The one-stop-shop solutions seem to have the greatest potential for convincing homeowners to carry out energy renovations.
With "compelling offers", it is essential to identify the advantages and disadvantages of renovation to the homeowners:
• An offer the customer cannot resist must be simple, easily understandable and affordable in order to attract most of the market
• A "compelling offer" is an easily understandable offer to the end-user, written in a non- technical language that addresses his/her requirements for a comfortable life, which at the same time makes his/her home more energy efficient.
• It is important to develop offers/packages that are noticeably different from each other
Bahram Dehghan, Energy City Frederikshavn, about experiences from activities in Frederikshavn including "one-stop-shop" under the EU project Innovate
Presentation here.
The presentation was related to the ongoing H2020 project Innovate, which comprises renovation of clusters of homes in the Municipality of Frederikshavn. These clusters can be residential areas, villages, etc. They receive information meetings or visits by a campaign car and subsequent advisor visits. In addition, there are agreements with private players such as craftsmen, shops with relevant products, banks, etc. The municipality runs the process based on a customer journey similar to Better Housing and Refurb.
Conclusions include:
• Financing is not the biggest problem • Motivation and hassle are important factors, which must be solved with good, unbiased counselling • Selling points are quality of life, i.e. indoor climate, comfort, cool accommodation, etc.
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• Packages are offered for private homes, and a realistic package is put together for the individual homeowner. By offering packages across many homes, a discount price can be guaranteed • Informing citizens is the most important factor • Remember to ask about energy renovation during the bank's customer meeting. Financial gain motivates action • Energy renovation must be made an obligatory part of an application for a building permit or other similar permits
Reflections from Niels Kjær Hansen, Ringkjøbing Landbobank
Financing does not seem to be the big problem. It must be made easy to go from information gathering to completed project. The financial motive is important and there are some framework conditions that must be met for the homeowner to be ready for a renovation.
Experience with sustainable renovation projects, Balder Johansen, Logik & Co.
DIY work is a problem, because the damages caused by poor work occur later. Often, this is what the professional craftsmen are asked to remedy later.
The tax deduction scheme for renovation work means too little. The amount is not high enough to motivate people to decide. Instead, we can raise the value of the building when it is renovated by making a new assessment that can create room for the investment.
The skilled craftsmen are very different. Some, especially the small businesses, stick to what is safe and do not challenge the customer with new solutions or major projects. In this way, the heavy renovations are not sold, and the opportunity is missed.
Reflections from Ole Sørensen, Jyske Bank
The focus must be on energy labels below C.
However, we could risk killing the small renovation projects, if they are to be checked and documented because of rules and loan frameworks.
A green property tax must be properly calibrated so that you do not penalise the people in good houses that do not carry out improvements. The tax, however, must be kept up for continuous improvement or a new energy label.
We must not forget about behaviour, which is an aspect that carries a lot of weight.
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Energy renovation in private houses by Tommy Olsen, Gate 21
Presentation here.
Energy renovation of private homes is difficult, because there are 2 million decision makers to be convinced, but 50% of the building energy is consumed by private homes so we cannot disregard them.
The customer trip on which Better Housing is based, which is very similar to what Frederikshavn is working on and what Sønderborg does with the Refurb and BetterHome concept, is the right approach. The problem is just that we cannot get the homeowners to pay for the advice, the initial plan or the construction management. We must find a solution for this. There is now a broad consensus that we should not sell energy renovations, but rather Better Housing, i.e. with a broad focus on indoor climate, comfort, modern appearance and energy. The energy savings must provide a subsidy for realising the “dream house”.
Can we continue working with new commercial concepts such as "heat pumps on subscription", preferably with a broader focus, where the climate screen is also improved - and preferably financed by the pension funds?
Can we involve the district heating plants in the promotion and execution? They must lower their climate impact through low-temperature district heating, heat pumps, etc. which all require houses that can be heated with lower flow temperatures. So, they have an interest getting the homeowner to renovate.
Presentation on existing nationwide scheme – Niels Kåre Bruun, Better Home
BetterHome started with packages but has discovered that each house has its own package.
It must be easy! A renovation is similar to a medium-sized divorce! Well, that's the hassle.
The homeowner needs to be taken by the hand all the way. Energy savings are not immediately attractive. Modern homes are.
People have lots of ideas but need help to prioritise them.
The banks should not be advisors on renovations. The largest customer group is the older generation, the next customer group is the new buyers.
Presentation by Katrine Havemann Olsen, Nykredit
Presentation here.
The largest climate potential is in the home, and 90% of the buildings that exist today will still be around in 2050. Renovations can increase the value of the home, and Nykredit holds a mortgage on it! At the same time, renovation means lower operating costs and higher housing quality. United, we
Page 18 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK can do more! If we can include the "renovation customer journey" in the flow through which the bank and the credit association already take the customer, it becomes more natural.
Nykredit offers a housing audit by an advisor, who prepares a plan covering energy, maintenance and climate adaptation.
Conclusions:
• Payment for impartial advice is a barrier • We must act when we have the attention of the customer anyway • The outer area: it must be "bankable". Therefore, the bank cannot solve the last 20% • Housing inspection by an expert has not been a great success but will now be digitised. Maybe it can get better • Do we need an independent consultant when a property is assessed?
Presentation on EU funding opportunities by Niels Ladefoged, DG ENER
Presentation here.
The presentation focused on the InvestEU support programme, which will be introduced in the forthcoming EU budget period 2021-2027. In the budget draft, EUR 38 billion have been allocated to a guarantee scheme for green investments. Of these, EUR 11.5 billion are for sustainable infrastructure, including energy efficiency.
The guarantor element under InvestEU could be interesting in terms of ensuring cheap capital for energy renovations of private homes in Denmark, and these opportunities can be explored in the further development of the programme.
An "Advisory Hub" will be attached, including a new EU City Facility and the ELENA programme, which will help pave the way for the use of InvestEU.
Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations
Point of departure • We must make buildings more energy efficient by a total of 1% per year, but today we only manage 0.25% – so the pace must be quadrupled • Private homes consume 50% of the buildings' energy! • 90% of our current building stock will still exist in 2050 • The awareness of the building's real condition is low among homeowners. They believe their home is better than it is • 2/3 of the building owners say they are interested, but only 11% do something
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Target groups • Elderly people where the children have moved out • New buyers • Houses with energy labels below C. Some buildings are so bad that they must be demolished instead!
