IEECP is proud to be coordinator or partner in a bunch of new projects that will work for the coming years on science-based climate change mitigation, energy efficiency and renewables policy.
LOCATEE – Local Authorities to Tackle Energy Poverty in Private Multi-Apartment Buildings
The LOCATEE project (2024-2027) aims to empower local municipalities in combating energy poverty by renovating private multi-apartment buildings for vulnerable residents. By addressing the disconnect between private housing owners and local climate and energy policies in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, LOCATEE seeks to create a more inclusive approach to energy efficiency. The project will provide a toolkit to identify energy-vulnerable households, tailor interventions to their specific needs, and integrate energy poverty alleviation into municipalities’ long-term strategies, such as Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs). Learn more about the LOCATEE project.
StreamSAVE+ – Streamlining Energy Savings Calculations in the EU Member States
The streamSAVE+ project has the objective to address the gap between trends in energy savings of the Member States and the goals of Article 8 of EED by assisting public authorities in the development of new policies and harmonisation of energy savings calculations across the MS. More specifically, streamSAVE+ will build capacity through the development of an open dialogue that will focus on streamlining calculation methodologies to estimate bottom-up savings and to assess cost effectiveness of technical energy savings actions. The project will target actions with high energy saving potential considered as a priority issue by national public authorities. Read more.
DeCO2 – A circular and sustainable decarbonised future for the European built environment
DeCO2’s proposed dynamic framework for renovation is advancing decarbonization through social and policy innovation. A location-based, user-centric portfolio of materials and renovation systems is built to embrace local industrial ecosystems and verticals in a wholesome symbiotic process. DeCO2 digital tools speed up the transition of the construction industry towards decarbonisation through Construction 4.0 enablers and solid and long-lasting partnerships within the legal and regulatory framework addressing the whole value chain for socio-economic innovation. Read more.
ENTRACK – Empowering local and regional authorities to design clean ENergy TRAnsition plans
As recognized by recent EU frameworks, local and regional authorities have a key role in the implementation of energy and climate targets to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. However, local policymakers, especially in rural communities, often do not have adequate knowledge and technical capacity to undertake socially just energy planning processes. ENTRACK proposal stems from this urgent need, addressing knowledge and capacity gaps of local authorities and supporting them in co-designing social energy plans that respond to the real energy needs of regional and local stakeholders, including vulnerable citizens, and that are also in compliance with the European and national energy policy frameworks. Through the employment of participatory approaches (i.e. multi-actor perspective analysis, empowerment evaluation, and participatory ethnography) and the delineation of a co-designing, bottom-up approach that starts from local actors and integrates energy and social policies in the regional and sub-regional frameworks, ENTRACK will support Mediterranean rural municipalities in co-designing feasible, ambitious, and just energy plans. Specifically, ENTRACK will build and pilot methodologies and capacity-building processes in 8 selected rural municipalities in 4 Mediterranean countries: 2 in Greece (Region of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace), 2 in Italy (Region of Campania), 2 in Portugal (Region of Alto Alentejo) and 2 in Spain (Region of Catalunya-Pirineus). The final goal of the project is three folded: first, to support the co-design of energy plans in the 8 piloting municipalities; second, to deliver social energy co-designing action-based training to build capacity of policy actors; third, to deliver a ready-to-use scalable methodology on how to co-design policies with citizens in rural Mediterranean area. Read more.
ASSERT – Large-scale multiactor training and mentoriship programme to ASSist people with physical impairments in energy povERTy
ASSERT addresses the 3 points on skills within the energy poverty recommendations (2023): 1) Ensure that policy makers at all level of administrations, as well as energy practitioners and advisors are trained on energy matters, including on topics related to energy poverty, taking into consideration the multidimensional aspects of energy poverty and context of clean energy transition, 2) Roll-out programmes to train front line workers in energy poverty and green energy solutions. Front-line workers addressed in those programmes should include health and social care workers or other professionals who can help identify households affected and provide them with advice and information on solutions to reduce energy consumption and access more affordable and innovative sources and 3) Offer targeted training courses for energy-poor households affected by energy poverty, including those with low digital skills. Such courses should enhance the energy and digital literacy awareness of households affected by energy poverty, enable them to better control their energy bills and participate actively in the clean and just energy transition. Read more.
The ESCALATE Project aims to speed up Europe’s shift to clean energy by helping cities across the EU plan for more efficient heating and cooling.
The ESCALATE Project aims to speed up Europe’s shift to clean energy by helping cities across the EU plan for more efficient heating and cooling. The project focuses on towns with over 45,000 people, ensuring they have the tools and knowledge to create local plans that reduce energy use and support the environment. ESCALATE empowers local communities to make their buildings sustainable, reduce pollution, and help Europe become climate-neutral by 2050 by providing expert training and a clear, easy-to-follow guide. Read more.
reLIFE – Open source platform and services to boost the market of deep building energy refurbishment in Europe
The EU building stock, responsible for more than one third of EU’s energy-related emissions, faces challenges addressed by the Fit-for-55 package and the Renovation Wave that aims to double renovation rates. ReLIFE, building upon several EU projects, will facilitate data accessibility through an open-source platform and services to empower informed decision-making in deep building renovations, mainly in the residential sector. Employing broad data analysis and case studies, the project will further seek to illustrate the range of potential returns and risk reduction through deep building renovations. To enhance awareness and share expertise, tailored data and services will be available via the user-friendly ReLIFE platform. This platform, targeting key stakeholders, will offer three key services: Financial Service, offering intuitive financial and economic assessments for deep renovation projects (for professionals and non-professionals), enabling informed decisions, and attracting potential investors; Forecasting Service, generating projections for future renovation rates and decarbonization scenarios, while providing assessments on non-energy co-benefits; Technical Service, categorizing deep renovation technologies based on market maturity, energy efficiency, etc. to support, among others, inspections and the roll-out of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Building Renovation Passports (BRPs). Moreover, ReLIFE’s strategy on data collection and analysis involves not solely static but also dynamic sources, i.e., satellite/aerial images and monitoring data, for robust data assembly and validation, ensuring reliable information on the EU building stock and its energy performance. The platform and services will be tailored to user needs through co-creation processes and validated via case studies. Ultimately, a plan is outlined to ensure the adaptability and utilization of the platform and services throughout and beyond the project’s lifespan. Read more.
OBSERVE – Support for setting up natiOnal Building Stock obsERVatoriEs
To achieve the reduction of carbon emissions in the building sector, policymakers should be provided with reliable and updated data to facilitate monitoring and periodic assessment of the effectiveness of building-related policies and strategies. The lack of reliable and high-quality data of the building sector, the disparities regarding the type and quality of data among Member States and the lack of standard approaches and templates for data collection, management and reporting create an urgent need for more efficient and well-established data procedures through the EU. The recast of the EPBD introduces key provisions for the promotion of a more reliable and transparent data framework in the EU. OBSERVE aims to guide national authorities develop national Building Stock Observatories by developing and standardising protocols for the systematic collection and aggregation of building-related data, optimising data collection methods and streamlining the coordination of all relevant bodies. OBSERVE will also enhance synergies and interaction between several relevant EU and national initiatives and projects. Special attention will be given to establish cooperation with the overarching EU Building Stock Observatory. OBSERVE will directly support six Member States (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy and Spain) and further spread good practices and governance models to other EU countries. OBSERVE’s collaborative effort is expected to enhance the transparency and utility of building data, thereby assisting national authorities to better implement energy and climate policies towards 2030 and support more informed policy and decision-making in the realm of building energy efficiency and regulation compliance. Read more.
Octopus – hOw to aCceleraTe lOcal energy transition by suPporting mUnicipal authoritieS
OCTOPUS has put together a consortium of 6 regions with very different context and energy planning backgrounds with a common ambition: set in motion a bottom up movement where local stakeholders influence higher levels of governance to drive the large-scale implementation of sustainable energy actions.
To promote this change, OCTOPUS aims at creating/reinforcing 7 Enabling Organisational Networks (EON) supporting investment programmes and policymaking at sub-national level in 6 participating regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Isère, France; Basque Country, Spain; Cyprus, Republic of Cyprus; Extremadura, Spain; Mazovian Voivodeship, Poland; and Usti Region, Czech Republic) in 5 Member States. The role of the EON is to accelerate the implementation of the regional energy and climate plans and actions, allowing the Regions to reach their Energy and Climate Objectives. Read more.
