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EU-wide database makes results from energy efficiency projects accessible

Energy efficiency projects and renewable energy use in buildings and districts – the EU CONCERTO initiative presents a database of proven solutions

The EU CONCERTO initiative has presented a database of major construction and retrofitting projects which have already been or are still being carried out in 58 European municipalities and communities at Frankfurt's ISH 2013 trade fair. "We're putting the wealth of technical, economic and political know-how, created in the 58 pilot communities, out there for municipalities and cities to find solutions and inspiration in overcoming the energy challenges through the use of a user-friendly, interactive database," said Sven Dammann of the European Commission's Directorate General for Energy. "We can offer a wide variety of information," said Kilian Seitz of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the organisation that created the database. As an example, communities can start by gaining an overview of the technologies used in CONCERTO projects, along with the results of the projects, which include highly usable indicators such as CO2 avoidance costs and amortisation periods. Calculating these indicators includes both measured and calculated energy flow, with maximum transparency that assists in understanding how the values have been attained and how to interpret them correctly. Users ranging from engineers to politicians can retrieve information in a form useful to their particular purpose by applying specific search criteria: topic – such as project with solar thermal energy, target group – data and indicators that developers would be interested in and geographic or event-based indicators - useful for new construction projects or financing programme development. It even gives you answers to questions such as, 'Which showcase projects have shown the lowest CO2 avoidance costs,'" stated Seitz, although he also pointed out the need to take regional and national circumstances into account in the analysis – starting with projects in your own country is always a good idea. Even so, everyone involved in the EU CONCERTO initiative would agree that taking a glance across national borders might well reward you with valuable insights from the database. "Municipalities and communities planning energy efficiency projects and new installations to increase renewable energy utilisation can find solid arguments to clinch it for decision makers," claimed Emil ter Horst, from the Community of Almere in the Netherlands, on his visit to Frankfurt. Recent years have seen the creation of a new district that is supplied by heating from a solar thermal power plant as well as other sources. This ensures that 10 percent of the district's heating requirements can be produced locally from renewable sources in Almere. Overall, the project reduced CO2 emissions for heat energy by 93 percent and the electric power used is 100 percent green electricity. "We can't yet tell the range of information that this database will be able to give us in the future," added Ciaran Lynch from the Limerick Institute of Technology in Ireland. North Tipperary not only has the country's first eco-village but many existing buildings have also seen an energy revamp with modern heating systems, such as highefficiency gas burners, as well as solar thermal and biomass heating being installed. Monitoring the various projects has played a major role in the project. The CONCERTO initiative The EU CONCERTO initiative has 58 municipalities and communities working together towards a common goal – the goal of turning Europe's energy revolution into reality. Energy-efficient new buildings have been built, existing buildings have been renovated, and entire neighbourhoods have been rebuilt to use less energy and draw on local renewable sources to satisfy their remaining demand. The projects are geared to local conditions in a varied mix of building efficiency and renewable energy activities. The CONCERTO initiative is funded by the European Union through the European Research Framework Programme. CONCERTO website: http:// www.concerto.eu More details also available in the CONCERTO blogs: http://www.concerto.eu/concerto/blog.html YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CONCERTOPREMIUM Twitter: https://twitter.com/concertopremium This press release is available in the following languages: Bulgarian - Czech - Danish - Dutch - English - Estonian - Finnish - French - German - Greek - Hungarian - Italian - Latvian - Lithuanian - Polish - Portuguese - Romanian - Slovakian - Slovenian - Spanish - Swedish http://concerto.eu/concerto/news-and-events/news-events-press-releases.html Contact: CONCERTO Premium: Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum Valerie Bahr and Charlotte Schlicke Tel: +49-711-123 4021, Tel: +49-711-123 4018, E-mail: concertopremium@steinbeis-europa.de The CONCERTO Initiative is co-financed by the European Commission through the European Research Framework Programme. The EU initiative of DG Energy has co-funded 58 communities in 22 projects in 23 countries and started in 2005. CONCERTO Premium: The Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum – Your partner for innovation in Europe The Commissioner for Europe of the Minister of Finance and Economics of Baden- Württemberg and his operational unit, Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum (SEZ), have been supporting companies, universities and research organisations in Baden-Württemberg since 1990 to access European funding, generate project ideas and submit applications, implement and manage European projects. SEZ is the National Contact Point for SMEs in Baden-Württemberg on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It also acts as the EU’s Contact Point for Universities on behalf of the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts in Baden-Württemberg. As a partner in the Enterprise Europe Network, SEZ has been appointed by the European Commission to stimulate innovation and to promote transnational technology transfer. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Württemberg. It fulfils the mission of a university and the mission of a national research centre of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.

Countries

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom