REGIONAL ROUNDTABLE ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS REPORT ON THE FIRST MEETING ‐ SUMMARY TRIESTE, 07 DECEMBER 2012

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REGIONAL ROUNDTABLE
ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY
IN BUILDINGS
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REPORT ON THE FIRST MEETING ‐ SUMMARY
TRIESTE, 07 DECEMBER 2012
GOALS
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Identifying new forms of collaboration between public bodies and
private firms and subjects in order to encourage the funding of energy
retrofits (funding through third parties, ESCOs, etc.)
Contributing to drafting new, effective interventions in support of
energy efficiency in the region’s buildings (for example, communication
and awareness‐raising activities, training, information, guarantees
regarding access to credit, rules for the granting of economic incentives
to citizens, associations, or collective purchasing groups)
Assessing and approving strategies – in the political, economic, and
research and innovation spheres – concerning energy efficiency in
buildings in the Mediterranean area, which strategies will be submitted
to the European Commission by the MARIE project.

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Partecipants:
Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia:
AREA Science Park:
APE –FVG Energy Agency:
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ARES – Regional Agency for Sustainable Buildings:
ANACI FVG – National Association of
Condominium and Estate Managers:
Banca Popolare FRIULADRIA:
Trieste Chamber of Commerce:
Cassa di Risparmio del FVG:
Municipality of Pordenone:
dr. Nicola Manfren
dr. Gustavo Zandanel
dr. Paola Zuodar
dr. Enzo Moi
dr. Mario Floreani
dr. Matteo Mazzolini
dr. Fabio Dandri
dr. Angela Sanchini
dr. Gaetano Oliva
dr. Stefano Pressi
dr. Stefano Patriarca
dr. Daniele Quassi
dr. Federica Brazzafolli
dr. Giorgio Boz
Confartigianato Udine – Energy desk: dr. Salvatore Cane
ENERGOCLUB ONLUS: dr. Gianfranco Padovan
dr. Davide Labrosciano
Federconsumatori FVG consumers’ association: dr. Edo Billa
FIMAA UD – Italian Federation of Business Agents: dr. Lino Domini
Udine Association of Architects: dr. Michele Gortan
dr. Maurizio Amerio
Pordenone Association of Architects: dr. Mario Liut
Trieste Association of Architects: dr. Lorenzo Verbanaz
Trieste Association of Engineers: dr. Fausto Rovina
Udine Association of Engineers: dr. Giandomenico Merlo
WWF: dr. Alessandro Manzin
SolarOmega srl: dr. Maurizio Munarin
Weker srl: dr. Medessi Enrico
Moderator: dr. Fabio Morea
Working group coordintors: dr. Daniele Collenz, dr Manuela Masutti

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The Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Central Directorate for the Environment, Energy, and Mountain Policies
and Energy Service has officially launched the regional roundtable on energy efficiency in buildings and
established the Regional Interest Group (RIG) as part of the MARIE transnational project, financed by the
MED programme. The RIG, which draws together the area’s political and economic stakeholders, aims to
contribute to drafting new and effective ways to intervene in support of energy efficiency in the region’s
buildings (for example, communication and awareness‐raising activities, training, information, guarantees
regarding access to credit, rules for the granting of economic incentives to citizens, associations, or
collective purchasing groups).
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The work of the RIG, which is coordinated by AREA Science Park and will include additional meetings over
the course of 2013, will produce a participatory document presenting suggestions and proposals for the
regulation, discipline, and incentive of energy retrofits, on the basis of the actual needs of the region’s
citizens and professionals in the energy sector.
The first meeting of the roundtable on energy efficiency, which saw the participation of the region’s main
stakeholders, began with the observation that the regional administration can directly or indirectly
influence the energy efficiency of buildings through ad hoc norms or measures (such as certificates,
building regulations, incentives to private individuals for the promotion of energy efficiency, etc.); listening
to the points of view and the proposals of the region’s various stakeholders can help identify targeted,
effective actions. The ensuring debate focused on five key themes; at the end of the meeting, the
participants suggested these themes would best be addressed over the course of a series of theme‐based
meetings:
a) CERTIFICATION
b) MEASUREMENT and MANAGEMENT of CONSUMPTION
c) ESCOs and COLLECTIVE PURCHASING GROUPS
d) FUNDING and INCENTIVES
e) TRAINING and INFORMATION
At the end of the meeting, the regional administration stated it was highly satisfied with the result and with
the willingness of all participants to work towards concrete solutions. The administration suggested that
future meetings also involve all relevant regional offices, in order to identify participatory, shared solutions
to contribute to the energy retrofit of the Region’s buildings.
a) CERTIFICATION
All participants agreed on the need for a clear certification system that citizens will find easy to understand.
Current regional and national regulations have proven to have numerous shortcomings:
o energy certification methodologies based exclusively on consumption under standardized
conditions (rather than on the building’s actual consumption);
o Technically complex energy audit certification, excessive costs, and mandatory application even in
cases where it does not provide any useful indications for citizens;
o The current energy audit certification system has not been fully implemented, and according to the
Regional Agency in charge of its dissemination there is a need for more controls and stricter limits,
and it is necessary to update Regional Law 23/2005.
The identification of reliable, objective systems to calculate consumption, the application of
environmental certification on a voluntary basis, energy auditors whose tasks are better defined, and the
proper consideration for energy efficiency classes in determining property values are deemed to be of
fundamental importance for effective energy audits. This would make energy certification a truly effective
tool for encouraging energy retrofits in the region’s buildings. By the same token, after having agreed

