With a bit of help from my friends - the importance of networks

Panel: 6. Policies and programmes towards a zero-energy building stock

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Agneta Persson, eceee President, Sweden
Sara Elmén, WSP Environmental
Anders Göransson, Profu AB

Abstract

BeBo and BELOK are two national networks that serve as forums for property owners that strive for increased energy efficiency in the built environment. BeBo members are property owners of residential buildings, and BELOK members are property owners of commercial buildings. Both networks receive funding from the Swedish Energy Agency. Their goals are to:

• Strengthen relations between government, business and academia

• Stimulate development of new viable technologies, systems and methods for energy efficiency

• Disseminate, implement and create case studies

The members of the BeBo and BELOK networks have since their start developed tools and methods that increase members’ awareness of energy efficient renovation and cost-benefit analysis. This paper aims to assess the impact of these two networks, specifically in terms of achieved energy efficiency. It will also discuss to what extent members differ from a reference group of non-member property owners in respect of carrying out energy efficiency measures.

Data concerning total area, energy performance (kWh/m2) and the rate of carried out energy-efficiency measures has been collected from members of the two networks and from reference groups. In order to assess the network´s current and future impact on the market as a whole, the degree to which energy-efficiency measures have been implemented by the networks’ members has been compared to the efforts made by the reference groups and the effects that have taken place within the rest of Swedish building sector.

The results indicate that by 2013 BeBo had yielded a 0.5 per cent decrease of thermal energy end-use in the Swedish residential building stock (equivalent to approximately 135 GWh/a). BELOK’s impact is even larger, by 2013 it had yielded approximately a 2.3 per cent decreased use of thermal energy end-use in the Swedish non-residential building stock (equivalent to approximately 430 GWh/a). By 2030 these effect are calculated to have increased to 5 per cent (1 200 GWh/a) for BeBo and approximately 11 per cent (1 650 GWh/a) for BELOK. This assessment demonstrates that networks have a substantial impact on achieved energy efficiency in Sweden.