Energy saving projects in buildings: obstacles and incentives

Dear Colleagues,

Investing in renovation of existing buildings provides excellent opportunities for an effective reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. That is delivering the Sustainable Development Goals and reducing climate risks, in line with the Paris Agreement. But according to the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) only 3% of the public funds that could be used to support energy-efficiency investments in the Central, Eastern and South-East Europe region are dedicated to upgrading buildings. Even though the region is burdened with energy poverty and energy security concerns, the current allocation of EU and international funds shows that buildings are not considered to be critical energy infrastructure, despite the potential of deep renovation to reduce energy dependency, increase savings on energy bills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve health and air quality. The implementation of energy saving measures has to be done very carefully with a strict quality control. The usage of some materials and techniques can provide a good level of energy saving, but at the same time could lead to harmful impacts to the environment and human health.

Considering the diversity of experiences on implementing energy saving projects in buildings by the North-West Europe region countries and the beginning of this path for many of Central, Eastern and South-East Europe region countries the comparison study is needed. It will help to understand which incentives were successful and which obstacles still hold back the number of implemented projects in Europe. Also, we hope to find out which items related to the environmental friendliness and social significance of energy saving measures are being considered.

We would like to invite interested colleagues to take part in the study, in order to increase the quantity and quality of energy saving projects in buildings. The survey covers 9 short questions only which could be answered in 10 minutes.

As usual, the results will be published as a scientific article in a high-impact journal, and those contributing to the work are able to obtain a copy of the paper when it is completed, if they wish (see item 10 of the instrument).

Please fill the tables following the instructions. Your responses are completely confidential.

We appreciate and thank your for your cooperation!

Question Title

* 1. What are the obstacles of the implementation of energy saving measures in buildings in your country?

	strongly disagree	disagree	neutral	agree	strongly agree
Imperfect legislation/regulation	Imperfect legislation/regulation strongly disagree	Imperfect legislation/regulation disagree	Imperfect legislation/regulation neutral	Imperfect legislation/regulation agree	Imperfect legislation/regulation strongly agree
Lack of proper financial stimulation	Lack of proper financial stimulation strongly disagree	Lack of proper financial stimulation disagree	Lack of proper financial stimulation neutral	Lack of proper financial stimulation agree	Lack of proper financial stimulation strongly agree
Low confidence in the authorities	Low confidence in the authorities strongly disagree	Low confidence in the authorities disagree	Low confidence in the authorities neutral	Low confidence in the authorities agree	Low confidence in the authorities strongly agree
Lack of energy waste control	Lack of energy waste control strongly disagree	Lack of energy waste control disagree	Lack of energy waste control neutral	Lack of energy waste control agree	Lack of energy waste control strongly agree
Market of energy saving services is not developed enough	Market of energy saving services is not developed enough strongly disagree	Market of energy saving services is not developed enough disagree	Market of energy saving services is not developed enough neutral	Market of energy saving services is not developed enough agree	Market of energy saving services is not developed enough strongly agree
Low level of awareness of stakeholders	Low level of awareness of stakeholders strongly disagree	Low level of awareness of stakeholders disagree	Low level of awareness of stakeholders neutral	Low level of awareness of stakeholders agree	Low level of awareness of stakeholders strongly agree
Lack of commercial investments in energy saving	Lack of commercial investments in energy saving strongly disagree	Lack of commercial investments in energy saving disagree	Lack of commercial investments in energy saving neutral	Lack of commercial investments in energy saving agree	Lack of commercial investments in energy saving strongly agree
Low return of investment	Low return of investment strongly disagree	Low return of investment disagree	Low return of investment neutral	Low return of investment agree	Low return of investment strongly agree
Low energy prices	Low energy prices strongly disagree	Low energy prices disagree	Low energy prices neutral	Low energy prices agree	Low energy prices strongly agree
Subsidies for energy consumption	Subsidies for energy consumption strongly disagree	Subsidies for energy consumption disagree	Subsidies for energy consumption neutral	Subsidies for energy consumption agree	Subsidies for energy consumption strongly agree
Passivity of building owners	Passivity of building owners strongly disagree	Passivity of building owners disagree	Passivity of building owners neutral	Passivity of building owners agree	Passivity of building owners strongly agree

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. Energy saving in buildings is in the most cases financed by:

	don’t know	not at all	partially	to a great extend	fully
Building owners	Building owners don’t know	Building owners not at all	Building owners partially	Building owners to a great extend	Building owners fully
Government	Government don’t know	Government not at all	Government partially	Government to a great extend	Government fully
Municipality	Municipality don’t know	Municipality not at all	Municipality partially	Municipality to a great extend	Municipality fully
International Funds	International Funds don’t know	International Funds not at all	International Funds partially	International Funds to a great extend	International Funds fully
Private companies	Private companies don’t know	Private companies not at all	Private companies partially	Private companies to a great extend	Private companies fully
Banks (loans)	Banks (loans) don’t know	Banks (loans) not at all	Banks (loans) partially	Banks (loans) to a great extend	Banks (loans) fully

Other (please specify)

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* 3. Who has to stimulate the investment of energy saving measures in buildings (several items can be chosen):

National government

International agencies

Market

Building owners

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. What are the risks of implementing energy saving measures in buildings?

