The seventh session of the Roundtable had the format of a joint expert group workshop. The purpose was to give more space for discussion among stakeholders. The third workshop focused on non-residential, mainly public buildings and was divided into three thematic blocks.

Summary of the discussion of the 7th Stakeholder Roundtable:

  • Renovation of industrial buildings (except technological buildings): the first part was opened by JIří Karásek, SEVEN (Czech Republic) with a presentation on Preparation of large energy efficiency projects.
    • He began by explaining the principle of EPC projects (financing through future savings). The method guarantees savings to its customer.
    • In the Czech Republic, the EPC market has been developing since 1993 and as of 2021, 270 projects have been implemented with an investment volume of 4,6 mld CZK (almost 200 mln EUR) and savings of more than 5,3 mld CZK (more than 220 mln EUR).
    • Not only the number of projects, but also the scope of EPC projects is growing in the Czech Republic – overview of projects on the APES CZ website – https://www.apes.cz/mapa-projektu.php
    • 2 innovations on the Czech market that help:
      • Debt buying by banks – banks (currently two in the Czech Republic) buy debt from the EPC provider and continue to trade it, freeing up funds for other projects, allowing the EPC provider to implement more projects.
      • Combining EPCs for technology and subsidies for the building envelope – mainly municipal projects.
    • Specificity in public procurement – competition between bidders where they improve their bids so that they are optimal towards the customer.
    • The Czech Republic is starting to use economies of scale – e.g. cities (Prague) are auditing several buildings at once and then prioritising them for renovation. It is significantly easier to find an energy specialist for multiple buildings than for individual buildings.
    • Examples of EPC projects:
      • EPC Czech Statistical Office Skalka – comprehensive renovation project – in preparation:
        • Ineffective building, facade protected by copyright law (agreement with architect). The client had to be introduced to the EPC method first.
        • EPC combined with a subsidy.
        • Measures: window replacement, facade renovation, building envelope renovation, roof renovation, photovoltaics, cooling, energy management.
      • EPC at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague:
        • Cost: 2,5 million EUR, subsidy 1,2 million EUR.
        • Expected savings: 1,1 GWh/year.
      • CTU in Prague – dormitories:
        • Savings of 8,9 GWh/year (14,3 GWh/year primary energy).
        • Cost 8,5 million EUR, subsidy 2,2 million EUR.
      • Bohnice – psychiatric hospital – the largest ongoing project:
        • A comprehensive renovation project.
        • 22,7 million EUR, 19 million EUR subsidy.
        • The problem is the deadline of the programming period and the great pressure to finalise at any cost.
    • At current energy prices, it is possible and profitable to increase the scale of the renovation projects in the form of EPCs.
    • In industrial buildings, a significantly shorter payback period is required. Measures are more economical than in public buildings. Industrial facilities have a far broader portfolio of possible energy saving measures than other buildings, as there is often production that has a high energy intensity, the possibility of heat recovery, businesses have larger plots or roofs suitable for the placement of photovoltaics, and some businesses are even considering wind power. The economy is higher and businesses are aware that the energy intensity of production is a strong evaluator of market relevance, i.e. whether they will stay in the market or not. Larger companies already perceive the need for ESG and non-financial reporting.
  • Discussion
    • Question: what savings do EPC projects achieve in industrial facilities?
    • Answer: cannot present specific projects due to commercial and industrial confidentiality, but e.g. the largest planned project in the Czech Republic is in the company Mondi, where savings of 0.5 PJ/year are expected (the Czech Republic has a consumption of about 1000 PJ/year). It depends on the scale of the measures in the company, it is difficult to generalise. A big barrier to complex projects in companies is the suspension or limitation of production. The potential for energy savings in companies means a big impact on the overall energy sector in Europe and reduces the demand for whole power plants (nuclear or carbon) that will have to be shut down over time.
    • Q: Is there interest on the part of businesses to be certified in order to present themselves as green?
    • Answer: certificates are not available in aggregate form, there is insufficient energy management in the Czech Republic, the first step is to put together the initial status. Then look for buildings where the condition is the worst, start with the worst buildings and the investor sets the volume he wants to manage. For example, Prague tries to deal with objects in one big contract.
    • The EU Taxonomy in the business sector says that every business has to say how green it is, and it states exactly how this greenness is calculated, i.e. how many activities they have done, the ratio is calculated based on how much turnover, operating and capital costs are associated with the measures that support the transition to a green economy. The bank has two approaches, either it makes a loan directly for this type of change in the business (e.g. a business goes to invest in a PV plant) or there are options that calculate a taxonomy of the whole business where it calculates what the ratios are on total sales, operating and capital expenditure. This is used for so called general loans (e.g. overdraft), against such the bank will build a “taxonomy ratio”.
      • Every company has to review its business activities, but not only the primary ones, but everything it does, e.g. when reconstructing a building, building a cycle path, etc.
      • For a project, the bank is not interested in how big the savings will be, but it must meet all the characteristics of a sustainable investment.
      • The Bank does not have the expertise to verify these project-specific characteristics. The taxonomy requirements are too complex for the banks and therefore certificates that would establish that the project is sustainable from a taxonomy perspective would be appropriate.
      • Companies are not aware of what lies ahead with respect to the taxonomy. Apart from the largest companies, they are unaware of the requirements of the taxonomy and that banks (especially parent banks) are already taking the taxonomy into account. E.g. Erste bank wants to have 25% of its portfolio green by 2026 = need to raise awareness of the EU Taxonomy and its requirements and sustainable investments among companies.
      • Net zero alliance of banks (450 fin., institutions) – 2021 – committed to having a carbon neutral loan portfolio by 2050.
      • When the EPC started in SR, more was invested in the technology than in the building itself. This is because of the payback period of the investment. The payback period is significantly higher for building measures than for technology. This can be solved by blending financing. For example, building measures with a longer payback period can be financed by grants (ESIF) and technological measures by EPCs. A mechanism needs to be established to determine which part of the savings is responsible for the construction stuff and which for the technology stuff and is handled by a more entrepreneurial system. There is a risk that the EPC entrepreneur may take the savings from the subsidies.
      • Repeal the exemption for governments from taxonomy. So that European money that is administered by the government would proceed according to the taxonomy.
      • Making credit more attractive – i.e. the provision of interest-free loans and interest will be reimbursed to banks by the government.
      • In the Czech Republic, the interest and pressure from businesses to make savings is enormous and the problem is that there is no capacity to create savings projects. One of the reasons for this is the high price of energy.
      • ESG in business – what does it mean for business? how to report on sustainability? How to build it? How to calculate carbon and pollution footprints?
        • Create training programmes for businesses and tools on how to use ESG.
        • It is important for companies to know what information to collect, how to evaluate it and how to work with it, and when they have the know-how they will be able to prepare projects for banks in a much more systematic way.

