Periodic Reporting for period 3 - easyCOPRO (Open book EPC for Brussels’ condominiums)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-03-01 al 2022-02-28
This eayCOPRO project's initial objective was to develop a fully-fledged renovation package for Brussels based condominiums.
This project intended to offer the best solution to significantly simplify the decision-making process of co-owners and property managers to engage into heavy refurbishment procedures through an open book Energy Performance Contract.
The easyCOPRO partners wanted in fact to resolve the complex challenges faced by condominiums when retrofitting their building to improve global energy efficiency of their home and potentially generate renewable energy production. The easyCOPRO project therefore offers innovation in financial engineering, in overcoming administrative, legal and financial barriers and a high degree of replicability. The project is based on a multi-dimensional approach from technical to financial perspectives including global coordination
This project intended to offer the best solution to significantly simplify the decision-making process of co-owners and property managers to engage into heavy refurbishment procedures through an open book Energy Performance Contract.
The easyCOPRO partners wanted in fact to resolve the complex challenges faced by condominiums when retrofitting their building to improve global energy efficiency of their home and potentially generate renewable energy production. The easyCOPRO project therefore offers innovation in financial engineering, in overcoming administrative, legal and financial barriers and a high degree of replicability. The project is based on a multi-dimensional approach from technical to financial perspectives including global coordination
Assumptions were made by the partners on the renovations to be achieved in priority. At start, easyCOPRO partners wished the considered renovations to be the most complete and important ones to increase the energy savings.
Because of the long and complex process, only middle to big condominiums buildings were considered where it was possible to implement renovation with higher energy efficiency improvement potentials (e.g. old boilers especially fuel boilers to be replaced by new condensing ones, CHP - combined heat and power production - with general heating delivery, regulation).
The project started with the selection of 20 condominiums as potential candidates for which the project was applicable. It has been an ongoing process with new candidates getting in, quick audits to be managed, offers for full audit to be sent over and full audits to be conducted if offers are signed. For this reason, at the end of the easyCOPRO project, 11 out of 20 selected candidates have been offered a full audit within the easyCOPRO framework.
The detailed energy audit is the basis of all the following steps. If the property owners or managers were interested to go on, an adequate dedicated action plan had to be presented to the condominium in order to convince them to continue the project. The following step was to handle the adequate decision process specific to condominiums and potentially signing the Energy Performance Contract with easyCOPRO partners.
Because of the long and complex process, only middle to big condominiums buildings were considered where it was possible to implement renovation with higher energy efficiency improvement potentials (e.g. old boilers especially fuel boilers to be replaced by new condensing ones, CHP - combined heat and power production - with general heating delivery, regulation).
The project started with the selection of 20 condominiums as potential candidates for which the project was applicable. It has been an ongoing process with new candidates getting in, quick audits to be managed, offers for full audit to be sent over and full audits to be conducted if offers are signed. For this reason, at the end of the easyCOPRO project, 11 out of 20 selected candidates have been offered a full audit within the easyCOPRO framework.
The detailed energy audit is the basis of all the following steps. If the property owners or managers were interested to go on, an adequate dedicated action plan had to be presented to the condominium in order to convince them to continue the project. The following step was to handle the adequate decision process specific to condominiums and potentially signing the Energy Performance Contract with easyCOPRO partners.
Developing the template “open book energy performance contract” (“Open Book EPC”) has been one of the main activities of the consortium during the first 18 months of the project and has taken more time than expected due to its complexity.
The first version of the Open Book EPC was followed by the development of a second version of the Energy Performance Contract.
The second version of Energy Performance Contract still binds the different parties by financial incentives linked to the savings of energy consumptions which are contractually guaranteed. These savings on the quick wins works to be done at start will partly finance the less profitable works to be achieved later after all technical and urbanistic preconditions have been addressed.
