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CONCERTO is co-funded by the European Commission NEWSLETTER CITIES DEMONSTRATE ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY SOLUTIONS As the Deputy Mayor of Delft I have been involved in striving for a more sustainable city for our inhabitants since 2006. In Delft all relevant stakeholders are on board working towards our new ambitious climate plans aiming for a reduction of CO 2 emissions of 50% in 2030, compared to 1999. Our experience shows that successful integrated energy strategies harness the combined expertise of specialists in different fields, whether they be engineers, architects, politicians or financing institutions. In Delft a close collaboration between the municipal authority, the Regional Energy Agency and the Housing Association Woonbron is creating a better living environment. We share best practices and policies not only amongst the different partners involved in Delft but also on the Dutch national level and through the other cities participating in the project, Grenoble and Växjö as well as the observer cities Kaunas, Miskolc,Vastseliina across the whole of Europe. In this issue of the CONCERTO newsletter you can read about how the observer communities are benefiting from their partnerships with the CONCERTO cities, stimulating the replication of successful concepts. Beyond this, CONCERTO cities are working with other cities within their countries, which is already giving momentum to the snowball effect. In the district of Poptahof in Delft, where the municipality shares financial responsibility for renovation and new building projects, we have seen how overcoming financial barriers is one of the keys to success. In this newsletter, the article concerning ESCOs on page 3 for instance, focuses on the intelligent financing mechanisms designed to tackle these barriers. In particular it looks at specially established Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) which balance the initial costs of energy investment with the returns over the lifetime of the project. Once these solutions are in place, they immediately begin to pay for themselves, reducing the communities’ energy costs and financing the renovations. In the city of Delft we recently had the pleasure to welcome experts from other CONCERTO communities to share experiences on best practices and policies during a Regional Site visit. The many forms of cooperation through CONCERTO are helping to bring us ever closer to a Europe where integrated energy policies and clean, modern energy solutions are commonplace, not novelties.There is still an urgent need to go further and faster in disseminating the know-how we have developed and encouraging new communities to take it up. I would like to warmly encourage all readers to find out how they can help to spread the message and get as many communities on board as possible! There is still an urgent need to go further and faster in disseminating the know-how we have developed and encouraging new communities to take it up SUMMER EDITION: ISSUE 7 JUNE 2009 Lian Merkx Deputy Mayor, city of Delft EDITORIAL CONTENTS JUNE 2009 COVER EDITORIAL: LIAN MERKX; DEPUTY MAYOR OF DELFT PAGE 1 MUTUAL COOPERATION AND LEARNING IN THE NETHERLANDS:AMSTERDAM,ALMERE AND DELFT PAGE 2 OBSERVING CONCERTO CITIES PAGE 3/4 ESCOs – TAILORING FINANCING SOLUTIONS TO CITIES’ ENERGY PERFORMANCE NEEDS PAGE 5 TECHNICAL MONITORING FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF CITIES’ ENERGY NEEDS PAGE 6 AUSTRIAN AND GERMAN CITIES STRIVING FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY BACKPAGE BOOSTING QUALITY AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE IN CONCERTO CITIES FEATURED ARTICLE: It is well known that energy saving measures such as double glazing, roof refurbishment, and energy management systems can enormously boost energy efficiency in buildings.The result of this lower energy consumption is reflected in a significant reduction in energy bills. Despite the political will to change it is often the lack of funding and awareness of innovative financing mechanisms that slows down the urban renewal process.Today,there are innovative ways of financing energy efficiency measures. Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) are companies which take on the technical and financial risks involved in...read more on page 3

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Page 1: Concerto Brochure layouts · 2017-06-19 · energy performance targets which go beyondlegalrequirements.Bringingboth ... role as an observer community. The observers underline that

CONCERTO is co-funded by the European Commission

NEWSLETTER

CITIES DEMONSTRATE ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY SOLUTIONS

As the Deputy Mayor of Delft I have been involved in striving for a more sustainable cityfor our inhabitants since 2006. In Delft all relevant stakeholders are on board workingtowards our new ambitious climate plans aiming for a reduction of CO2 emissions of 50%in 2030, compared to 1999.

