SHEERenov+

Seamless Services for Housing Energy Efficiency Renovation

SHEERenov+

In the context of the European transition to a green economy and to achieve the European Commission's (EC) proposed target of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030, the EU must reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by 60%, the consumption of energy by 14%, and heating and cooling costs by 18%. Market assessment shows that 93 percent of the residential buildings in Bulgaria are not energy efficient, with a total of 66 865 multi-family buildings are in need for renovation, according to the developed Bulgarian Long-Term Strategy, adopted by the Council of Ministers with Protocol No. 8 of 27.01.2021) and pursuant to Directive (EU) 2018/844 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

So far, the renovation model in Bulgaria provides for 100% financial and administrative support. The result is less than 3,000 buildings renovated with public resources from the national budget and European funding. Calculations show that keeping this rate will take 200 years to refurbish all the buildings in need.

The model transformation is required to speed up the ЕЕ renovation processes. The policy change in this regard is initiated with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and calls for “transition from the existing multifamily buildings energy efficiency retrofitting model, which is based on 100% public finance, to a market-oriented model with the participation of owners, business and public authorities”. The most needed reforms - one-stop shop service, definition of energy poverty, legislative changes in the Condominium Management Act (CMA) are foreseen in the Plan, and the investment component envisages a gradual increase in the financial and organizational participation of the owners.

An innovative (for Bulgaria) model for the provision of integrated residential renovation services was developed and tested on the territory of Sofia, adapting workable solutions from European best practices, namely Estonia and Hungary. The LIFE 2022 SHEERenov+ is proposed as an extension of the H2020 SHEERenov project. The general project objective is to replicate the model for Seamless Home Energy Efficiency Renovation service provision in Bulgaria. Building on the sustainable results of the H2020 SHEERenov project, the LIFE 2022 SHEERenov+ project aims to trigger a significant upscale of the energy renovation in the Bulgarian residential sector, through developing a network of business model OSSs, positioned on municipal level and offering services through the entire value chain.

Besides the capital Sofia, the project activities will take place in 5 more major cities: Plovdiv, Gabrovo, Stara Zagora, Burgas, and Ruse, ensuring the delivery of the integrated home renovation service throughout the whole country.

Project coordinator is the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect, with partners: BACC-Bulgarian-Austrian Consulting Company, EVN Toplofikatsia, „Energy Saving“Ltd, Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabrovo Municipality, PROBUJDENIE Ltd, FIABCI Bulgaria.