On December 15th, 2017, EcoAlbania organized a roundtable on the topic “Energy efficiency in the buildings” with representatives from the construction business sector, Albanian Association of Constructors, representatives from central and local government, and experts. During this meeting discussions were held regarding the new laws on energy efficiency and performance, energy certification of buildings, the improvement of consumers’ infrastructure, as well as on the financial benefits of the construction companies from the implementation of these laws.
During the roundtable with representatives of construction businesses, Association of constructors, representatives of central and local government, and experts. © V. Kabilli/EcoAlbania
There were also presented some data from the study on “Energy poverty” in the city of Tirana, conducted by EcoAlbania and EDEN Center. The participants’ attention was drawn by data indicating that the biggest part of the electricity bill expenses in Tirana families goes for water heating. Based on this data, experts and representatives from the construction businesses proposed some interventions on existing buildings in order to make their water heating system more efficient.
Mr. Gjergji Simaku, Director of the Department of Policies, Energy & Industry Development Strategy, at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, talked on the new laws “For energy efficiency” and “For the performance of energy in buildings”. He clarified the steps to be followed from constructors in order to receive the PEN certification (certification on energy). “The certification of buildings will be handled by the energy auditors which will be licensed by the responsible ministry. The certificate aims to inform the consumer on the class of energy the building provides. This certificate will make the differentiation on the buildings prices”, said Mr. Simaku.
The possibilities of funding and incentives for businesses that operate in the construction and reconstruction sectors, in the frame of working on making buildings more energy efficient were analyzed by Mr. Erjon Tase, Executive Director of the Academy of Political Studies. He listed the funding possibilities from programs implemented by the municipalities, spoke on the ESCOs (energy service companies) and the audit companies as profit sector. On the other hand, “The National Fund for Energy Efficiency is a tool that can be used from businesses working on the construction sector as a funding opportunity. This fund is not functional yet because of the delays on the approval of related sub-legal acts.” – he said.
The business representatives presented their proposals for possible improvements on sub-legal acts, determination of standards and norms in order to improve consumers’ infrastructure and facilitate constructor’s work. These recommendations were taken into consideration to be analyzed by the representatives of the central government.
This activity was organized by EcoAlbania in the frame of “Together – an eye for the environment” project and is financially supported from the Swedish Embassy within the SENiOR-II program implemented by Regional Environmental Centre – REC Albania.