Our experience shows that successfulintegrated energy strategies harness thecombined expertise of specialists indifferent fields, whether they beengineers, architects, politicians orfinancing institutions. In Delft a closecollaboration between the municipalauthority, the Regional Energy Agencyand the Housing Association Woonbronis creating a better living environment.We share best practices and policies notonly amongst the different partnersinvolved in Delft but also on the Dutchnational level and through the othercities participating in the project,Grenoble and Växjö as well as theobserver cities Kaunas, Miskolc,Vastseliinaacross the whole of Europe.

In this issue of the CONCERTOnewsletter you can read about how theobserver communities are benefitingfrom their partnerships with theCONCERTO cities, stimulating thereplication of successful concepts.Beyond this, CONCERTO cities areworking with other cities within theircountries, which is already givingmomentum to the snowball effect.In the district of Poptahof in Delft, wherethe municipality shares financialresponsibility for renovation and new

building projects, we have seen howovercoming financial barriers is one ofthe keys to success. In this newsletter, thearticle concerning ESCOs on page 3 forinstance, focuses on the intelligentfinancing mechanisms designed to tacklethese barriers.

In particular it looks at speciallyestablished Energy Service Companies(ESCOs) which balance the initial costsof energy investment with the returnsover the lifetime of the project.Once these solutions are in place, theyimmediately begin to pay for themselves,reducing the communities’ energy costsand financing the renovations.

In the city of Delft we recently had thepleasure to welcome experts from otherCONCERTO communities to shareexperiences on best practices andpolicies during a Regional Site visit.

The many forms of cooperation throughCONCERTO are helping to bring usever closer to a Europe whereintegrated energy policies and clean,modern energy solutions arecommonplace, not novelties.There is stillan urgent need to go further and fasterin disseminating the know-how we havedeveloped and encouraging newcommunities to take it up. I would like towarmly encourage all readers to find outhow they can help to spread themessage and get as many communitieson board as possible!

“There is still an urgentneed to go further andfaster in disseminating theknow-howwehavedeveloped and encouragingnewcommunities to take itup”

SUMMER EDITION: ISSUE 7 JUNE 2009

Lian MerkxDeputy Mayor, city of Delft

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS JUNE 2009

COVER EDITORIAL: LIAN MERKX; DEPUTY MAYOR OF DELFT

PAGE 1 MUTUAL COOPERATION AND LEARNING

INTHE NETHERLANDS:AMSTERDAM,ALMERE AND DELFT

PAGE 2 OBSERVING CONCERTO CITIES

PAGE 3/4 ESCOs – TAILORING FINANCING SOLUTIONS TO

CITIES’ ENERGY PERFORMANCE NEEDS

PAGE 5 TECHNICAL MONITORING FOR A BETTER

UNDERSTANDING OF CITIES’ ENERGY NEEDS

PAGE 6 AUSTRIAN AND GERMAN CITIES STRIVING

FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

BACKPAGE BOOSTING QUALITY AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE

IN CONCERTO CITIES

FEATURED ARTICLE:It is well known that energy saving measures such as double

glazing, roof refurbishment, and energy management systems canenormously boost energy efficiency in buildings.The result of thislower energy consumption is reflected in a significant reduction inenergy bills. Despite the political will to change it is often the lackof funding and awareness of innovative financing mechanisms thatslows down the urban renewal process.Today, there are innovativeways of financing energy efficiency measures. Energy ServiceCompanies (ESCOs) are companies which take on the technicaland financial risks involved in...read more on page 3

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On May 13th, 17 representatives of the Dutch CONCERTO cities of Delft (sesac),Amsterdam (ECOSTILER) and Almere(cRRescendo) gathered in the city of Delft to work and discuss issues which provide the basis for an innovative andintegrated energy policy on a national level.The regional site visit to the Netherlands provided the opportunity to lookat national regulation, planning and implementation, dissemination, policy recommendations and technical monitoring.

CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 1 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

MUTUAL COOPERATION AND LEARNING IN THENETHERLANDS: AMSTERDAM,ALMERE AND DELFT

JOINING FORCES

The intensive working session yielded arange of highlights, among them howjoining forces contributes to greater levelsof achievement. In Poptahof,Delft’s CONCERTO neighbourhood, thehousing association Woonbron-Maasoevers and the Municipality of Delfthave joined efforts to create energyefficient dwellings. Collaboration between

a housing company and municipality isalso underway in Amsterdam in the NewWest neighbourhood. This cooperationappeals to the social aspects of the largescale urban regeneration programme ofboth cities, as in both areas the dwellingsprovide social housing. The fact thathousing associations own a major part ofthe housing stock in the Dutch cities (e.g.about 70% in Amsterdam), means that agood alliance between municipalities

and housing associations is essential.Municipalities set their own ambitiousenergy performance targets which gobeyond legal requirements. Bringing bothentities together in a constant process ofnegotiation allows the tenants to bebetter informed and increases theirinvolvement in the process.

TRUE PARTNERSHIPS GROW

A further important achievement in thecity of Delft (Poptahof project) is thecreation of an energy service company(ESCO), jointly owned by the city, thepower supplier Eneco and the mostimportant housing associations. Thedistrict heating company was createdafter a tendering process and involves,together with the winning companyEneco, the municipality of Delft and threehousing companies, including Woonbron,which facilitates the connection strategyof district heating, thus making iteconomically feasible. Production anddistribution of district heating will beintegrated within the ESCO (the districtheating network is currently underconstruction). This area will certainlybenefit from the experiences gainedthrough the Dutch projects, and ensure

the ongoing promotion of energy savingmethods in dense urban areas.

OVERCOMING BARRIERS

The Dutch cities progressively worktogether to overcome barriers related toconflicting financial interests and otherhurdles which make it difficult toimplement renovation projects, takeforward innovative financing methods andother pragmatic solutions. However, withtheir immense achievements to date the

Dutch CONCERTO cities serve asexcellent examples and help other citiesto employ their experiences.

For further information on the Dutchcities, you can simply log-on to theproject websites:

www.concerto-sesac.euwww.ecostiler.comwww.crrescendo.net

RReeffuurrbbiisshhmmeenntt iinn PPooppttaahhooff

The historic city hall of Delft served asthe meeting venue

The façade of the Amsterdam Ecostiler project (Complex 40)

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To be able to assess the usefulness ofbeing an observer community, theywere asked to provide answers toseveral questions concerning theirrole as an observer community.

The observers underline that theirmain goal is the exchange ofknowledge and knowhow betweenthe participating CONCERTO cities.As the graph below shows, well over80% of respondents rated theexperience as useful.

The observers evoke many differentways in which their partnership with aCONCERTO city has given insightinto innovative solutions to energyperformance issues.

One of the key advantages of theexperience has been to learn aboutthe organisational steps involved inmoving to cleaner, greener energy useat the level of the community.

The observers have learned that it isimportant to have all stakeholders onboard from the start, and to have aclear road map for the entire project.At the top of the list are areas likefinancing, where observers havelearned about how public-privatepartnerships, and how Energy ServiceCompanies (ESCOs) can help to findthe capital needed to take action.

Other lessons learned include the importance of an effectivecommunication strategy whichencourages building users to consumeenergy more efficiently, as well as theindirect benefits of better energyperformance, such as retrofittingwhich reduces noise and dust inbuildings.

The experience of observing aCONCERTO city seems to prove aninspiring one, as most observers havealready begun to take concrete actionswhich will help them to pursue thesame goals of energy efficiency andmaximum use of renewables as theparticipating cities.

These range from feasibility studiesand research into financingpossibilities to training and networkingfor interested stakeholders anddissemination campaigns targeting thecitizens. Several observers have drawnup their own energy action plan, whichis the first step in the direction ofsustainability.

It’s no surprise, then, that over half the respondents are considering becoming CONCERTO citiesthemselves, and all but one wouldrecommend the observer experienceto other towns and cities.

CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 2 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

OBSERVING CONCERTO CITIES

Useful to be an observer

Over 60 towns and cities are involved in CONCERTO as observers, finding out about how the current

projects’ innovations and concepts can help them to implement similar actions in their cities. Despite

their different size, density and geography, the CONCERTO observer cities are brought together by the

common objective - developing a sustainable city with increased quality of life for inhabitants, increased

employment rate and many other positive aims.

Would consider becoming aCONCERTO city

Would recommend the observer cityexperience

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CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 3 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

ESCOs – TAILORING FINANCING SOLUTIONS TO CITIES’ ENERGY PERFORMANCE NEEDS

It is well known that energy saving measures such as double glazing, roof refurbishment, andenergy management systems can enormously boost energy efficiency in buildings. The resultof this lower energy consumption is reflected in a significant reduction in energy bills.

Despite the political will to change it is often the lack of funding and awareness of innovative financing mechanisms that slows

down the urban renewal process.

Today, there are innovative ways of financing energy efficiency measures. Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) are companies

which take on the technical and financial risks involved in implementing energy efficiency measures. They are promoted by the

European Union’s Directive on Energy end-use efficiency and energy services1. ESCOs design and oversee the implementation

of energy efficiency measures in a developer’s facility, supply energy once the facility is up and running, and ensure the financing

of the project. The payment for the services delivered by the ESCO is based on the energy savings achieved.

Two financing schemesESCOs follow one of two main financing models. Either they use their own funds or elsethey provide an energy savings guarantee agreement which demonstrates the savingsachieved by the project to cover the debt repayment. This facilitates access to finance andreduces the cost of borrowing.

ESCOs and EPCs usually work on a project basis. Work proceeds through a number ofimportant stages beginning with identifying the potential for energy saving, then designingthe project and drafting the agreement. Once this is done, it is possible to install andmaintain the necessary energy efficient equipment. However, the ESCOs’ tasks are notover once the renovations are complete. They remain involved to operate the system andto monitor the project’s energy savings. The ESCO takes on the risk that the project willsave the amount of energy projected to ensure appropriate pay-back and in many casessupplies the fuel and electricity.

What is preventing wider uptake of ESCOs’ services?Despite their evident benefits, ESCOs are not yet widely used in Europe. Obstaclesinclude a widespread lack of integrated planning, long-pay back periods for energyefficiency investments and procurement problems. Added to this there is a lack ofknowledge about how ESCOs function on a practical level.

According to the “Latest Development of Energy Service Companies across Europe”report, issued by the Joint Research Centre (JRC)2, ESCO markets in Europe are at verydifferent stages of development. Some countries such as Germany, Italy, France and Spainhave large numbers of ESCOs whereas others only have a handful. Sweden and theCzech Republic are among those countries where there has been a rapid rise in thenumber of ESCOs and EPCs established in recent years.

BEFORE PROJECT AFTER PROJECT

How does it work?It is straight forward. The ESCO andthe user draw up an agreement knownas an Energy Performance Contract(EPC), setting out the target buildingperformance as well as the paymentfor the services provided.

EPCs are most effective when basedon an integrated planning concept. Thismeans first assessing all possibilities toreduce energy demand and thenarranging the remaining energy supplyas efficiently as possible. The contractshould also cover important aspects ofthe project such as the maintenance ofthe building, as well as the comfortlevel (room temperature, level oflighting, exchange of air, etc...) toensure better quality of life for theinhabitants.

1Directive 2006/32/EC. Official Journal : OJ L 114 of 27.4.2006. 2JRC is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.

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CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 4 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

ESCOs in CONCERTOCONCERTO stimulates the establishment of new ESCO businesses and the establishment of EPCs:

DUNDALK (IRELAND)

• ESCO’s responsibilities: ownership, operation and management of wind turbines.• Designing, building, financing and operating a bio-mass district heating scheme.

