The Renocally Report: A Guidebook for Local Authorities to Lead the Decarbonisation of Buildings in Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia
On Tuesday 30 April EUKI project Renocally organised a web seminar to present a new policy report that analyses implications of relevant EU legislation for local authorities in Central and Eastern Europe. The event, which offered simultaneous translation in Bulgarian, Romanian and Slovakian, was counted with 70 attendees.
This Renocally report analyses the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the flagship policy for decarbonising buildings in Europe. After being adopted by the European Council on 14 April, the EPBD recast has been published in the EU official journal on 08 May 2024. The EPBD recast has been under revision as part of the European Green Deal, aimed at making the European economy, including the buildings sector, climate neutral by 2050. New elements in the EPBD recast include, among others, voluntary building renovation passport schemes, one-stop-shops, and a zero-emission building standard.
Local authorities have an important role in the implementation of the EPBD recast. The EPBD says that local authorities should be consulted and supported by national governments to enable successful transposition of the Directive into national laws. More specifically, the Directive says that local authorities need support in the form of technical information, useful tools, accessible financing and capacity building. Building renovation passports (BRPs), like the ones developed in Renocally, are excellent examples of useful information tools.
Besides the EPBD recast, the report looks at the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the REPowerEU plan. The EED, which was published in 2023, highlights the exemplary role of public authorities in saving energy from buildings, and sets out specific renovation targets applicable to public bodies. The REPowerEU on the other hand, highlights the importance of installing solar PV on roofs and heat pumps.
The webinar elaborated on those matters, and provided practical examples of BRPs in Romania and Bulgaria. Energy experts presented BRPs developed for an administrative court in the Gabrovo municipality of Bulgaria and a medical centre in the Lipănești municipality in Romania.
Presentations were followed by a lively and interactive Q&A discussion. The number of questions raised by the audience highlighted the need for clarification and guidance in relation to the EPBD text. The European Commission is preparing a technical guidance document for the Member States, however the Renocally policy report is a good starting point for those willing to be initiated on the topic.
The policy report is available for download in English, Bulgarian, Romanian and Slovakian here.