Buildings in the EU need to be renovated in order to use less energy, which is reflected in the EU directive on the energy performance of buildings. In Slovenia, as many as 70 percent of the total area of residential buildings and 60 percent of non-residential buildings were built before 1985, while they are also located in a seismically endangered area. The renewal is therefore all the more important: because of the considerable investment costs, complete renovation is also encouraged by the state through various mechanisms. Public sector buildings must take the lead and set an example for energy efficiency. From this year onwards, all new public buildings will have to be nearly zero energy, and from 2021, the same will apply to all other new buildings.

Already in 2012, the University of Ljubljana has begun with activities for securing technical assistance from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and drafted a proposal, which marked the beginning of a systematic approach to energy efficiency and sustainability. This supported further activities of UL related to energy efficiency in building (energy renovation). The University now already has an elaborated energy strategy, concept, information system and energy management.

Technical assistance ELENA, a joint initiative of EIB and European Commission, was successfully acquired by the City of Ljubljana (COL): energy renovation of buildings under the ownership of the City of Ljubljana is being carried out since 2013, and 48 buildings have already been renovated following the principle of energy contracting. The Energy Advanced project has previously been promoted as a best practice example by the EIB. The COL project, carried out in public-private partnership with the consortium of companies Petrol and Resalta, has recently received an important recognition of the European Union. Within the framework of the Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum on the topic of financing projects in the field of energy efficiency and rational use of energy in Brussels, the Energy Advanced project received the European Energy Service Award 2019. We congratulate the COL and its Energy manager, Mrs. Alenka Loose.

IRI UL has been successfully cooperating with COL in different areas, from the expanded energy audits to jointly drafting Horizon 2020 project proposals in the field of energy and smart cities.

Cover photo: The European Energy Service Award 2019, Alenka Loose (COL), Blaženka Pospiš Perpar (Petrol) in Matic Baškovč (Resalta). (©Berliner Energieagentur)