THE MAIN BARRIERS AND DRIVERS FOR THE UPTAKE OF ESCOs AND EPCs CAN BE SUMMARISED AS FOLLOWS:

The European Commission’s JRC has also conducted a survey of ESCOs in the EU, resulting in the creation of the first EU database of ESCOs.3

3http://www.energy.eu/publications/LBNA22927ENC_002.pdf

BARRIERS FOR ESCOs AND EPCs DRIVERS FOR ESCOs AND EPCs

• CAPACITY BUILDING TO INCREASE TRUST, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE ESCO CONCEPT

• ACCREDITATION OF ESCOs• DEVELOPMENT OF ESCO QUALITY LABELS• DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS AND TEMPLATE

CONTRACTS• ENERGY EFFICIENCY AUDITS AND CERTIFICATES

• SUPPORTIVE PROCUREMENT RULES• NEUTRAL BODIES TO PRODUCE PROCEDURAL

PROTOCOLS

• RECONCILE INTERESTS BY MAKING INVESTORS BENEFIT FROM SAVINGS AND TENANTS TO ENJOY HIGHER LIVING COMFORT

• INCREASED CLIMATE CONSCIOUSNESS AND AMBITION TO HELP REACH 20/20/20 TARGETS

• SUPPORT FROM EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS

• LEGAL PROVISIONS (ENERGY PERFORMANCE DIRECTIVE, ENERGY SERVICES DIRECTIVE, ENERGY END-USE EFFICIENCY DIRECTIVE, ETC...)

• STATE FUNDING COMBINED WITH SPECIFIC ESCO FINANCING

• GUARANTEE OF ENERGY SAVINGS• CASH-FLOW BASED FINANCING, ESCO TAKES

FINANCIAL RISK

OSTFILDERN (GERMANY)

• Supply company SWE responsible for supply of gas, water and long distance energy.

• Management of energy output of bio-mass co-generation plant, in order to optimise its performance.

VÄXJÖ (SWEDEN) & DELFT (THE NETHERLANDS)

Växjö:• Energy company VEAB created by the municipality and owned by the local residents. • Provision of district heating and electricity by Sandvik biofuel based combined heat

and power plant.

Delft: • ESCO owned jointly by City of Delft, Housing Company Woonbron, and Poptahof

residents’ fund. • Financing and implementing a series of energy saving measures in social housing. • Tenants are ultimate beneficiaries of savings generated.

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A POOL OFTECHNICALMONITORING SOLUTIONS ISBEINGTESTED

Currently the main challenge is to gobeyond the scale of single buildings and tomonitor the overall energy use of urbanneighbourhoods or rural regions. Ideally, thefinal goal is to collect energy use statistics tosupport an optimised use of local resourcesthrough energy management. In many cases,information is communicated to buildingusers, informing them about their actualconsumption. In some cases, datais visualised through a geographicalinformation system (GIS) interface, thussupporting energy management and theassessment of local energy policies.

Several CONCERTO cities includingZaragoza, Redange, Slubice, Tulln,Ceryandola, Torino and Ostfildern arealready at the stage of implementing suchintegrated monitoring systems. Othercommunities are mainly following the“traditional” approach which consists ofcollecting and aggregating energy use figuresof individual buildings. In some cases, otherparameters such as room air temperature,relative humidity or user behaviour patternscan be monitored along with energy use.Information about the level of comfortwithin the building and patterns of userbehaviour are valuable indicators which helpto interpret energy use figures. In order toavoid high monitoring equipment costs,these parameters are monitored only in

chosen buildings or dwellings, not atneighbourhood scale. This limits thepossibilities for drawing conclusions at thelevel of entire neighbourhoods.

THE CHALLENGE OFOBTAINING HISTORIC ENERGYUSE DATA FROM MUNICIPALUTILITIES OR NETWORKOPERATORS

In projects where existing buildings are beingrenovated, the main challenge is to obtainenergy use figures from before theretrofitting took place. In some communitiessuch asTorino Arquata district, and GrenobleViscose district, individual heating systemswere in place prior to the retrofitting, anddifferent heating systems were installed inthe dwellings. In these cases, it is difficult toobtain historic energy use data fromhouseholds, unless the households keeptrack of their own energy use, which is rare.In other communities, all dwellings have thesame type of heating system, so it is possibleto obtain historic energy use data from thehousing company, the municipal utility or thenetwork operator. Another challenge toovercome in many communities is the factthat the data structure of the networkoperators is not directly compatible with thedata structure needed for analysis.Communities are still working on this issueas solutions have to be found case by case.