Motivation • Focus on the entire home so that maintenance, energy and a healthy and modern home are considered together • Economy is a prerequisite, but long payback times do not overturn a project, if it results in some of the other values above • A simple, easily understandable "one-stop-shop" package makes it easy to decide and implement
Concept • Customer travel with help all the way • United, we can do more: Facilitators can be the municipality, while a number of other players participate in each area • Who can handle the large roll-out? It is probably unrealistic that this will be the municipalities • The homeowner must be approached at the time when he/she is open to new suggestions, e.g. when buying a house or when the children move out • We must use the natural "touch points" where we are in contact with the homeowner anyway • Remember the behavioural aspect! Here, large energy savings can be obtained very cheaply.
Counselling • Counselling is important in order to be able to help the customer throughout the journey to a successful project • The counselling must be credible, preferably unbiased • The homeowner will not pay for the necessary advice, but it can be an advantage, if the homeowner commits a smaller amount to the pot, e.g. DKK 1000 • Who will pay the rest of the advice? The state (energy savings), the district heating companies, the bank or the mortgage?
Financing • The tax deduction for renovation work is too low to motivate "heavy renovations" o But can it be used for demolition in the outer areas? o Can you compile the tax deduction over several years so that it can be used for one major renovation?
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• Can renovation be linked to a new assessment of the home, so that the value is increased, and more money can be borrowed? • Could it be required that a building for sale must achieve a certain energy label? • When a home is assessed, an energy consultant could be included to draw up a report on the home • Could a Green housing tax be introduced, possibly connected to the energy label, so that the homeowner is motivated to get an energy label in connection with a renovation • Could "Subscription concepts" corresponding to district heating solutions for heat pumps be established to finance the entire renovation? • Loans will not be cheaper than today • How do we define the right loan products so that they can take into account long payback times of e.g. climate screen projects that can last for 50 years? • It can be investigated to what extent EU programmes and funds can support development in Denmark. This includes the InvestEU programme, which from 2021 can provide guarantees for investments in energy efficiency, including opportunities to provide long-term guarantees • It is difficult to solve the problem of the outer area residents having problems getting a mortgage. However, subscription schemes could be a solution
Housing requirements • When applying for a building permit, there must be a requirement for energy renovation • In Finland, district heating companies begin to make demands on the buildings in connection with the phasing out of coal and conversion to low temperatures
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Page 22 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK
SESSION 2 ON SOCIAL HOUSING
Session chaired by Henrik Bielefeld, Project Zero
Intro and purpose
The session focused on the need for financing energy efficiency within the social housing sector. The National Building Fund does not have a wide scope for supporting energy renovations within the current regulations on the fund's activities. The initiative for energy renovation must therefore primarily come from the sector itself. The session aimed primarily at debating how data and the involvement of residents is part of the financing solution in the housing associations, among other things, in relation to the possibility of introducing "dynamic heating accounts" as settlement method (settlement based on indoor climate).
Key issues:
1. How important is the data and residents' involvement in the financing solution in the housing associations?
2. How does the general developer create a sufficient overview of the possible profitable energy savings in connection with a renovation?
3. How can profitable activities be adopted in the resident democracy and consequently be implemented?
4. How can the residents' baseline consumption expenditure be quantified? How is the consumption saving 1:1 guaranteed (without a significant rent increase)?
5. Discussion of the National Building Fund's insurance model: How can the dynamic heat account contribute to modifying the risk of the consumption saving not occurring and managing the risk in relation to resident behaviour? Is this model attractive to e.g. pension companies, municipalities, the state or others? Who – as an alternative to subsidies – could set up a guarantee fund or an "insurance company" for energy renovations?
Session agenda:
• Energy renovations require residents' confidence in choosing a financing solution - Henrik Bielefeldt, Head of Department, Project Zero
• Dynamic heat accounts as performance documentation - Anton Ahnfelt-Rønne, Project Manager, Domea.dk
• The residents as decision makers – the concept of value during renovation - Torsten Jepsen, Consultant, Better Construction Processes
• Insurance of energy savings in housing - Mads Gudmand-Høyer, the National Building Fund, - principles for insurance model
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- Anne Stougaard, Chief Consultant. Municipality of Gladsaxe – briefly about the opportunities the municipality sees in the concept - Jesper Loose Smith, CEO Arbejdernes Boligselskab Gladsaxe, – briefly about the potential for renovation of approx. 377 dwellings in the housing units Egeparken I and II • Open discussion based on participants' views and ideas (answers/ideas for key questions)
• Summary – Conclusions
Presentations
Energy renovations require the residents' confidence in the choice of financing solution – by Henrik Bielefeldt, Head of Department, Project Zero
Presentation here.
Sønderborg is part of the SmartEnCity project, which is funded financially by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Sønderborg's Project Zero vision is to be CO2 neutral in 2029. In relation to this, work is being done on energy efficiency and sustainable energy within the SmartEnCity project with a special focus on housing associations.
Henrik Bielefeldt emphasised resident democracy as an important factor. This is addressed in the H2020 project "Happi" which comprises approx. 30% of the housing associations' housing stock in the Municipality of Sønderborg. The project represents a broad composition of social housing, located in both the centre and the outer areas of Sønderborg. Among other things, the project aims at implementing education on better resident involvement.
The first task of the project is to look at how energy efficiency can be financed, possibly via another form of mortgage credit. Furthermore, there is a focus on determining how energy efficiency is most effectively monitored. One of the challenges in the project is a lack of valid data enabling a common overview of energy consumption.
Another task is related to achieving better resident involvement, including allowing more people to participate in the resident democracy. It is particularly important to get more people interested in energy renovation. The current “green transition” may be a driver to engage families.
Communication with residents is a key concept. It is important to work with the concept of trust for rent increases to be accepted. Adopting substantial rent increases is often blocked by lack of confidence in the calculated energy savings. Resources must also be considered as regards the issue of financing – for example, it is also important to include facts about the capacity available in the administration in order to carry out the energy renovations.
