Public schemes for energy efficient refurbishment
[1] It was meant to overcome the major barrier to the installation of solar and energy efficiency retrofits in commercial or residential properties: high up-front costs.
The principle consisted in “on-tax bill solar and efficiency financing,” whereby repayment of the investment in measures is made through a property tax assessment.
PACE originated in 2008 with pilot programs in California, Colorado, and New York, that focused primarily on energy efficiency upgrades to single family homes.
In July 2010, the FHFA issued the first of many directives that effectively ban Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from buying or holding mortgages with PACE assessments.
Its activities devoted to bringing down CO2 emissions align with a strategy designed by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) in 2010,[6] following the decision to speed up the pace of nuclear energy phase-out.
The KfW created promotional programmes targeting private buyers and homeowners, landlords and housing companies, to support refurbishment of older residential buildings with grants or loans.
The “KfW Energy Efficient Renovation - Supplementary Credit” programme offers low interest loans specifically for the replacement of the heating and domestic hot water systems that were installed before 2009.
The interest rate for the promotional loans distributed by the commercial banks is further subsidized by funds provided by the Federal Ministry of Building, Transport and Urban Development.
KfW has also provided technical assistance to help SIDBI identify key MSME clusters, set up the financing streams, and conduct awareness campaigns.
A study on the macroeconomic effects of the German government's building rehabilitation programs has been conducted to assess the impact from the investment projects on the public revenue, the housing industry and the climate policy.
[9] The KredEx scheme was designed based on the German federal bank (KfW) model, a pioneer in the use of a revolving fund to finance energy efficient building renovation.
The political impetus also allowed for the development of a legal framework propitious to the distribution of funds under preferential terms, to widen adoption of the program by end beneficiaries.
Estonia is one of the most attractive country in Eastern Europe in terms of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), thanks to a high credit rating (A), low labour costs, a modern technological infrastructure, and favourable regulatory and tax policies.
[18] KredEx is a state-owned credit and export guarantee fund (not a public bank), created in 2001 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications as a not-for-profit entity.
Important other stakeholders in the program include the commercial banks Swedbank and SEB, which get favourable funding from KredEx and make loans to apartment building associations.
[18] The problems with this approach were insufficient funding, limitation to “single works”, and the fact that grants are only available after payments (building owners had to provide the entirety of up-front costs).
KredEx therefore shifted to a revolving fund approach, to widen the opportunities for refurbishment of buildings, receive greater financial support from the state, and reduce administration costs.
[26] 1200 Buildings published a survey report in 2013 to assess the evolution of the program and its results, drawing a picture of the rate and type of retrofitting achieved, and listing drivers and perceived barriers to the project.
[37] Still, the 1200 Buildings program counts 53 signatories to date, including “big name” corporations such as ING, Asia Pacific Group, Hilton, and Stockland.
[38] Four buildings have used Environmental Upgrade Agreements to access finance to retrofit, representing $5.6 million of investment and aiming to save 5660 tonnes carbon emissions and $491,000 in energy costs per year.
The objective is to “concentrate on the potential of energetic and environmental improvements of buildings to generate employment, create economic opportunities, increase training notably in sustainable construction jobs.”[43] Various public and private decision makers, as well as concerned social partners and field actors are involved in the EEA.
Its realization is carried out by an approved certifier who, after examining the building, has to mention various informations:[48] The one-stop shop system includes a pool of “EEA Advisors” inside the contact points.
The 0% loans component is funded by a regional budget system of recoverable advances, made available to households by the structures tasked with implementing and managing the mechanism.
The objective of the EEA is to entice households to undertake a more ambitious project instead of settling for punctual renovation, and so provoke a greater marginal effect on the energetic quality of their house.
In order to reinforce and improve the offer, 80 accompanying jobs have been created in 2012 to help companies formulate their transition strategies towards green construction and allow for time to implement them.
[42] The details of the budgets engaged in the EEA are as follows: Various awareness actions, other than direct help, have occurred towards owners, tenants, companies and merchants, with a total of 870,000 persons sensitized in one way or another over the legislation duration.
"[53] In April 2012, the Government considered obliging householders who are undertaking home improvements to spend an extra 10% of the cost on energy efficiency measures.
The £120 million fund has been depleted by “overwhelming public demand”, triggering furious reactions by the sector, and displaying another setback for the Green Deal (but also promising take-up results).
[55] The latest results published by the Government in July 2014[56] are as follows: The Norwegian system is managed by the national energy efficiency agency Enova SF, which the Ministry of Climate and Environment owns.
Firstly, financial subsidies are offered for “holistic building energy upgrade”, where 25% of the costs, up to NOK 100,000 - 150,000, are reimbursed for highly ambitious refurbishments.