The Member States are on the way toimplementing smart metering strategies, aspart of the implementation of theEuropean Energy Service Directive4.Smart metering would bring clearadvantages in terms of collecting energy usedata at neighbourhood level. However, dataconfidentiality is the main challenge to befaced: first experience shows that the accessto this data is still not being facilitated, eventhough Article 6 of the Energy ServiceDirective clearly specifies that such datashould be communicated on an aggregatedlevel to “properly design and implementenergy efficiency improvement programmes,and to promote and monitor energy servicesand other energy efficiency improvementmeasures“.

While many CONCERTO communitieshave not yet implemented large scale smartmetering techniques as part of theiractivities, it is hoped that we will soon seemore communities seeking to benefit fromthese techniques.

FIRST RESULTS AVAILABLE ONSINGLE BUILDINGS

CONCERTO Plus has already receivedsome monitoring data for individual energygenerating plants and buildings but muchmore data will be communicated in future.CONCERTO Plus will then produce andpublish a thorough analysis of this.

To discuss first monitoring results and shareexperiences in implementing different typesof energy use monitoring systems atneighbourhood level, an internalCONCERTO workshop on “Monitoringenergy use in cities: from community energymanagement to sustainable local energypolicies” will be organised in Vienna,at AIT, on 22-23 October 2009.Experts who are not involved inthe CONCERTO initiative butwould like to participate can [email protected] to register.

CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 5 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

Energy use monitoring is one of the key aspects of the CONCERTO initiative because it allows us to assesscommunities’ energy performance. Its use has traditionally been limited to individual buildings, and expanding thescope of monitoring to the scale of cities is a relatively new and challenging issue. Cities are innovating andproposing different strategies tailored to their specific needs and resources.

The higher the expectations of the local project consortia the more sophisticated and comprehensive monitoringsystems have to be used. Consequently, methods also vary. They range from collecting questionnaires fromhouseholds benefiting from CONCERTO measures, to monitoring done in combination with information aboutend users or community energy management systems.

TECHNICAL MONITORING FOR A BETTERUNDERSTANDING OF CITIES’ ENERGY NEEDS

“Information about thelevel of comfort within thebuilding and patterns ofuser behaviour are valuableindicators which help tointerpret energy usefigures”

4 Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament and of theCouncil of 5 April 2006 on energy end-use efficiency andenergy services and repealing Council Directive 93/76/EEC

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AUSTRIAN AND GERMAN CITIES STRIVING FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 6 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

The German municipalities of Hannover, Neckarsulm, Ostfildern and Weilerbach as well as the Austrian municipality of Weiz-Gleisdorf, were invited by the city of Salzburg in Austria on 25-26 May to discussissues of common interest in the fields of urban planning, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. It wasalso the opportunity to discuss the progress the cities have already made in achieving their objectives.

These cities are real trailblazers in the field of energy efficiency and integration of renewable energies. In Germany the municipality of Weilerbach will be fully CO2 neutral by 2015. Hannover has focused strongly onenergy efficiency since the mid-1990s when it approved a local climate protection programme. The communityof Ostfildern benefits from a renewable energy system which provides a very impressive 80% of the power fora total of 178,000m² of new residential and commercial buildings. The Austrian cities are doing equally well:Salzburg aims to have 65% of energy from renewables whilst reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 85%, andWeiz-Gleisdorf ’s region has a reputation as a solar pioneer, with a solar thermal capacity of some 7.7MW, andthe highest density of solar thermal and photovoltaic systems in Austria.

Reducing energy consumption and raising quality of life

In the Neue Mitte Lehen area which previously housed a sports stadium, the mainfocus has been on constructing offices, appartments and care facilities for the elderly. Part of the cost of the project is covered by a public-private partnership, with€16m from the municipality, whereas another part consists of social housingsubsidised by low cost government loans. Throughout the complex, the energyrequired for space heating and hot water supply is generated by solar thermal panels.

