Financing energy efficiency in buildings: an overview of current and upcoming European funding programmes

Panel: 3. Policy, finance and governance

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Giulia Conforto, e-think, Austria
Marcus Hummel, e-think, Austria

Abstract

The European Union is among the frontrunners of the global low-carbon transition, with production and consumption patterns undergoing a bold shift. However, its building sector struggles to follow this trend: despite its essential role to achieve carbon neutrality, building renovation rates remain too modest to achieve EU climate targets. Several barriers hinder a deep renovation of the built environment. Among these limited access to funding, which, if lowered, could benefit also other barriers by outsourcing tasks or hiring consultants.

Focusing on the research question “What EU funding programmes can support energy efficiency interventions in buildings?”, this paper gathers a concise overview of financial instruments and, acknowledging their still limited uptake, looks into instruments to counteract market inertia, diving into EU funding programmes. A combination of literature review and desk research provides an up-to-date overarching review of funding programmes offered by European institutions and related entities for energy efficiency in new and existing buildings, including building thermal renovation, efficient heating and cooling, and district heating and cooling. Each funding scheme is listed with details on eligible topics, applicants, budget, duration, and relevant links.

Given the complexity, variety and dispersion of the EU funding landscape, the financial barrier seems to lay less with the availability of funding and more with the limited functionality and accessibility of information for beneficiaries. Raising stakeholders’ awareness of available options, often underutilized, seems a needed step to advance the decarbonization of the building sector. This study tries to fill a research gap by offering a way to discover new instruments and providing tools to guide the reader in what programme could be worth further investigation based on relevant topics, beneficiaries, forms of finance and bankability of eligible projects.