Participants in a webinar organized by the Ministry of Energy share good practices for buildings with near to zero energy consumption

Residential building, about 15 km. away from the Norwegian capital Oslo, built in 1980, today produces 220,000 kWh of electricity per year. As this amount of energy is more than the energy consumed by the building, what is left is used to charge electric cars in the adjacent parking lot. The roof is entirely covered with solar panels, the windows have been changed, and the glass from the old ones is reused inside the building for making interior doors. Heat pumps have been installed to provide the heating of the building - all of this was implemented during the renovation that was completed in 2014. Thanks to it, the building today fully meets the definition of a "Powerhouse" - or "active" building that produces more energy from renewable sources than it consumes.

This example was explained by Peter Bernard, a senior energy and environmental consultant at Asplan Viak, an architectural consulting and design company specialized in the application of energy-efficient architectural and construction concepts, during a webinar on Near-to-Zero energy consumption buildings. The event was organized and conducted by the Ministry of Energy in its capacity of Programme operator of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Energy Security Programme (REEEES Programme) and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), a donor programme partner. The webinar, held through an online platform, was attended by 40 representatives of municipal administrations from Bulgaria and 10 from Georgia. The Norwegian partners shared their experience and good practices both from the point of view of the Norwegian regulator NVE and the scientific community represented by SINTEF institute.

The event is part of the bilateral initiatives of the Ministry of Energy in its capacity of Programme operator of the REEEES Programme. It aims to raise the awareness of potential beneficiaries about buildings with near to zero energy consumption. The topic is directly related to the largest planned procedure for selection of project proposals under the REEEES Programme - "Energy efficiency in buildings" which will provide 10.2 million euro. The state and the municipalities will be able to apply for the renovation of their buildings. This procedure is expected to be open for applications in October 2020.

Despite the restrictions imposed in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Programme operator is looking for flexible solutions to implement the planned activities, which will lead to better absorption of financial resources under the programme and better results for beneficiaries.

The REEEES Programme is funded by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2021. Thanks to the strategic partnership between the Ministry of Energy and NVE and the National Energy Authority of Iceland, the programme is successfully developing in Bulgaria and its budget has been doubled during the current programming period to 33 million euro.

 

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