EcoEnergy's annual conference brought together representatives from state and local governments, financial institutions and industry organizations on the topic of building renovation

The XXV Annual Conference of the Municipal Energy Efficiency Network EcoEnergy on "Opportunities for Local Authorities to Implement Sustainable Energy Projects", as well as the closing event of the BeSMART project, took place on April 23rd and 24th in the Chiflika Complex, Troyan Municipality.  The forum was followed by a round table "Breaking the Vicious Circle: A long-term vision for decarbonisation and economic transformation in Bulgaria", jointly organised by EnEffect, CSD and For the Earth on 25 April in Sofia, with the three events attracting representatives from leading institutions, municipalities and organisations with shared interests in sustainable energy, such as the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDP), the Ministry of Energy (ME) and the Sustainable Energy Development Agency (SEDA).

In the context of political instability and parliamentary decisions giving contradictory signals to the market for sustainable energy projects, the participants agreed on the need for policy coherence and guaranteeing the financial resources for the implementation of the planned projects at local level. Campaigning in the application of financial mechanisms, ineffective NAPA reforms and lack of clear and consistent communication were highlighted as the main reasons for the lack of citizen and business engagement. On the other hand, changes in European directives and the uptake of innovative approaches such as energy management, building automation, energy communities and circular models in construction are the basis for developing attractive business models with the potential to attract more actors in the energy transformation. In this perspective, it is clear from the implementation of the building renovation programme and the more than 300 applications received that, despite the lack of tools and negative media messages, an increasing part of the public is willing to get involved with their own funds - especially where expert advice and technical support is provided.

In response to these challenges, Tanya Hristova, Mayor of Gabrovo Municipality, confirmed EcoEnergy's intention to continue to actively defend the position of policy coherence and the provision of financial resources for the implementation of its commitments to citizens in the mode of transition to a sustainable financing system for energy efficiency projects. 

Nikolay Raykovski, Deputy Mayor of Troyan Municipality, referred to the municipality's successful practices in renovating buildings, including administrative buildings, schools and kindergartens. The importance of professional capacity building and market orientation in the construction sector was stressed. 

In his speech at the conference, Dobromir Vassilev, Director of the Housing Policy Directorate at the Ministry of Regional Development, talked about the attempt to change the trajectory of building renovation. Thanks to the close cooperation of the MoRDB with the World Bank team, models have been developed specifically for Bulgaria that can be successfully applied in the co-financing mode of projects.

Ivaylo Alexiev, Executive Director of AER, announced that the full package of directives on energy efficiency, energy performance of buildings and renewable energy has been adopted. In parallel, the liberalisation of energy prices for households and the inclusion of buildings and transport in an emissions trading scheme will lead to an increasing need to improve energy efficiency. Thus, buildings must achieve net zero emissions, and unfortunately in Bulgaria we are still far from these requirements. The need for information and awareness, as well as technical assistance, are key to the successful implementation of quality projects, as buildings are the intersection between energy efficiency and renewable energy policies.

During the final conference of the BeSMART project, the importance of developing specialised banking products for financing energy efficiency projects was also discussed.Although the major banks already offer different options for financing new construction, special attention needs to be paid to the renovation of existing buildings.For municipalities developing their own energy efficiency projects, there are already specialised products offered by the FLAG Fund, NDEF and FEEDI, but accessible and timely information on financing and technical support for their implementation is needed.

In this aspect, it was discussed that the top priority is to achieve an improvement in the quality of the building product, taking into account the overall environmental impact and functionality of the buildings and to ensure that the expected energy savings are actually achieved.To this end, it is necessary to continuously invest in training, knowledge and skills development of designers and contractors in the construction sector.The forum made it clear that the Bulgarian Chamber of Architects and the Bulgarian Chamber of Builders are actively committed to upskilling their members in the field of sustainable energy. 

Participation in Sector Skills Councils and the establishment of various training programmes is an essential element of the organisations' strategy. In addition, they are working towards the integration of new technologies and processes in the construction sector, striving for more productive and sustainable practices, which will also be reflected in the new BUILD UP Skills roadmap for improving knowledge and skills in construction.

"The acquisition of knowledge and skills for professional qualification and technological innovation must continue throughout life in order to achieve sustainable development," said Dragomir Tsanev, Executive Director of the Energy Efficiency Centre EnEffect."In the face of a demographic crisis, we must learn to do more with fewer people, but it is these technological innovations that will develop the new business models that will transform the Green Deal from a political cliché into an economic development tool."