How to make the renovation wave a success in central and eastern Europe in addressing energy poverty ?

This session highlights the importance of focusing on communities of homeowners in central and eastern European (CEE) region living in multi apartment buildings, as a prerequisite for future renovation of these buildings.

This region has the highest numbers of energy poor households in the Euroepan Union. The main reasons contributing to energy poverty for people with low income are due to high energy prices and poor energy efficiency of buildings, its heating systems and household appliances. With high numbers of privately owned multi-family apartment buildings with a wide social structure of its inhabitants, renovation of the co-owned residential buildings is challenging and the methods for fighting energy poverty used and tested in Western European countries have limited applicability here. Although savings achieved by energy efficiency measures are significant, families living in such building stock are reluctant to make necessary investments without adequate financial incentives. Much facilitation work is needed by intermediary organizations to help convince homeowners about investing into energy efficiency and to help them find consensus. The specific ownership structure of the CEE region needs tailored approach influencing energy costs substantially, making the interventions affordable, and reducing the high energy poverty levels.

With this session, we target practitioners working in the field of residential energy efficiency for multiapartment buildings, practitioners working on energy poverty, government representatives or municipal representatives from the CEE region, consumer organizations, practitioners from international and EU institutions. The session introduces specific challenges of the CEE region by providing EU policy background for building renovation. Our speakers will present best practices from the region that successfully tackle energy poverty and lead renovation of residential buildings thanks to scaling up the financing for residential energy efficiency and provision of technical assistance to homeowner associations. Presentations will be followed by discussion with the audience. The session will be accompanied by two rounds of interactive exercises.

The session will be moderated by Elena Milanovska, Associate Director – Housing Finance Systems, Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, Habitat for Humanity International

SPEAKERS

• Sorcha Edwards
  Secretary General
  Housing Europe

• Dragomir Tzanev
  Executive Director
  Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect – Bulgaria

• Egle Kybartiene
  President
  Lithuanian Consumers Alliance

• Knut Hoeller
  Executive Member of the Board
  IWO – Housing Initiative for Eastern Europe