Question Title

* 5. How likely would the following items be to motivate stakeholders to implement energy saving measures in buildings?

	don’t know	not at all	partially	to a great extend	fully
Cost savings	Cost savings don’t know	Cost savings not at all	Cost savings partially	Cost savings to a great extend	Cost savings fully
Comfortable indoor conditions	Comfortable indoor conditions don’t know	Comfortable indoor conditions not at all	Comfortable indoor conditions partially	Comfortable indoor conditions to a great extend	Comfortable indoor conditions fully
Willingness to reduce environmental impacts	Willingness to reduce environmental impacts don’t know	Willingness to reduce environmental impacts not at all	Willingness to reduce environmental impacts partially	Willingness to reduce environmental impacts to a great extend	Willingness to reduce environmental impacts fully
Energy independence of the country	Energy independence of the country don’t know	Energy independence of the country not at all	Energy independence of the country partially	Energy independence of the country to a great extend	Energy independence of the country fully
Support of the local Municipality	Support of the local Municipality don’t know	Support of the local Municipality not at all	Support of the local Municipality partially	Support of the local Municipality to a great extend	Support of the local Municipality fully
Current government legislation/regulation	Current government legislation/regulation don’t know	Current government legislation/regulation not at all	Current government legislation/regulation partially	Current government legislation/regulation to a great extend	Current government legislation/regulation fully
Anticipated government legislation/regulation	Anticipated government legislation/regulation don’t know	Anticipated government legislation/regulation not at all	Anticipated government legislation/regulation partially	Anticipated government legislation/regulation to a great extend	Anticipated government legislation/regulation fully
Easier access to low cost loans	Easier access to low cost loans don’t know	Easier access to low cost loans not at all	Easier access to low cost loans partially	Easier access to low cost loans to a great extend	Easier access to low cost loans fully
Easier access to information on options available	Easier access to information on options available don’t know	Easier access to information on options available not at all	Easier access to information on options available partially	Easier access to information on options available to a great extend	Easier access to information on options available fully
Easier access to the reimbursement of costs	Easier access to the reimbursement of costs don’t know	Easier access to the reimbursement of costs not at all	Easier access to the reimbursement of costs partially	Easier access to the reimbursement of costs to a great extend	Easier access to the reimbursement of costs fully
Easier access to international Funds	Easier access to international Funds don’t know	Easier access to international Funds not at all	Easier access to international Funds partially	Easier access to international Funds to a great extend	Easier access to international Funds fully

Other (please specify)

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* 6. The incentives for implementing energy saving measures in buildings which have been applied in the past were :

	don’t know	not at all	partially	to a great extend	fully
Improved state policy	Improved state policy don’t know	Improved state policy not at all	Improved state policy partially	Improved state policy to a great extend	Improved state policy fully
Improved regulatory frameworks	Improved regulatory frameworks don’t know	Improved regulatory frameworks not at all	Improved regulatory frameworks partially	Improved regulatory frameworks to a great extend	Improved regulatory frameworks fully
Creation of more favorable conditions for investment in energy saving measures	Creation of more favorable conditions for investment in energy saving measures don’t know	Creation of more favorable conditions for investment in energy saving measures not at all	Creation of more favorable conditions for investment in energy saving measures partially	Creation of more favorable conditions for investment in energy saving measures to a great extend	Creation of more favorable conditions for investment in energy saving measures fully
Financial support of energy saving projects	Financial support of energy saving projects don’t know	Financial support of energy saving projects not at all	Financial support of energy saving projects partially	Financial support of energy saving projects to a great extend	Financial support of energy saving projects fully
Increase of the quality of energy saving services offered on the market	Increase of the quality of energy saving services offered on the market don’t know	Increase of the quality of energy saving services offered on the market not at all	Increase of the quality of energy saving services offered on the market partially	Increase of the quality of energy saving services offered on the market to a great extend	Increase of the quality of energy saving services offered on the market fully
Creation of more favorable conditions for access to energy saving technologies	Creation of more favorable conditions for access to energy saving technologies don’t know	Creation of more favorable conditions for access to energy saving technologies not at all	Creation of more favorable conditions for access to energy saving technologies partially	Creation of more favorable conditions for access to energy saving technologies to a great extend	Creation of more favorable conditions for access to energy saving technologies fully
Improved the exchange of information on demand and supply in the services market	Improved the exchange of information on demand and supply in the services market don’t know	Improved the exchange of information on demand and supply in the services market not at all	Improved the exchange of information on demand and supply in the services market partially	Improved the exchange of information on demand and supply in the services market to a great extend	Improved the exchange of information on demand and supply in the services market fully

