Initiatives to reduce energy consumption in Mediterranean public buildings

  • Smart energy management

Territories surrounding the Mediterranean Sea face similar specific issues with the adaptation to mitigation of climate change, specifically regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in public buildings. It is thus proposed that they work together on a strategy to capitalize on reference projects’ results.

SEACAP4SDG is a newly funded project under the ENI CBC Med Programme that stands for “Med SE(A)CAP integration through uniform adapted assessment and financing methods, mainly targeting buildings in education and health sectors, for sustainable development goals in a smart society”. The overall objective is to reduce energy consumption in public buildings through cost-effective approaches to energy refurbishment, integrating Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plans and innovative financial mechanisms.

The SEACAP 4 SDG will consider the Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plans (SE(A)CAP) background, under a common vision, strategy and evaluation tool, to achieve Med SE(A)CAP integration through uniform adapted assessment and financing methods, for sustainable development goals in a smart society. SEACAP 4 SDG capitalizes on the outputs and outcomes of 13 projects, identifying characteristics to be generalized, and by adapting gained knowledge to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of energy refurbishment strategies adapted to local Mediterranean specificities, notably energy poverty. These outputs and outcomes will be implemented in 9 cities around the Mediterranean, selected using an approach developed under of the European City Facility initiative. Considering the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic downturn, the project will focus primarily on education and health buildings.

The project has a total budget around 1M€ and will run for 18 months. The consortium is formed by 9 European partners including Euromed Cities Network / Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis (Lead, France), the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT, Egypt), the University of Patras (Greece), the Naples Agency for Energy and Environment (ANEA, Italy), the Royal Scientific Society (National Energy Research Center (NERC, Jordan), the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC, Lebanon), the Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC, Spain), the Institut Valencia de l’Edificació (IVE, Spain) and Mediterranean Renewable Energy Centre (MEDREC, Tunisia),

The enlarged Partnership also includes 7 energy agencies from 6 countries (France, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Spain), who will also be direct beneficiaries of the Project. They will also act as relay groups for the promotion and dissemination of Project results and achievements to the target groups. Furthermore, the Mediterranean Association of National Agencies for Energy Management (MEDENER) and the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) will be part of the Advisory Committee providing guidance for the implementation of the Project.

Jordi Pascual, from the Thermal Energy and Building Performance group at IREC, co-leads the Spanish contribution in this project.

More information: https://www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/seacap-4-sdg

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This project has received the financial assistance of the European Union under the ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme.  The 2014-2020 ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme is a multilateral Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) initiative funded by the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI). The Programme objective is to foster fair, equitable and sustainable economic, social and territorial development, which may advance cross-border integration and valorise participating countries’ territories and values.