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Dynamic heating accounts as performance documentation – by Anton Ahnfelt-Rønne, Project manager, Domea.dk
Presentation here.
Domea.dk provides rental, administration and operation to general housing companies. Domea.dk works to create safe homes that are payable for ordinary people. Domea.dk is one of Denmark's largest general building and housing administrations and works on continuous streamlining and digitisation of its services. Domea.dk is non-profit, owned by customers and democratically managed.
The dynamic heating account gives a holistic view of consumption and a healthier indoor climate, according to Anton Ahnfelt-Rønne. The residents jointly determine the "tariffs", which are divided according to a smiley scheme with the colours green, yellow and red indicating a good, less good and bad indoor climate. One meter is typically placed per housing unit that measures every 5 minutes and sends data into the cloud – about fresh air/CO2 contents, humidity and temperature.
Anton gave an example of a heating account from an address in the Municipality of Svendborg – including a review of yellow, green and red values from a monthly report. If the limits for accepted CO2, humidity and temperature are exceeded, an extra fee is paid. According to Anton, there are very few residents who complain about increased expenses from the heating accounts. This is because those who are experiencing increasing expenses have previously benefited from their neighbour's heating (up to 70% of the heat).
Residents are very interested in what colour category they are in – despite a small financial sanction. Overall, the dynamic heating account is a good method for motivating better energy behaviour.
The residents as decision-makers – the concept of value when renovating – by Anders Jacobi, Consultant, Better Building Processes
Presentation here.
Better Building Processes is a company specialising in creating good, productive building processes. Better Building Processes focuses on promoting collaboration and reducing conflicts for increased efficiency and productivity in the construction sector. The company has expertise in resident and stakeholder management, which draws on a number of sociological tools and construction skills.
Better Building Processes deal with 3 areas:
1. better cooperation – 2. organisational development – 3. resident cooperation
There is a lot of behavioural psychology involved. It is important to use other approaches to these areas – by learning to listen to the residents. Instead of trying to convince them, we need to understand the residents and what is important to them, otherwise we will not succeed in making energy renovations. It is about creating an understanding of what the framework is like. How do we involve residents within this framework?
It is about accurate and appropriate information – too much information is not appropriate. There is still a great potential for improvement. Tasks involving housing management – notifications,
Page 25 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK messages, etc. must be handled. We take it too lightly, if we do not involve professionals to assist on handling it. Resident management needs to be prioritised.
An important consideration is that you often forget to look at the specific building issue. It is often necessary to take two steps back and start with a short analysis phase and ask: What are the challenges here? Who are the residents? Which local issues do we face?
You must think this through before using the toolbox. It is about listening to the residents. When a sufficient knowledge base on this has been achieved, you can draw up a strategy concerning what needs to be put in place and how the different tools should be used. We use "if then" rules – if this happens, then we do this. It is about predicting different scenarios/problems to avoid inexpedient solutions. This ensures a more efficient, systematic process.
Better Building Processes has developed "Collaboneering" – a method that strengthens the cooperation between all parties in the construction project from start to finish. It is the combination of the two words collaboration and engineering.
Insurance of energy savings in housing – by Mads Gudmand-Høyer, the National Building Fund, principles for insurance model
Presentation here.
The National Building Fund is a self-governing body founded by general housing organisations established by law. The purpose is to promote the self-financing of the social housing sector.
The National Building Fund is working to create an insurance scheme for the residents, which is based on the dynamic heating accounts. The energy savings are insured via e.g. municipalities or pension companies. This changes the issue of trust to an investment issue instead.
The insurance model aims to modify the risk of the energy savings not materialising, including the risk connected to resident behaviour. The model assumes that a capable player acts as "energy auditor", so that the estimated energy savings are quality-assured and that the baseline energy consumption is correct and standardised.
Mads Gudmand-Høyer presented an example from Arbejdernes Boligselskab in Gladsaxe (Housing Association) based on rent-integrated consumption settlement, i.e. an integration of the dynamic heating accounts with the monthly rent collection.
Open standards – if they are not introduced on meters soon, it will take about 10 more years to get the model introduced. They are the foundation for talking about the insurance of energy savings.
Dynamic heating accounts – the National Building Fund discusses with SBI (Danish Building Research Institute) daily on how to create incentives for energy savings. No parameters have been defined yet. By using dynamic heating accounts, a green space is defined, which is more likely to secure the correct estimate from the advisors. With the new insurance scheme, the financing will last for 30 years in the future, which creates other opportunities. The insurance scheme used now must in principle only cover 8-10 years.
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The National Building Fund is willing to go further with the process in cooperation with the Municipality of Gladsaxe and the Housing Association “Arbejdernes Boligselskab”. They have developed a paradigm that includes an energy auditor and quality assurance procedures. A comprehensive paradigm is required to ensure the proper operation of properties and to move towards an insurance scheme.
Anne Stougaard, Chief Consultant in the Municipality of Gladsaxe - briefly about the opportunities the municipality sees in the concept
Anne Stougaard sees the above model as a great and positive prospect. However, The Municipality of Gladsaxe cannot co-finance the development of the paradigm at the moment. Funding and new legislation are needed first.
Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations
Overall status, challenges and opportunities
• There are challenges in getting residents to vote yes to rent increases related to the implementation of energy savings. It is about highlighting the improvements that also come from the energy renovations, e.g. the possibility of a new kitchen, no draft, etc. With Municipality of Gladsaxe as an example, there is a great challenge associated with the implementation of energy efficiency improvements in buildings that are not covered by major renovations and which therefore do not have access to the same support schemes as heavy renovations. This can mean 20-25% rent increases and people will not consent. Therefore, there is a need to break with some of the restrictions imposed on the municipalities in relation to making renovations.
• When energy renovation support projects begin, it is a major problem that the energy consumption in the property is not sufficiently documented. Social housing often does not use the energy labels. The National Building Fund believes that projects must meet the requirement that energy consumption must be disclosed automatically.
• There is a mixed clientele in the non-profit housing associations. It is important to consider the socio-economic aspects in order to understand the residents' reactions. Many residents are on social services that have been cut due to political reforms. Thus, there is often uncertainty connected with energy renovations, which becomes fundamentally crucial to the project. It is necessary to paint a more nuanced picture of the situation, e.g. by implementing policy measures that can help counter economic uncertainty in order to create a better basis for accepting the renovations. Another concern is that the weakest people will pay the highest heating bill. This should be prevented.
