Funding instruments that would support roll-out of Positive Energy Buildings” Mia Ala-Juusela, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; Andreas Tuerk and Clemens Mayer, Joanneum Research

The article summarises the information about energy efficiency schemes that could be used for financing Positive Energy Buildings (PEBs), as well as potential needs for developing them to better support the roll-out of PEBs, based on the analysis carried out in the EXCESS project. We present the potential funding available for PEBs, especially for the type of buildings and technologies that we have in the four demos in the EXCESS project and suggest which would be the most suitable funding sources for similar cases as we have in the demos.

We start with a short reminder on the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, and the European level legal framework. Next, the financing schemes available for PEBs are analysed, starting with a short summary of general funding sources and the funding instruments available on the European level.

The benefits of PEBs include, among others, those related to energy efficiency, but also those related to the use of renewable energy sources. The legislation sets the scene for the PEBs and also partly for the funding, as the funding instruments are usually structured for supporting the legal framework. These include elements for both energy efficiency improvements and increase of the capacity of renewable energy in the European Union. The realisation and detailed planning of these EU-level targets, strategies, and directives are mostly left for the individual Member States, so the practices and emphases may vary in the individual countries.

A conclusion of our analysis is that there are many different funding opportunities and schemes available for energy efficiency and renewable integration. The wide variety of schemes is actually creating challenges for the investors and house owners, as it is sometimes hard to find the right channel. Also, applying for funding from different providers may create challenges in the timing, as the decision-making may have different lengths in different institutions. From the point of view on PEBs, it is a major challenge that most of the funding schemes are linked to a certain technology. PEB solutions can be achieved with different combinations of technologies, and it requires the use of several solutions to reach the PEB level. A more holistic approach incentivising technical systems or modular technology packages will be key to accelerate the implementation of PEB technologies.

This requires new ways of formulating the requirements for the funding, and potentially co-operation between the funding agencies. But also, funding schemes that specifically target district level renovations may be of high importance. More holistic funding may require the consideration of new target groups, such as service providers, building renovation aggregators, or energy communities. Finally, additional criteria for obtaining funds, such as social criteria for low-income citizens next to the above-mentioned sustainability criteria, may play an increasing role to mainstream the PEB concept.

Contributing projects:

• EXCESS

Session Chair:

Mia Ala-Juusela, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland – Andreas Tuerk, Joanneum Research – Clemens Mayer, Joanneum Research