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Read more about the REEF project here.
Codema attends REEF partners meeting in Buzău, Romania
From the 23 – 24 September, 2026, Regions putting Energy Efficiency First (REEF) partners met in Buzău, Romania, alongside other key stakeholders and representatives of the local municipality and County Council, for the project’s Interregional Meeting 3.
Purpose of the activity
The purpose of this consortium meeting was to exchange the Good Practices (GPs) identified and assess how they could address the barriers which emerged in the various territories. Following on from the interregional meeting in Florence earlier in 2026, several GPs were selected for discussion.
Additionally, an exercise was carried out as to how Energy Efficiency First (EE1st) could be integrated into the local policy contexts in real practice, preparing the team for the final deliverable in the REEF project; a change in policy to implement EE1st in the next South Dublin County Council Climate Action Plan.
There can be three types of policy changes as part of the REEF project:
- New projects financed
- Change the management
- Revision of the instrument
During the two-day project meeting, partners presented on their GPs and attended a study visit tour of Buzău residential buildings and Romania’s first Circular School. As well as this, the students from Middelfart, Denmark’s Inge Lehmann School shared their experience as mini consultants on EE1st.
Codema's role in this activity
The REEF partners expressed interest in two GPs implemented in Ireland: The Home Energy Saving Kit and Energy Cloud. Members of Codema’s Energy Planning Cell attended the consortium event. Energy Systems Engineers James Lawson and Marion Letournel engaged with partners on two selected GPs.
The Energy Planning Team attended presentations from project partners on their own GPs with a view to potentially implement them in local Dublin regions such as the Decarbonising Zones.
As Codema’s REEF project lead, James Lawson attended the concluding Steering Committee meeting which discussed next steps.
Key outcomes
The Codema team learned about the implementation of EE1st in Romania and other insights from the wider consortium as to how they have brought about positive change in terms of energy efficiency and climate impact.
One key outcome of the meeting was the discussion centred around the policy change pictured below. Workshopping how to go about a specific policy change required holistic thinking and inputs from all partners. This ongoing exercise will ensure a tangible impact on Climate Action policy in the South Dublin region with potential to extend to other territories across Ireland.
REEF project background
REEF’s overall aim is to support public authorities at local and regional level to apply the principle of Energy Efficiency 1st across relevant policy areas, thus contributing to achieving climate targets.
For Dublin, this project will focus on the Clondalkin decarbonising zone, and will be using the South Dublin 2024-2029 Climate Action Plan, as a policy instrument focusing on the Energy Efficiency First principle.