E – mobility:

  • The discussion was opened by Pavol Kováčik, President of ZSPS. He evaluated the potential of electrification of transport, which is most suitable for train and passenger transport. In freight transport hydrogen is the most suitable. In Slovakia, the development of electromobility is important due to the existence of several car companies, which make up a significant part of the Slovak economy. At the same time, there are a number of companies that want to produce batteries in Slovakia. Finally, he touched on the topic of smart urban areas. Smart solutions can be used by municipalities, but they must have Sustainable Mobility Plans (regional, but also district cities). Integrated transport and infrastructure measures should be based on them. Discussion:
    • Greenway – the development of electromobility in cities and towns is slow, from experience it took 2 or more years to build charging infrastructure.
    • The uptake of electromobility has been modest so far but will accelerate in the next 12 years to 2035. The capacity for development allows it. In terms of financial assistance, 50 million is allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
    • Currently, roughly 1% of all cars are EVs.
    • Development should occur mainly in buildings where people can charge their cars for longer periods of time, i.e. homes and at work, public infrastructure is only complementary.
    • The question of how to deal with infrastructure development in cities needs to be addressed. How do people manage to build charging stations in their parking spaces at apartment buildings?
    • ZSE drive – EV sales are just under 2% of new cars, putting us at the tail end of the EU.
    • Electromobility and smart chargers need to be addressed in the design of the new building because retrofitting chargers in an existing building can be problematic even in terms of maximum reserved capacity. Consider grid capacity for the future.
    • If some people don’t have access to their own charger the cost of charging from the public grid can be cost prohibitive. With internal combustion engines there is no difference.
    • Existing buildings – how to address the capacity of apartment buildings?
    • Electromobility should play a role in the flexibility of energy systems as a temporary energy storage, this requires the development of the vehicle to grid concept.
    • Incorporate smart grid and electromobility in building renovation.
    • Induction charging built into highways – embedding it into the national strategy.

Positive energy districts:

  • Stanislav Laktiš, SIEA, started the discussion by introducing the concept of PED, what are its tasks and advantages. PEDs are energy efficient urban areas or clusters of buildings that produce zero greenhouse gas emissions and actively generate an annual surplus of electricity from renewable sources at a local or regional level – the amount of electricity generated within the PED must be higher than the amount supplied from the outside environment. They require the integration of multiple systems and types of infrastructure, interacting between buildings, users and regional energy, transport and ICT systems. They ensure stability of electricity supply and quality of life for all inhabitants in line with social, economic and environmental sustainability. PEDs serve as innovation labs. They are strongly integrated into the context of the whole city. They are currently being built as part of building renovation projects, to a lesser extent as new neighbourhoods. At the heart of a PED is the energy system – the physical infrastructure needed to produce, convert, deliver, store and consume energy. Control systems are ICT-based. The main four components of the PED are Energy Efficiency, RES, Energy Flexibility and e-mobility.
  • The main success factors from the analysis of examples of PED implementation in Europe are:
    • Government and local government support and strong involvement.
    • A broad partnership between public and private institutions and companies.
    • “Enlightened” mayors.
    • Strong awareness and involvement of residents in the preparation and implementation of projects.
    • Don’t just look at the direct costs, but look at the overall benefits.
    • Innovations and demonstration of their positive impact on obtaining funding.
    • Reliable suppliers and contractors.
    • Urban and energy planning.
  • Discussion:
    • Support for infrastructure construction is focused on terminal equipment, it should also focus on building grid infrastructure such as cabling for electromobility.
    • Increase Slovakia’s participation in the PED association – Slovakia is little involved in PED building projects, it is not part of Urban Europe and associations that develop such projects and therefore cannot apply for grants.
    • Building new wiring for electromobility – cable corridors, e.g. under cycle paths and roads, to be built so that the city does not have to dig up every time a new investment in wiring is made.
    • Need for digitisation – GIS system for infrastructure planning, e.g. in Poland is very well developed. This makes project planning as well as permitting processes easier.

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