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upon a shared certification system, it is necessary to design and implement an information and training
plan targeting professionals and citizens to guarantee the dissemination and proper use of this
instrument.
Additionally, for the sake of clarity, it would be preferable to talk about KWh savings, and to provide an
indication (in €) of the value of these energy savings, using standardized, unambiguous calculation
systems.
b) MEASUREMENT and MANAGEMENT of CONSUMPTION
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The second topic identified during the debate concerns the measurement and correct management of
consumption. Measuring, and this knowing, one’s energy consumption is a necessary preliminary step to
search for energy‐saving solutions. The participants agreed on the importance of adopting reliable and
objective ways to measure consumption as a starting point for planning all activities related to energy
efficiency. For the sake of clarity, it would be preferable to talk in terms of KWh savings – as opposed to
reductions in CO₂ emissions – and to adopt certain and unambiguous measurement systems. The adoption
of simple, user‐friendly instruments (that can immediately translate consumption into costs: e.g. KWh into
€) would allow citizens to measure their own consumption, and help steer them towards choosing
technologies to lower consumption or adopt behaviours which make it possible to lower one’s utilities bill
without the need for financial investment. The example of many Italian regions, which have made it
mandatory to install thermostats or heat meters to heating systems, was cited as a “best practice” that the
Friuli Venezia Giulia would do well to adopt.
c) ESCOs and COLLECTIVE PURCHASING GROUPS
Would it be possible, in our region, to fund energy retrofits through the intervention of energy service
companies (ESCOs)? What are the potential obstacles? Could the Friuli Venezia Giulia regional
administration encourage the use of this tool, which is quite widespread elsewhere in Europe?
The participants’ discussions and opinions evidence a high degree of interest in such an instrument, but
they also stress the difficulties of finding a win‐win formula that would make it possible to launch, on a
large scale, a process to involve ESCOs in the regional retrofit market, whether in the public, property
management, or individual residential sectors. Some participants felt that ESCOs should be more pro‐active
in their relations with local authorities and with condominiums, and should actively engage condominium
administrators. It was pointed out that the region’s entrepreneurial fabric is made up mainly of SMEs with
limited financial capabilities, and that this is an obstacle to the diffusion of EPCs (Energy Performance
Contracts). Over the course of the discussion, two initiatives were presented which could be considered
energy retrofit interventions similar to the ESCO model:
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ANACI‐Domotecnica initiative: a campaign promoted by Domotecnica, a private company, which
offers condominium administrators in Trieste and Gorizia a free energy audit for buildings with
central heating, and subsequently provides them with guaranteed solutions to improve energy
efficiency with ad hoc financing. This is an interesting example of a company that offers an energy
retrofit solution that is very similar to the ESCO model;
“DIY ESCO”, proposed by ENERGOCLUB: a financial product structured in such a way that a
household can carry out the interventions necessary to reduce consumption without affecting the
family budget, by offsetting costs with energy savings and thus paying back bank loans.

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Could collective purchasing groups prove to be an innovative and effective tool to equip our buildings with
energy‐saving technology at affordable costs, or to negotiate energy retrofits for residential or public
buildings with ESCOs, which would not otherwise invest in single buildings?
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A preliminary answer to this question was provided by an association whose mission is to contribute to the
transition from a fossil fuel‐based economy to one that relies in an efficient and sustainable manner on
locally‐available renewable energy sources. The association provides services, including consulting services,
to families and local communities, with collective purchasing groups and concrete proposals: information
and training events, energy audits, and collective purchasing groups for energy‐saving technologies. The
added value for end‐users includes support from independent consultants, as well as known costs and
guarantees. Some participants stressed the difficulties encountered in involving entire private
condominiums in networks of purchasing groups, given how difficult it is to achieve consensus among all
condominium co‐owners. Public administrations also faced significant obstacles in working with purchasing
group networks, due to the current rigidity of norms regarding the centralization of the procurement of
goods and services on the part of Italian public administrations.
d) FUNDING and INCENTIVES
Numerous proposals were made regarding incentives for energy efficiency in buildings and funding
possibilities apart from the direct disbursement of public funds. They are summarised below:
o direct interventions on the part of the regional administration to provide incentives for energy
retrofits (full building retrofit, possibly linked to an improvement in the building’s energy efficiency
class), including with revolving funds;
o studying specific agreements with local banks to broaden the range of available loans;
o establishing a link between the land index and the energy efficiency index and/or establishing
volumetric incentives whenever energy retrofits are carried out;
o assessment of experimentation with publicly held companies for carrying out energy retrofits;
o spreading of the financial product offered by ENERGOCLUB “DYI ESCO”;
o priorities for assigning incentives based on a technical‐economic efficiency indicator (KWh saved / €
invested to obtain the energy savings);
o facilitating access to credit for families (the Region could stand as guarantor);
o exemption from payment of the IMU homeowners’ tax in case of energy retrofits;
o fiscal incentives for investment in this sector and/or a reduction in the VAT for energy retrofits;
o Promotion of instruments in support of favourable credit terms for private companies (FRIE
revolving fund Regional Law 2/2012 etc.).
e) TRAINING and INFORMATION
Throughout the entire discussion, participants bemoaned the lack of an energy efficiency culture at all
levels, from citizens to the private sector and professionals. The need thus emerged to work in order to
carry out incisive awareness‐raising and training campaigns, targeting not only citizens, but also
professionals in the relevant sectors and key players in the regional administration.