The first UNECE Workshop on Energy Efficiency in Housing took place on 21-22 April 2009 in Sofia. The conference was an initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in partnership with CECODHAS, backed by the City of Vienna and hosted by the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.
This event will be followed by a second conference, to take place on 23-24 November in Vienna, and UNECE counts very much on continued cooperation and backing from CECODHAS.

The Second Workshop on Energy Efficiency in Housing, entitled “Towards an Action Plan for Energy Efficient Housing in the UNECE region” will focus on institutional, legal, policy, technological, public awareness, financial and other measures and solutions to enhance energy efficiency in housing. UNECE issued a call for proposals to select presentations for the conference, with deadline 15th of July.  Presentations at the workshop should focus on one or more solution and measure adopted in one or more of the UNECE countries, thoroughly explain strengths and weaknesses of the adopted measures, potential for replicability, and  sustainability.

Some key messages emerged from the first workshop:
→ It is necessary to establish housing associations to facilitate the renovation activities.
→ The housing sector should make the most out of the opportunities offered by the new regulation on ERDF. This requires high skills and competences at organisational level; housing federations can play a key role in this regard.
→ Refurbishment of the housing stock to higher energy standards requires a political decision and willingness of governments to allocate money to this end
→ Lack of trained workforce has been identified as a major obstacle in the achieving the energy savings potential in Europe, as well as a lack of tenants’ awareness about energy saving and energy efficient behaviour. There is a need for training and ‘green up-skilling’ for people working at all stages of building planning, management, construction and renovation and monitoringand evaluation. This “training process” should be institutionalised.
→ The energy efficiency responsibility should be shared by Energy suppliers.
→ The Social Housing sector due to its size and potential should play a key role in triggering the energy transition thanks to large scale demonstration projects.
→ Cooperation and exchange of good practice between housing organisations and relevant stakeholders should be strengthened and became part of the day-to-day activities of housing operators. The POWER HOUSE EUROPE initiative represents a valuable contribution to this.

> Should you be interested in presenting at the workshop, kindly send a 500 word description of your presentation to the UNECE Secretariat at: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

>Find out more on CECODHAS-UNECE joint activities HERE

>For further information visit also www.ee-housing.org and www.energy-housing.net