• The most difficult aspect is the behavioural savings. In order to see a change, the residents should be guaranteed some benefits. By motivating the residents, it cultivates responsible energy behaviour.
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• Instead of talking about funding as the primary issue, trust must be prioritised. It is important to pay attention to the different levels and not be limited by a narrow technical mindset. The next step is to see how the technical solution responds to the challenge of making it meaningful to the residents.
The dynamic heating accounts
• The presentation of the dynamic accounts has generally been met with much support at residents' meetings. Even before talking about exemptions. It is the increased justice in the settlement that weighs the most. Frequently, questions of doubt arise later.
• The dynamic heating account has so far shown signs of weakness. There are examples of the meter having to be moved due to sunlight. It can often be done with algorithms that collect weather data. It must be made simple. There have been challenges with cracked floors after mechanical heating systems have been set up. Therefore, better solutions must be developed.
• With the dynamic heat account, the residents are motivated to keep tabs on their energy consumption. They can stay up to date on the dynamics right down to 5 measurements per second. There is a possibility of 10-15% savings through nudging with this heating account method. The collection of data is an important part of the process of building trust. Confidence must be present between the residents and the financial partner as well as between the residents, the operation department and the board.
• It is important to collect data both before and after renovation. Uniform data that can be compared across housing associations is important.
• Open standards are essential, supported by legislation. It is important that the sanctions for exceeding the "green space" in the heating account are not too great (dynamic heating account). The "green space" should be reduced to 18-20 degrees, but it will be difficult to get residents to accept it. It is important to make an energy-strategic analysis on how broad this green space should be.
Regulation
• As the way things are today, a municipality may not act as an insurance company. The possibility that the municipalities can become parties in a partnership and thereby co-finance must be considered. This requires a government or a ministry to call for this.
• The legislation must be reviewed. The utilities are not authorised to tell who has a high energy consumption. Access to this would provide an important insight into which geographies are the most energy consuming. It is problematic that it is divided for the individual land registers and not considered across land registers. Other forms of visibility concerning energy consumption should be investigated.
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• The rural fund's mandate to support renovations should be extended to include energy renovations.
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SESSION 3 ON INDUSTRY/SME SECTOR
Session chaired by Erik Gudbjerg, YourEnergy
Intro and purpose
The first roundtable (November 2017) focused on the needs of both the industry and the SMEs and discussed their prioritisation of investments in energy efficiency and various financing models, including guarantee funds. However, the discussion focused primarily on the needs of SMEs, which, to a greater extent than the industry, refrain from investing in energy efficiency due to a lack of information, resources, technical expertise and funding. This follow-up session was therefore primarily focused on the SME segment. The first roundtable identified a need for one-stop-shop services that could help increase investments in energy efficiency in small and medium-sized businesses, especially those in need of regular visits and guidance to be led through the implementation process. In addition, there is a need for better documentation of investments in relation to evaluation and minimisation of financial risks. Non-Energy Benefits were recognised as an important factor that should be included in the overall decision-making basis.
The purpose of the session was to discuss necessary elements of business models that can document energy savings and make their value visible in small and medium-sized enterprises at a sufficiently high level to make investment in energy efficiency more attractive to both SMEs and financial institutions. This also addresses Non-Energy Benefits and the use of the "one-stop-shop" concept to support the process. In addition, the purpose of the session was to discuss the types of financial instruments that could be used in relation to the risky investments in the SME sector, including which forms of analysis should be promoted to demonstrate the return on investment.
Key questions:
1. How can business models, which document investments in energy efficiency in SMEs at a sufficiently high level, be created? How should these models help highlight how attractive these investments are to SMEs and financial institutions?
2. How can Non-Energy Benefits be integrated into these business models and help create incentives for both SMEs and financial institutions?
3. What needs to be done for SMEs to be interested in energy efficiency? Do they have other challenges that hinder their interest in energy efficiency?
4. Is there a one-stop-shop service needed to support the process? How can this be financed and organised and at what level (e.g. state, private, sector-based, municipal, cross-municipal, etc.)? Which service components should be included? Which players can provide the different services?
5. What types of financial instruments can be used in relation to the risky investments in the SME sector? Could it be a guarantee fund combined with bundling and standardisation of procedures and solutions for example?
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Presentations
Do we have the right investment climate for the realisation of energy savings in SMEs? – by Erik Gudbjerg, Director, YourEnergy
Presentation here.
Erik Gudbjerg introduced the agenda, key questions and conclusions from the last roundtable in November 2017.
In relation to the issue of "the right investment climate", some conclusions from the BDO's SME barometer were highlighted. The SME Barometer is based on extensive data obtained from BDO's customers (quantitative data from just under 20,000 accounts and more than 2,000 questionnaire responses from SMEs in Danish business). It concludes that, despite the government's often expressed desire for companies to increase their investment, there is nothing to suggest that SMEs will be contributing on that front.
A little over two thirds of them stated that their framework for investments in 2017 was roughly the same as in 2016 (+/-10%). Only slightly less than one-fifth respond that they are working on plans to increase their investments by more than 10%. When asked about their future focus, their focus is mainly on competition and difficulties in recruiting the right employees. Nothing about climate and energy.
More than every fifth company does not know of its own opportunity to borrow money to finance new initiatives. In this regard, BDO is most inclined to believe that the figure indicates that a significant number of small and medium-sized companies have completely given up on applying for funding at money or mortgage institutions, because they consider it a waste of time. Similar studies from Germany show the same trend (Stuttgart University).
Erik presented a number of previous initiatives that have been carried out in relation to SMEs, including the Energy Guide, Green Shop, etc. – all of which have been successful in isolation – but overall these have not led to extensive implementations of energy efficiency improvements in the SME area.
He emphasised the need to develop new business models that also include the side benefits of energy efficiency as an important part of the decision basis (Non-Energy Benefits). There may also be a need to focus on standardisations, which have previously been used successfully through, among other things, the Supply Catalogue, Electric heating conversion programme and the Better Home model.