Other (please specify)

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* 7. There is a need for an evaluation of environmental friendliness and social significance of energy saving measures:

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Don't know

Agree

Strongly agree

Other (please specify)

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* 8. Which tools/indicators can be used to evaluate the environmental friendliness and social significance of energy saving measures?

	strongly disagree	disagree	neutral	agree	strongly agree
Life cycle analysis	Life cycle analysis strongly disagree	Life cycle analysis disagree	Life cycle analysis neutral	Life cycle analysis agree	Life cycle analysis strongly agree
Cost benefits analysis	Cost benefits analysis strongly disagree	Cost benefits analysis disagree	Cost benefits analysis neutral	Cost benefits analysis agree	Cost benefits analysis strongly agree
Number of new working places	Number of new working places strongly disagree	Number of new working places disagree	Number of new working places neutral	Number of new working places agree	Number of new working places strongly agree
Indoor comfort (indoor temperature, humidity)	Indoor comfort (indoor temperature, humidity) strongly disagree	Indoor comfort (indoor temperature, humidity) disagree	Indoor comfort (indoor temperature, humidity) neutral	Indoor comfort (indoor temperature, humidity) agree	Indoor comfort (indoor temperature, humidity) strongly agree
CO2 emissions reduction according to resource efficiency	CO2 emissions reduction according to resource efficiency strongly disagree	CO2 emissions reduction according to resource efficiency disagree	CO2 emissions reduction according to resource efficiency neutral	CO2 emissions reduction according to resource efficiency agree	CO2 emissions reduction according to resource efficiency strongly agree
Increase of Landfills (in case you don’t have a recycling)	Increase of Landfills (in case you don’t have a recycling) strongly disagree	Increase of Landfills (in case you don’t have a recycling) disagree	Increase of Landfills (in case you don’t have a recycling) neutral	Increase of Landfills (in case you don’t have a recycling) agree	Increase of Landfills (in case you don’t have a recycling) strongly agree
Distance from suppliers to the refurbishment location	Distance from suppliers to the refurbishment location strongly disagree	Distance from suppliers to the refurbishment location disagree	Distance from suppliers to the refurbishment location neutral	Distance from suppliers to the refurbishment location agree	Distance from suppliers to the refurbishment location strongly agree
Lifespan of materials/refurbishment	Lifespan of materials/refurbishment strongly disagree	Lifespan of materials/refurbishment disagree	Lifespan of materials/refurbishment neutral	Lifespan of materials/refurbishment agree	Lifespan of materials/refurbishment strongly agree

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 9. What has to be done to increase the quality of energy saving projects and to control the environmental impacts from implemented measures?

	don’t know	not at all	partially	to a great extend	fully
Implementation and monitoring of database with information on energy saving services providers	Implementation and monitoring of database with information on energy saving services providers don’t know	Implementation and monitoring of database with information on energy saving services providers not at all	Implementation and monitoring of database with information on energy saving services providers partially	Implementation and monitoring of database with information on energy saving services providers to a great extend	Implementation and monitoring of database with information on energy saving services providers fully
Financial stimulation of energy saving measures based on integrated socio-economic-environmental indexes	Financial stimulation of energy saving measures based on integrated socio-economic-environmental indexes don’t know	Financial stimulation of energy saving measures based on integrated socio-economic-environmental indexes not at all	Financial stimulation of energy saving measures based on integrated socio-economic-environmental indexes partially	Financial stimulation of energy saving measures based on integrated socio-economic-environmental indexes to a great extend	Financial stimulation of energy saving measures based on integrated socio-economic-environmental indexes fully
Training and education programs for energy saving service providers	Training and education programs for energy saving service providers don’t know	Training and education programs for energy saving service providers not at all	Training and education programs for energy saving service providers partially	Training and education programs for energy saving service providers to a great extend	Training and education programs for energy saving service providers fully
Training and education programs for consumers	Training and education programs for consumers don’t know	Training and education programs for consumers not at all	Training and education programs for consumers partially	Training and education programs for consumers to a great extend	Training and education programs for consumers fully

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 10. Personal data

Job/Occupation:

Country *

Please write here your e-mail address if you wish to receive a copy of the paper with the results of the survey: