Codema visits Florence for Regions putting Energy Efficiency First (REEF) project
Partners and stakeholders shared learnings from their territorial analyses and potential solutions to the barriers of the EU’s Energy Efficiency First (EE1st) principle.
Last week, James Lawson, Katie Harrington and Hannah Byrne represented Codema at the second Regions putting Energy Efficiency First (REEF) consortium meeting, hosted in Florence.
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.
Over two days in Florence, partners and stakeholders shared learnings from their territorial analyses as to the barriers to energy efficiency in their respective regions. Through a Good Practice marketplace, each partner shared potential solutions to the barriers of EE1st.
Insights shared
Codema’s role was to identify barriers to the Energy Efficiency First principle under several headings (regulatory, policy, governance, financial, capacity and communication). The Codema REEF team then identified seven Good Practices to share with the consortium. These Good Practices (GPs) gained interest from the consortium members, particularly the Energy Cloud initiative in South Dublin.
As the Dublin project partner, Codema contributed to the conversation coming from the regional perspective of the Clondalkin Decarbonising Zone (DZ). The objective of the DZ is to act as a test-bed for emissions mitigation measures and climate-positive change. Energy efficiency is a key enabler of the goals of the DZ, and Codema is leveraging the learnings from REEF to apply them to the DZ. Codema would like to thank Fionnghuala Ryan from South Dublin County Council (SDCC) for her attendance and invaluable insights shared on the local authority perspective.
Outcomes and learnings
The goal of this meeting was to share challenges that face each region and, through interregional cooperation, identify solutions. An energy efficiency already implemented in one region could be newly applicable to another. One of the key outcomes from the consortium meeting was the understanding that the barriers facing each region to not exist in a vacuum; other members from the ten project partners identified similar to barriers to EE1st in their regions. As well as furthering international collaboration on energy efficiency across Europe, there was a group study visit to San Donato Hospital in Arezzo, showing a specific example of an approach to EE1st at an organisational level.
About REEF
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.
REEF