He briefly presented the new guides that are on the way from the Danish Energy Agency, which can support new business models. These relate to "Assessment of the economy by investments in energy efficiency" and Non-Energy Benefits ("Energy saving is more than energy"). The last-mentioned guide focuses on the side benefits of energy efficiency improvements (Non-Energy Benefits) such as higher productivity, lower maintenance costs, greater comfort, longer equipment life, less sick leave, environmental improvements and greater production volume.
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Effective Energy – a Funen collaboration on energy efficiency in SMEs – by Mogens Michael Møller, Business Manager, Environmental Forum Funen
Presentation here.
“Efficient Energy” is a partnership between Funen's energy companies, advisors, service partners and municipalities under the auspices of the current energy saving scheme.
The project has offered companies on Funen with an annual electricity consumption of less than 1 million kWh a free, unbiased Energy Check that gives them concrete proposals for energy improvements as well as investment estimates. Furthermore, help has been provided to obtain offers and guidance to ensure future energy savings. Basically, the companies have been assisted by a permanent process consultant throughout the value chain, building on a growing relationship of trust between the consultant and the companies.
A total of 215 companies have been screened, of which 103 have implemented projects, i.e. almost 50%.
In principle, this has served as a one-stop shop, where the companies are guided through the entire journey in the value chain from motivation to implementation. An important driver has been to create trust through the permanent process consultant. Non-Energy Benefits have also served as drivers such as improved production, improved working environment and reduced operating costs.
The project has not experienced funding as a barrier, as the companies themselves have had the necessary funds. Rather, focus is aimed at providing the necessary basis for decision.
Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations
Key Question 1 – development of new business models
Overall, a tool is needed to assist small and medium-sized businesses throughout the value chain. The lessons learned from, among others, the Effective Energy project on Funen show that such a tool can advantageously be based on ongoing assistance to the companies through a permanent procedure consultant who guides them through the entire value chain in collaboration with suppliers of services and products and who also assists in the implementation of the identified savings measures.
Financing is not considered a problem for larger SMEs (more than 50 employees), which are the target groups for Effective Energy Funen. They often have the funds themselves. This is also the experience compared to the EPC projects, which Siemens has implemented in larger SMEs.
But realising the potentials requires a knowledge base that is usually not available to SMEs, their auditors and financial institutions. SMEs need assistance to provide the right basis for decision making, and the same applies to financial institutions where loan financing is needed. This can be provided, for example, via a one-stop shop with a process consultant as in the Effective Energy Funen project or via an ESCO company such as Siemens (or a combination).
Energy savings are usually assessed based on the simple payback time, but ISO 50001 requires a broader approach. This is also supported by the new guidelines from the Danish Energy Agency, which
Page 32 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK recommend analysing projects based on internal interest rate and present value (return on investment), which often changes the picture completely compared to using only the simple payback period.
Another issue is that many, especially smaller, SMEs are not considered creditworthy with current credit tools and procedures. Thus, there may be a need to rethink this in the financial sector, i.e. a reassessment of practices for assessing the creditworthiness of SMEs in relation to energy projects.
Key Question 2 – Integration of Non-Energy Benefits
There is a need for a more holistic approach, which also includes side benefits from energy savings. Here, the Danish Energy Agency (as mentioned above) has come up with a guide that aims to disseminate the message that energy savings are more than kilowatt hours. Energy savings can improve quality and production capacity, decrease sickness absence, etc. For example, the economy around an improved climate screen can also be assessed based on reduced costs for sickness absence.
Advisors should be better at understanding what they are selling. They are most often focused on kilowatt hours but must be better at advising on what is important for businesses. Energy should not just be sold on energy savings and the advisor must ask what is important for the company. This is most often related to proposals that improve the companies' productivity and competitiveness and which are indirectly linked to energy savings. Trust is important for selling. It is the trust that makes you sell projects.
Both GATE 21 and the Environment Forum Funen find that SMEs, also the smaller ones, focus on the UN's world goals. These can often be used to sell energy efficiency measures. An increasing number of SMEs would like to take responsibility and fulfil the world goals as part of their profile.
Regarding Non-Energy Benefits, reference can also be made to previous projects under Elforsk. There are about 100 cases available online, where Nebs is valued and includes associated method descriptions.
Key Question 3 – how to increase SMEs interest in energy efficiency
Following BDO's SME barometer, it is not energy efficiency improvements that are highest on the agenda among SMEs – it is competition, including obtaining the right employees. As already mentioned above, an overall process consultant can help cultivate interest in energy efficiency improvements. Furthermore, the Non-Energy Benefits and the world goals, as already mentioned, can be used as drivers.
As regards the decision-making process, it is also important to address the decision-makers at the management level, not only the operating staff. One language is spoken in the boiler room and another language among the top management.
An important driver for the process can be local support, as the small companies think very locally. Overall, the smaller companies should therefore be inspired by municipalities.
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Key Question 4 – the need of one-stop-shop services
The example from Effective Energy Funen project was highlighted as a good example of a one-stop shop, where you assist the SMEs all the way through the value chain. It has worked as a cross- municipal project where both municipalities and energy companies have contributed (the energy saving scheme), but it could also be through a single municipality.
The future financing of similar initiatives is a challenge, inter alia in relation to replacing the funds from the current energy saving scheme. There is a need to develop financing models, possibly based on contributions from the various actors involved throughout the value chain (municipalities, service and product suppliers, financial institutions, etc.). There is also a need to examine the possibility of connecting one-stop shops to the future tender models.
The distribution of one-stop shops at municipal/cross-municipal level may possibly be combined with continuing education of consultants and technicians in relation to selling and implementing energy efficiency improvements.
Key Question 5 – use of financial instruments
Standardisation is a priority for the EU as one of the solutions for de-risking investments in energy efficiency, but the discussion showed that there is no broad consensus that this is the way forward in relation to SMEs; although it has been used successfully before, it has also been associated with challenges due to the diversity of solutions.
It was also argued that there are many challenges associated with aggregating projects from SMEs, due to creditworthiness, small project sizes, dissimilar project types, and a lack of background knowledge in the financial sector.
A guarantee fund may help to mitigate these risks, but this was not discussed further.
Summary
• There is a need to promote one-stop shops at the municipal or cross-municipal level, which assist SMEs throughout the value chain and through building a trust relationship with an overall process consultant. It is necessary to find solutions as to how these can be financed through contributions from the various players involved, and possibly via the upcoming procurement system, which replaces the energy-saving scheme. • While a relatively large number of smaller SMEs are not considered creditworthy by the financial sector, it may be necessary to develop fixed procedures for risk assessments of these and in relation to the implementation of energy efficiency improvements. This may be possible, if combined with standardisation of solutions and procedures in relation to the financial instruments such as guarantee funds. • There is a need to sell energy efficiency improvements to SMEs compared to a more holistic approach that also includes Non-Energy Benefits. This is supported by new guides from the
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Danish Energy Agency. In addition, many SMEs are motivated by the UN's world goals. In this connection, there is a need for knowledge building among advisors and technicians who must be better at understanding what they are selling, including advising on what is important to the companies. This is most often related to proposals that improve the companies' productivity and competitiveness and which are indirectly linked to energy savings. • Overall, funding is available from the companies themselves and from the financial players. However, there is a general need to develop a basis for decision making, which allows access to the spending of the funds. This can be done, among other things, through the above- mentioned one-stop shop method and through the support of business models based on a holistic approach.
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SESSION 4 ON MUNICIPALITIES AS FACILITATORS
Session chaired by Pelle Bournonville, RealDania
Intro and purpose
The municipalities have an important role to play in ensuring energy savings, including complying with the new policies on renovation strategies and upscaling in accordance with the municipal energy and climate action plans. The scope of the session was the financing aspects of this challenge as well as implementation concepts such as ESCO (EPC), which can help achieve the goals. Examples were presented and discussed of the efforts concerning the municipalities' own buildings as well as initiatives where the municipalities help facilitate energy savings in private homes and at business premises. The aim of the session was to discuss how to motivate the Danish municipalities, how to enhance their ability to implement energy-saving investments and how the efforts in this area can best be organised.
Session agenda:
• Intro: Renovation strategy/upscaling – how can it be done in practice?
• Financing of energy efficiency in municipal buildings – status quo and going forward - Guri Weihe, KommuneKredit
• ESCO – implementation concepts - Lars Nielsen, Siemens
• Presentations from the House of Energy – overcoming barriers and optimisation of EE investments across municipalities - Michael Stie Laugesen, House of Energy
• Summary by moderator
• The municipality as facilitator of energy savings in private homes and in the SME sector - Johan Vedel, Municipality of Fredensborg
• The house comfort project - Claus McKinney-Valentin, Bolius
• Discussion on the key questions
• Summary – conclusions
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Key questions:
1. What is the current status on financing energy savings in the municipal sphere, and what are the main challenges and opportunities going forward?
2. What are the current and future prospects for optimising the ESCO model?
3. How can municipalities be motivated to work on the municipal buildings, followed by a broader discussion on how to promote the Danish municipalities' motivation and ability to implement EE investments?
4. How can the municipalities' efforts as facilitators for energy savings in private homes be optimised?
5. How can the implementation/financing of energy savings in Danish municipalities be optimised?, including: • Organisation of efforts, including possible need for aggregators and use of implementation concepts • Providing support/standards and exchange of knowledge and experience across the country • Relations with the international scene/the EU, including the use of European funds and experiences from other countries
Presentations
Financing of energy efficiency in municipal buildings – status quo and going forward- by Guri Weihe, KommuneKredit
Presentation here.
KommuneKredit is a well-established source of funding for infrastructure investments with public purposes, including energy-saving measures in municipali�es. The business model consists of the members, the 98 Danish municipali�es and 5 regions, being jointly and severally liable for KommuneKredit's obliga�ons. This provides a high interna�onal credit ra�ng, allowing for the possibility of atrac�ve loans being offered to Danish municipali�es, regions, municipal communi�es and en��es with municipal guarantees (on equal terms across the country and on a non-profit basis).
The funding is for public purposes and based on democra�c processes, which includes municipal ESCO and PPP projects (public-private partnerships) and areas such as public schools, transport and supply. The municipali�es' and regions' access to loans is regulated in the municipal and regional loan orders where there is automatic access to loans concerning energy-saving measures.
Since 2017, KommuneKredit has issued green bonds based on loans for environmentally sound and sustainable investments that contribute to society's green transi�on.
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KommuneKredit is a special credit ins�tu�on and subject to some special framework condi�ons. In order to gain access to the associa�on's funding, several condi�ons must be met. For example, it must be a customer eligible for a loan (municipality, region, unit with municipal guarantee or municipal community), as well as have a purpose qualifying for a loan (in accordance with, inter alia, the municipal rules for borrowing, the associa�on's own legal basis and ar�cles of associa�on, state aid rules and relevant sectoral legisla�on). If the condi�ons are met, the financing is made available to the customer. The existence of KommuneKredit implies that Danish municipali�es and regions have access to cost-effec�ve financing of energy savings.
ESCO – implementa�on concepts by Lars Nielsen, Siemens
Presentation here.
ESCO – or EPC (Energy Performance Contrac�ng) as it is called interna�onally – is a concept based on guaranteed energy savings which can address some of the challenges faced by municipali�es with their buildings. These include aspects such as maintenance backlog, poor indoor climate, few resources in the administra�on and an increased focus on the climate challenge from citizens and private companies. Siemens es�mates that there is typically an unexploited energy savings poten�al of 20-40%, even though many municipali�es have made several efforts.
ESCO is a partnership between the municipality and the private ESCO company and has over the years developed in a flexible and holis�c direc�on in rela�on to the guarantee element, project financing and the incorporation of new areas such as indoor climate and user behaviour as well as deeper energy renova�on (several ini�a�ves in the building's climate envelope with longer payback �mes). At the same �me, municipal projects have stagnated in recent years, whereas other types of ESCO project types have emerged, including within hospitals and universi�es.
There was a related discussion of reasons for the stagna�on in the municipal ESCO projects. An important reason was iden�fied; the municipali�es' exis�ng energy and climate goals in general are not challenging enough and thus rela�vely easy for the municipali�es to achieve. This tends to leave out energy savings when different efforts are prioritised. Another barrier seems to be the municipalities' investment ceilings. Looking ahead, it would be relevant to consider what can be done to so�en restric�ons on energy-saving investments.
