This project builds on the success of the ICPEU project, which significantly raised awareness and understanding of the importance of the lack of standardisation being a market barrier to increasing the flow of capital into building energy efficiency projects and energy efficiency in general. The project also developed a credible solution, the IREE Certification scheme, co-created with industry leading stakeholders. The 154 members of the Technical Fora of the I3CP project shows the strong engagement of the technical community in Europe to participate in writing the documentation of energy efficiency projects in industry and street lighting and district energy. At the end of the first phase of the I3CP project, more than 100 professionals from across Europe have signed-up to the ICP Trainings on Industry and Street Lighting Protocols, which demonstrates the interest in the Investor Confidence Project’s principles and Protocols, and willingness to develop projects accordingly.
The project has moved the state of the art by developing, deploying and proving the first system for the standardisation of the development of energy efficiency projects in industry, district energy and street lighting.
ICP has also pushed for the adoption of the ICP system in countries outside of the initial pilot countries and for the first time established partnerships with organisations in countries where ICP did not have in-country advocates, in order to make dissemination more efficient. At the end of the project, ICP has signed agreements for collaboration with organisations in France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain and Switzerland, thus adding to the geographical penetration of ICP.
ICP has been recognised as a significant market development and supported by many major players including within the financial sector. I3CP added new members to the ICP Investor Network. However, it is premature to measure the impact of ICPEU directly onto the volume of investments made in energy efficiency projects in Europe. Indeed, it is likely to take several years to complete enough projects to measure the impact on the volume of energy efficiency investment, or the reduced transaction costs and risk reduction, but the adoption of ICP by leading stakeholders and its incorporation into many other projects shows that the potential impact is high. As well as the impact in Europe the project has been presented on and reported globally. ICP has sparked interest in hosting linked initiatives in India, China, the Middle East and Australasia. Finally, ICPEU has been backed by the global leader in green build certifications Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI), which is a major win for the project as it will ultimately enable the continuation of ICP’s activities on a commercial basis in North America (United States and Canada) and in Europe.
