Joining any of the future programs will be a “one-way street”. energy modernization of buildingsfor most owners real estate. The procedure, previously optional, is now almost mandatory for a number of reasons. The most important thing is of course the cost, well, through it “Keep at Home”ensured subsidy up to 75%, depending on the income of the applicant. In practice, this is a very important reinforcement, since after the pandemic and war in UkraineBuilding material prices skyrocketed, exacerbating already high costs.

Today it is believed that for a typical apartment of 80 sq.m, located in the lowest category Energy Efficiency Certificate (PEA), i.e. “H”, needs about 25,000 euros, or 312.5 euros/sq.m, to improve energy efficiency in two or more categories. Two or three years ago, the relative cost did not exceed 15,000–20,000 euros. Necessary works include energy-saving frames with a thermal break, applying thermal insulation to the facade of the facility and replacing the heating system, with autonomy and the use of an individual gas boiler, provided that the facility is located at a point served by the network.

50,000 property owners

Alternatively, system replacement heating this can also be done centrally, after agreement with all the owners of the apartment building. However, today most prefer to use individual systems, as this avoids a significant “headache” associated with building management. In fact, even if a joint decision was made to replace, for example. oil boiler, the most common option is not to buy a gas boiler, but to install individual boilers in each apartment so that each tenant can choose his supplier and control his consumption.

Based on the data, around 50,000 owners are expected to benefit from the ongoing Save at Home programme, with a total fundraising of €1 billion, of which €632 million is grants and the remaining €368 million is loan funds. . Thus, the average cost of real estate will be 20,000 euros.

The above figures, however, are a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the energy modernization that will need to be carried out in the country in the coming years. The “commitment” is that, since March last year, the European Parliament adopted a Community directive, according to which owners wishing to transfer or rent out their property had to take care of its energy modernization in advance. In the case of residential premises, this will apply from 2030. This obligation will only apply to properties that are in the two lower categories of the energy certificate and are either sold or leased (with new leases). Commercial real estate (e.g. offices, shops, warehouses, etc.) and real estate used by the public should reach the same target by 2027 (for category E’) and by 2030 (for category D’), and also, since they are also the subject of a new lease or sale.

This directive is part of the “Fit for 55” package, which raises the EU’s energy transition goals. towards a greener future. E.E. buildings they account for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions. The aim is to reduce energy poverty, improve tenants’ quality of life and reduce space heating and cooling costs, in addition to the clear benefit of reduced pollutant emissions.

Of course, there is already a significant reaction from Member States such as Italy, which, like Greece, has a very significant backlog of energy-intensive buildings from the past decades. The required funds and the scale of the projects are such that many doubt the feasibility of the established schedule. As they emphasize, even if the bureaucratic problems delaying the payment of the appropriate amounts of subsidies were magically resolved, and at the same time all interested owners had the appropriate financial means, the issue of the sufficiency of the necessary installation crews will be resolved. raised in order to proceed with the relevant work.

Census

In practice, more than 50% of the country’s building stock, or 2.2 million properties according to the 2011 census, will become unsaleable by 2030 unless tens of billions of euros of investment are made by then. This dimension applies to all buildings built from the end of World War II to the end of the 90s. Most of these buildings lack thermal insulation, which is a major component of energy retrofits to reduce energy consumption and therefore pollutant emissions. Today, a building from the 60s remains in the lowest category of the energy certificate, even if it was built, for example, in the installation of aluminum energy frames.

POMIDA has calculated that to upgrade an existing warehouse building to category C of the energy certificate, the necessary funds reach 30 billion euros. This amount is increased to more than 70 billion euros to meet the target set at the EU level. retrofit all buildings by 2050 to be considered zero emissions. In general, in the EU, the relative cost in today’s prices is estimated to require funds of at least 1.5 trillion. euros, while to date only 150 billion euros have been allocated (in the form of subsidies).

It should be noted that in accordance with the National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK), at least 600,000 buildings are planned to be energy retrofitted by 2030. a number that is already considered unlikely based on today’s exchange rate. It should be noted that 1.4 billion euros have already been allocated for these purposes from the Recovery Fund. However, the new EU directive will require additional funds, due to the need to include even more objects in the relevant programs. To understand the size of the project, it is enough to calculate that in previous cycles of the Save Homes program, the number of houses that joined was between 25,000 and 35,000 properties.