At the same �me, scep�cism exists as regards the ESCO model due to bad experiences and the fact that some players experience inexpedient obligation in the contracts. There may also be challenges regarding the monitoring and verifica�on of the achieved energy savings. However, the bad experiences are believed mainly to stem from the early ESCO projects, and there was talk of a need to dispel myths and give the ESCO concept a new 'branding' so that the real circumstances surrounding the projects are clearer for municipali�es and the associated players. Moreover, the state level, as prescribed by the EU direc�ves, can do more to support the concept and contribute to beter facilita�on of the projects. An example from Norway was mentioned, where the state seems to be successful in pushing the market development.
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Finally, aten�on was drawn to the importance of spreading the ESCO concept beyond the municipal buildings, i.e. when the municipality acts as facilitator for energy savings within the business sector. This could be linked in order to initiate a study of how the financing of the investments in ques�on can be op�mised.
Op�misa�on of energy efficiency investments across municipali�es - by Michael S�e Laugesen, House of Energy
Presentation here.
House of Energy gathers energy industry players – companies, knowledge ins�tu�ons, authori�es, u�li�es, investors and consumers – to create an efficient, intelligent and integrated energy system.
Michael S�e Laugesen presented a case on the Municipality of Aalborg, which included 860 proper�es and 2,600 buildings. These factors, among others, were mentioned as barriers to energy savings: the construc�on ceiling, energy renova�on cuts due to a fight for the welfare money, a lack of streamlining of energy labels in public buildings and the issue of owner/tenant relations. Furthermore, dynamic energy labelling is lacking, to a greater extent, the introduction of energy management. In addi�on, work is being done to improve data use and pave the way for large-scale solu�ons, including engaging consumers and business.
There was a discussion about inter-municipal coopera�on regarding these challenges. It became clear that the municipali�es are generally interested, but the various "silos" within and between the municipali�es slow down the coopera�on. The individual municipality's mo�va�on could go towards crea�ng its own solu�ons or towards entering into cross-municipal solu�ons. A cross-municipal effort must therefore be based on an understanding of this fact.
The municipality as facilitator of energy savings in private homes and businesses – by Johan Vedel, Municipality of Fredensborg
Presentation here.
The efforts in Fredensborg Municipality are based on a poli�cally adopted target of 25% less CO2 emissions in 2020 and link to the Capital Region's goal of being a leading region in the field of green restructuring and growth. Fredensborg Municipality takes part in the cross-municipal coopera�on “Energy Across”, which is the centre of a number of ini�a�ves, such as establishing a common pla�orm for energy savings.
The efforts within single-family houses are aimed at 200,000 houses above energy label C in the Capital Region, which corresponds to energy renova�on of 13,500 houses per year (500 per municipality) with 15% energy saving as a result (corresponding to an average of about 3,000 kWh per single-family house). An energy check costs approx. DKK 3,500 per house, which corresponds to about DKK 1.75 million per municipality per year.
In Fredensborg Municipality, there is a target of energy savings of 4,000 kWh per single family home, which the consultants involved are pursuing. About 500 energy checks have iden�fied 31% energy-
Page 39 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK saving poten�als, of which 14% have been realised. This corresponds to 4.5% of the total consump�on in the municipality's single-family houses. The municipality has used anthropologists to involve homeowners in the best possible way, and the experience is that direct outreach is needed to succeed. The exis�ng data protection regulations make it difficult to target campaigns in homes with the greatest poten�al (the Act on building and housing registration blocks) and there are other barriers such as the fact that elderly homeowners cannot get mortgage credit loans. A new tool ("Boligplan") is being developed, which will provide beter opportuni�es for segmen�ng buildings in a municipality to find the greatest poten�al for energy savings – within the framework of the Act on building and housing registration.
The house comfort project - by Claus McKinney-Valen�n, Bolius
Presentation here.
To succeed in ge�ng private homeowners to energy renovate, the prerequisite is that they are motivated. Bolius has examined what concerns the homeowners most and indoor climate and energy renova�on come in as the 3rd and 4th priority respectively (a�er general maintenance and garden).
Bolius has started the campaign called the house comfort project with the purpose of combining comfort and energy renova�on. In this context, it is seen that men and women can have different incen�ves that must be considered. An online portal allows you to enter your address, a�er which you get recommenda�ons for improvements to your own home. It was discussed that this facility could be linked to other campaign ac�vi�es such as “Energy Across” in the Capital Region.
The European dimension - by Casper Andersen, GCPHEU Office
Presentation here.
The Greater Copenhagen EU Office helps players on Zealand and the Capital Region to engage in European programmes. This includes the 46 municipali�es, four universi�es and two regions.
There is a variety of relevant programmes in the energy field, under which it may be relevant to apply for projects, including Horizon 2020 (H2020), Interreg, ELENA, Urban Innova�ve Ac�on, Urbact and LIFE. Casper Andersen reviewed the priori�es under the energy programme of H2020, where there is focus on innova�on in technology (smartness), business development, educa�on, Non-Energy Benefits, investment and financing in energy renova�on of buildings. Casper zoomed in on priori�es of relevance to the session's focus, including financing of energy savings and capacity building at a municipal level. Common features for typical EU projects are that they deal with ac�vi�es such as experience development, method development and tes�ng, a partnership with 5-10 diverse partners, a project period of 2 - 3 years and a budget of DKK 2 -15 million. EU funding varies between 50% and 100% of the project budget, where the largest items are for hours (fees) and travel. EU funds do not support opera�on, "bricks" and major purchases of exis�ng products.
The benefits of the EU projects for municipali�es are, amongst others, to be able to add extra resources to ac�vi�es, ensuring access to new knowledge, interna�onal exchange and development
Page 40 ROUNDTABLE ON FINANCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DENMARK of beter solu�ons to meet the challenges. At the same �me, it must be recognised that the compe��on for EU funds can be tough, so it is important to get into the right project contexts. Experience from some Danish municipali�es shows that it is possible to succeed by entering a number of project contexts that support the municipal energy and climate plans. The CityInvest project was men�oned as an example of a successful EU project within the focus of the session. This project has inves�gated innova�ve implementa�on concepts at the municipal level such as one-stop shops as an integrated concept for energy savings that is gaining ground in Europe.
Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations
Overall status, challenges and opportuni�es • Energy-saving poten�als and data basis Several studies have been made; nevertheless, it is difficult to get an overview na�onally and locally. These include restrictions on access to and use of data (such as the Act on building and housing registration blocking) • Mo�va�on Most municipali�es appear to be interested in energy savings, but there are several obstacles hindering momentum. It is important to understand the individual municipality's mo�va�on, which can both be to create own solu�ons and to enter into joint solu�ons (including cross- municipali�es). The efforts towards the citizens of the municipality (homeowners) and the businesses must also be adapted to the current mo�va�on, including the comfort aspect • Financing The municipali�es have access to atrac�ve financing of energy savings via KommuneKredit. As a result of a non-profit business model with high security (municipali�es and regions are directly liable jointly and severally), KommuneKredit can offer advantageous financing for energy savings. • Organisa�on The challenge for the municipali�es is to organise and priori�se the projects, including bundling of investments, overcoming limita�ons in frameworks and execu�ve orders and facilitate investments in private homes and businesses. • ESCO The concept has the advantage of being able to secure large and fast energy savings and in some places the guarantee element is a significant advantage in the poli�cal process. At the same �me, there are some nega�ve prejudices and myths that continued from the early ESCO projects, although the projects have evolved towards being holis�c and with a higher degree of heavy renova�ons. There seems to be a need for a beter "wrapping", increased exchange of experience and na�onal support in line with the poli�cal goals. Reference was made to a fresh example from Norway, where the state provides support for facilita�on/counselling. • Cross-municipal coopera�on More cross-municipal cooperation is required to live up to the new policies on renova�on strategies and large-scale solu�ons and in order to op�mise the use of funding sources. The
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regional SEP (Strategic Energy Planning) projects and ini�a�ves such as House of Energy and Gate 21 have provided a breeding ground here that could be developed further. • Regula�on The discussion during the session pointed to some of the barriers in the exis�ng regula�on, such as the construc�on ceiling and access to data, which one can work on to overcome as part of the implementa�on of the new direc�ves, including the establishment of renova�on strategies.
Ensuring mo�va�on and commitment of municipali�es • Climate Targets More ambi�ous goals at municipal level need to be set in order to ensure the necessary priori�es and management of the efforts. RealDania has just launched the climate project DK2020, which works to this end. This can be supplemented by strengthened poli�cal and administra�ve frameworks, as well as other ini�a�ves both na�onally and locally. • Coordina�on of efforts The realisa�on of energy and climate plans requires the individual municipali�es to con�nuously keep the process on track and interact with the relevant internal and external par�es. The municipali�es o�en have few employees to ensure implementa�on, and momentum must be ensured in the light of this. Na�onal support and effec�ve cross- municipal partnerships are among the keys to moving from plan to ac�on.
Strengthening the role of municipali�es as facilitators in private homes and businesses • Challenge The municipali�es o�en have targets for CO2 reduc�ons in the municipality as a geographical area, which among other things is the case under the Covenant of Mayors. When a municipality must act as facilitator in private homes and businesses, it is outside the 'comfort zone', which presents challenges in rela�on to how the effort is handled. Under the current framework, access to the same atrac�ve funding as in the case of the municipal sector is not available. • Incen�ves and instruments Experiences were shared across the table. In general, very direct and proactive efforts are needed to succeed, but this requires resources. • Financing The discussion showed that there may be some undiscovered opportuni�es that could provide beter condi�ons for project financing in private homes and businesses. It is important that the prospec�ve process inves�gates these opportuni�es. • Non-Energy Benefits As part of increasing incen�ves, Non-Energy Benefits such as improved indoor climate should be considered as a result of energy renova�ons. During the session, we heard about the house comfort project, which has such a dimension, and in the future, there should be more of these ini�a�ves
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Connec�on to the interna�onal scene/the EU • There are many exci�ng ac�vi�es at the European/interna�onal level regarding the development of new concepts in line with the new policies. Danish municipali�es and related players can become beter at interac�ng with these ini�a�ves in a way that makes it a requirement for local development. Some Danish municipali�es show how this can be done in conjunc�on with energy and climate plans.
Follow-up • Ensure integra�on of recommenda�ons in the poli�cal and administra�ve process a�er the elec�on • Ensure that the ongoing process of consolida�on of relevant cross-municipal organisa�ons such as Gate 21 and House of Energy provides an op�mal opportunity to support the implementa�on of energy savings in interac�on with municipali�es and other actors • Op�mise how other organisa�ons and networks interact with the challenges, including with the interna�onal scene/the EU • Provide beter opportuni�es for experience sharing between municipali�es and access to relevant knowledge, methods and tools. The municipali�es that have posi�ve experiences with ESCO should be more ac�ve in ge�ng them widely disseminated to relevant stakeholders. • Develop new knowledge, methods and tools dedicated to the specific challenges. This means e.g. possible innova�ons in rela�on to securing funding in relevant areas besides exis�ng ones such as in private housing and business • Connect this with further developing ESCO and other concepts such as one-stop shop, which can be tailored to the different interests and needs of municipali�es in order to give more momentum in the implementa�on. • Not least, it is important to support the municipali�es' role in communica�ng ESCO as the opportunity to get funding for energy efficiency efforts in the companies. The ESCO methods' ability to implement energy efficiency in companies "out of balance" is crucial, if we are to go from implemen�ng projects with a maximum of 3 years’ repayment time to being able to carry out projects with up to 10 years’ repayment �me.
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CLOSING PLENARY
In the final plenary, moderators and rapporteurs reported the discussions in the parallel sessions. This allowed all participants to be informed about the outcome of the discussions across the four topics: 1) home renovations, 2) social housing, 3) business/the SME sector and 4) municipalities as facilitators.
Closing remarks
Event moderator Claus Bugge Garn thanked all participants on behalf of the EU Commission and the event partners Finance Denmark and the Energy Savings Council. He also expressed hope and expectation that ideas and recommendations could be used in the forward-looking process aiming to promote financing of energy efficiency in Denmark.
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