Energy Efficiency Financing building energy renovations 2014

With the right set of policy tools, it is generally accepted that governments can play a crucial role in promoting energy efficiency and leveraging more investments in the building sector, especially in the existing stock. Indeed there is a wide range of policies at EU level which require Member States to set a number of regulatory, informative and economic measures with the aim to improve the energy performance of buildings. What is clear is that the existing policy mix needs to be reviewed as experience shows that actual energy efficiency investments in this segment of the building stock neither meet the scale nor the quality aligned with its overall potential. For now, economic instruments appear to dominate the policy framework for existing buildings, while the need for more market action and enhanced private sector involvement is increasingly highlighted as this offers the only sustainable route for scaling up existing efforts. This report deals with the importance of existing economic instruments in leveraging energy efficiency investments in buildings, examines their effectiveness in delivering energy savings as well as relation with other policy types. Based on experiences drawn from current practices, it increases our understanding of the type, scope and mix of economic instruments best suited to tackle demand-side energy use in existing buildings. The report also identifies innovative financing mechanisms and proposes other measures beyond current practices, which can further stimulate the market and offer more scalable solutions.