The passive house apartments inEsshaverstraße were the first Green SolarCities residence to be completed, insummer 2008. The building sets an

impressive example for replication: the average energy consumption in its 12 apartments is just 1.5kWh/m², far below the passive house limit. This is achievedthrough short ventilation pipes, maximised use of (passive) daylight and 3-layer glassto insulate the windows. Solar collectors also heat the water and power the building’sheat recovery ventilation system, largely supplementing heating in the district.

You can learn more about the cities involved in this regional site visit on the project websites:

http://sems-project.active-cms.dewww.greensolarcities.comwww.concerto-act2.euwww.polycity.net/en/index.htmlwww.energy-in-minds.de

Technical monitoring – gathering essential information to influence future decisionsThe experts from the German and Austrian cities emphasise that the technical monitoring conducted in theCONCERTO cities provides a good overview of the impact of different measures. Data collected includesinformation on saved energy and reduced CO2 emissions. For example in Neckarsulm up to 20% of all buildings havebeen or are being checked for the efficiency with which they use power. One technique being used is infraredthermography, which produces images of buildings showing the amount of heat they release.

The expert meeting in Salzburg included visits to the demonstration sites, giving the participants an uniqueopportunity to familiarise themselves with the concrete achievements in this city. In Salzburg’s Lehen district the re-development process is still ongoing, but already today remarkable progress has been made. Herein we presenttwo of the exciting features of this urban renewal project, part of Green Solar Cities.

Passive house apartments in Esshaverstraße

Neue Mitte Lehen

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CONCERTO is co-funded by the European Commission

NEWSLETTER

CITIES DEMONSTRATE ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY SOLUTIONS

Visit www.concertoplus.eu for more information

CONCERTO NEWSLETTER 7 I S SUE 7 JUNE 2009

CONCERTO is co-funded by the European Commission and includes 45 communities in 18 countries

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the European Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the informationcontained in this publication. No action should be taken by any individual on the basis of the information contained herein, or relied upon for action, as it is for illustrationand general information purposes only. It also should be noted that the projects may be subject to evolutionary changes during the lifespan of their activities.

BOOSTING QUALITY AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE IN CONCERTO CITIES

TESTING PRIOR TOIMPLEMENTATION FORINCREASED ENERGYPERFORMANCE

One of the main innovations in theCONCERTO initiative is related tothe quality process during renovationworks or the construction of newbuildings. Ensuring high buildingquality is a necessary conditionallowing buildings to actually performaccording to their designcharacteristics. In this field, cities suchDelft, Grenoble and Lyon provideexcellent examples of solutionswhich can be replicated in others.

In Delft, according to the contractsbetween the housing companyWoonbron and the constructioncompanies, all renovation works haveto be first implemented on a testdwelling before being implementedat a larger scale on the entirebuilding. The quality of therenovation works is then checked bydoing blower door tests to controlthe airtightness of the buildingenvelope and locate air leakagepoints, and analysing IR-thermographs to check thecorrect installation of insulationcomponents. If failures are detected

at this early stage, the constructioncompanies must continue toimprove their works until problemsare eradicated.

Only after this phase, renovationworks are implemented on theremaining part of the building. Thuswe see the importance of a strongcollaboration between the developerand the construction team inensuring that renovation measuresare implemented at high quality level.

TRAINING OF ON-SITEWORKERS FOR IMPROVEDCONSTRUCTION QUALITY

In Lyon, training for site workers onthe demonstration area is providedfollowing the model of the sesacproject in Grenoble, where this

concept was first implemented. Thelocal energy agency (ALE) initiallycontacted the building companies.Then a training approach wasdefined and financial and technicalpartnerships were initiated with thenational and regional agenciesresponsible for funding andorganising training programmes inthe French construction sector(AREF-BTP and AFPA).

Now the first companies have joinedthe training programme. Courses lastabout 18 hours and focus ontechnical topics such as thermalinsulation, water and air tightness etc.They also target interdisciplinarity:specialised workers need to havesome knowledge about the workdone by their colleagues from othertechnical fields in order to bettercoordinate their activities, thuscontributing to improve constructionquality. The training takes place onthe construction site and issupported by practical examples.Participation is free of charge andthe salaries for the workers arecovered.

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