The easyCOPRO partners have experienced many difficulties to convince the condominiums to continue the full project, they have in majority chosen to execute the most urgent and/or quick wins renovation works because:
- the upcoming climate regulations are not yet known or understood
- there is no understanding of most building technics proposed
- there is no priority on costly green renovation
- there is often no long-term perspective. Many declare they will not be resident of their apartment long enough to justify the investment (older co-owners or co-owners thinking to move)
- Co-owners have to face the most urgent works in priority (for instance replacement of hot-water plumbing, lifts,…)
- Co-owners are worrying about the consequences of important renovation
- Co-owners are worrying to increase their financial charge, which they say is already at the maximum they are able to support
- Co-owners do not really want to increase their debt, they prefer to make investments based on their own capital capacities
- Co-owners refuse to be at financial risk because of their neighbors
In most cases, the easyCOPRO team was the first external partner to inform the condominiums of the upcoming regulation (there was no communication yet on Brussels Region RENOLUTION strategy).
Moreover, the condominium decision process was and still is very heavy. When the covid crisis emerged in March 2020, all planed general assemblies were cancelled and rescheduled at the end of 2020, they were all held virtually. Even in 2021 most general assemblies have been cancelled and replaced by virtual ones.In this situation and in this context in which priorities for condominiums and co-owners in general were displaced to other subjects and other urgencies to be managed, there has been no time anymore to be spent by the syndics to innovative projects such as easyCOPRO.
The condominiums were unfortunately not convinced that achieving full renovation sooner than later was much better.
We have estimated the partial investments that have been made by these 11 condominiums plus one additional renovation which was a similar energy renovation with the implementation of an Energy Performance Contract inspired by easyCOPRO model.
In total almost 4.5 million euros of investments have been made on the basis of 7 confirmations and 6.6 million euros taking into account the unconfirmed ones. On the confirmed 4.5 million euros investment, 1.1 tCO2 are economized per year (31% less than initial emission) and 2.7gWh of primary energy are saved per year (15% less than initial primary energy).
The first version of the Open Book EPC was followed by the development of a second version of the Energy Performance Contract.
The second version of Energy Performance Contract still binds the different parties by financial incentives linked to the savings of energy consumptions which are contractually guaranteed. These savings on the quick wins works to be done at start will partly finance the less profitable works to be achieved later after all technical and urbanistic preconditions have been addressed.
The easyCOPRO partners have experienced many difficulties to convince the condominiums to continue the full project, they have in majority chosen to execute the most urgent and/or quick wins renovation works because:
- the upcoming climate regulations are not yet known or understood
- there is no understanding of most building technics proposed
- there is no priority on costly green renovation
- there is often no long-term perspective. Many declare they will not be resident of their apartment long enough to justify the investment (older co-owners or co-owners thinking to move)
- Co-owners have to face the most urgent works in priority (for instance replacement of hot-water plumbing, lifts,…)
- Co-owners are worrying about the consequences of important renovation
- Co-owners are worrying to increase their financial charge, which they say is already at the maximum they are able to support
- Co-owners do not really want to increase their debt, they prefer to make investments based on their own capital capacities
- Co-owners refuse to be at financial risk because of their neighbors
In most cases, the easyCOPRO team was the first external partner to inform the condominiums of the upcoming regulation (there was no communication yet on Brussels Region RENOLUTION strategy).
Moreover, the condominium decision process was and still is very heavy. When the covid crisis emerged in March 2020, all planed general assemblies were cancelled and rescheduled at the end of 2020, they were all held virtually. Even in 2021 most general assemblies have been cancelled and replaced by virtual ones.In this situation and in this context in which priorities for condominiums and co-owners in general were displaced to other subjects and other urgencies to be managed, there has been no time anymore to be spent by the syndics to innovative projects such as easyCOPRO.
The condominiums were unfortunately not convinced that achieving full renovation sooner than later was much better.
We have estimated the partial investments that have been made by these 11 condominiums plus one additional renovation which was a similar energy renovation with the implementation of an Energy Performance Contract inspired by easyCOPRO model.
In total almost 4.5 million euros of investments have been made on the basis of 7 confirmations and 6.6 million euros taking into account the unconfirmed ones. On the confirmed 4.5 million euros investment, 1.1 tCO2 are economized per year (31% less than initial emission) and 2.7gWh of primary energy are saved per year (15% less than initial primary energy).