Energy renovation of buildings
Energy consumption in buildings
The existing building stock represents the sector with the greatest potential for achieving energy savings. Futhermore, buildings play a crucial role in meeting the European Union's (EU) target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
To achieve the overarching energy efficiency target, one quarter of the existing building stock was to undergo energy renovation by 2020, representing approximately 22 million m2 of building floor area. This was expected to reduce energy consumption in buildings by 10 percent. Comprehensive building renovation, with a particular focus on energy-efficient building renovation, as well as sustainable construction, is a strategic government project. Its implementation is intended to stimulate the construction sector, increase lending activity among commercial banks and facilitate access to EU funding through the financing model adopted for energy renovation projects.
Strategy for the energy renovation of buildings
The long-term Strategy for stimulating investment into energy renovation of buildings sets out operational targets for 2020 and 2030, including:
- annual renovation of 3 percent of buildings owned and occupied by the central government sector,
- renovation of 1,8 million m2 of building floor area in the wider public sector over the period 2014-2023,
- improving the ratio of public funds invested to total investement mobilised in the public sector to 1:3,
- implementation of five demonstration projects covering the energy renovation of different types of builidings.
The expected outcomes include the renovation of a total of 9.1 million m2 of building floor area, comprising:
- six million m2 of residential buildings,
- 1.8 million m2 of public buildings, including the mandatory annual renovation of three percent of buildings in the central governement sector,
- 1.3 million m2 of buildings in the private service sector over the period 2014-2023.
For the purposes of building renovation, the Strategy also provides an overview of the national building stock and defines a system of measures and criteria for promotion and implementation of appropriate approaches to the renovation of different building trypes. In response to the requirements of EU legislation, which obliges Member States to renovate a specified proportion of public sector buildings annually, the Strategy places particular emphasis on buildings belonging to the central government and wider public sectors.
The leading role of the public sector
The public sector plays a leading role in the energy renovation of buildings. Buildings owned and occupied by public authorities account for approximately 10 percent of the total building stock. Reducing energy consumption in buildings also requires the adaptation and efficient management of district heating systems. Since 2018, public sector organisations have been required to purchase only energy-efficient buildings, products and services. Each year, three percent of the floor area of buildings owned and occupied by central government authorities must be renovated, or alternative cost-effective measures must be implemented to achieve an equivalent improvement in the energy performance of government buildigs.
Since 2019, all newly contructed public buildings that use energy for heating and/or cooling, must be build to be almost zero-energy; starting in 2021 this requirement has also applied to all other new buildings.The energy needs of such buildings are to be met largely through renewable energy sources.
An obligation to establish an energy management system (energy accounting) applies to public sector buildings and individual parts of buildings with a useful floor area exceeding 250 m2, provided that they are owned by the Republic of Slovenia or a local self-government unit and occupied by state authorities, local self-government authorities, public institutions, public commercial institutions, public funds, public agencies or insitutions established by the Republic of Slovenia or a local self-government unit.
Energy performance contracting
The energy renovation of public sector buildings will be implemented through an energy performance contracting model. Energy performance contracting involves the mobilisation of private sector capital from companies providing energy services (Energy service companies) to finance building renovation projects. For the period 2014-2020, a total of 117.4 million euros in non-repayable grants and 25 millions euros in repayable Cohesion policy funds has been allocated to finance the energy renovation of public sector buildings. The latter will be combined with financial resources from dedicated funds and programmes of international financial institutions to provide a combination of repayable and non-repayable financing.
The total annual investment in the energy renovation of buildings (comprising repayable and non-repayable grants, private-sector investment through energy performance contracting and own funds), amounts to an average of 40 million euros.
Project office for the energy renovation of buildings
The energy renovation of existing buildings is carried out under the priority area Energy renovation and sustainable construction of buildings, withing the development priority Sustainable energy use.