The challenge

The energy efficiency challenge is quite significant, yet only a small portion of the total energy consumption is used for heating and cooling in buildings. Millions of houses in Europe will need to be retrofitted to boost their energy efficiency to complete the energy transition by 2050 and satisfy the Paris Agreement targets. These buildings' retrofitting requirements include enhancing building envelope insulation, renovating their heating and cooling systems, and installing smart meters, controls, and management systems that are aligned with energy transition objectives.

This challenge emphasizes the necessity for large-scale retrofitting in cities, ideally backed by potential funding mechanisms. As a result, the Partnership for Energy Transition, under Action 4, leads on activities for the creation and operation of 'Deployment Desks,' which would primarily function as project development units as well as advisors (for municipalities and property owners), offering a potential solution to this challenge.

What is being done

Deployment Desks will be dedicated public offices at the local or regional level to promote urban renewal and energy retrofitting. This is accomplished through encouraging retrofitting among property owners and municipalities and assisting them with the procedure. Action 4 developed a guidance document which sets out how to create, develop and operationalise the 'Deployment Desk' concept in cities and regions.

Projects in Zaragoza, for example, have been very beneficial in terms of establishing a local organisational framework. In Zaragoza, the intervention approach presented aimed to establish the groundwork for 21 Urban Areas.

The main contribution of this work is the development of a method of its own, but of general application, based on the systematic and interactive treatment of physical and social information collection, problem diagnosis and intervention proposals, citizen participation in decision-making, organizational and management structure formation, and financing methods.

Practices from this region and other cities can lead to a systematic application of the method and lessons learned, which can be derived for the future and address energy regeneration from an integrated perspective, or that can be used as a reference in addressing any of the components.

More information

About the Energy Transition Partnership

About the Final Action Plan of the Energy Transition

About Action 4 Guidance document