A regional workshop was recently organised by the Institute for Sustainable Energy of the University of Malta, within the framework of the Interreg Europe ZeroC02 project. The participating stakeholders came from the Energy and Water Agency, the Building Regulation Office, other public sector areas, and engineers and architects involved in the policies regarding energy performance of buildings and related topics.
This interregional cooperation project focuses on recommending policies that could make buildings not only near zero energy but also near zero carbon. The regional discussions on best-practice energy policies could assist in realising the concept of zero carbon dioxide buildings due to energy use, which is a step beyond the immediate scope of the current European directive on the energy performance of buildings.
A number of sessions were led by Eur Ing. Dr Charles Yousif and Ing Damien Gatt. A PESTEL analysis of the policies promoting energy efficiency and use of renewable energy resources was presented. Based on this, a regional policy report will soon be published.
The second part of the workshop presented and discussed an easy to use guide, based on the Maltese climate context (to our knowledge the first of its kind for Malta), identifying a simple yet effective hierarchical approach of which technology measures should be prioritised, from both a technical and economic point of view, to reach NZCO2EB for both new and retrofitted public buildings in Malta.
Both presentations have been uploaded on Researchgate and can be found on the following links:
- Interreg Europe ZEROCO2 regional policies report promoting energy efficiency & renewable energy Malta
- Interreg Europe ZEROCO2 technology options towards NZEB (NZCO2EB) for Malta
At the end of the workshop, discussions took place and stakeholders’ feedback was sought on the various technology options. The ultimate aim is to identify the best technologies that can be included in policy measures to facilitate the transition to near-zero CO2 buildings due to energy use.
The project is entering its third semester as of April 2017, when a more robust analysis of the status quo and the future scenarios for reaching zero carbon dioxide emissions will be dealt with. For more information on the project and to remain updated on events and deliverables one may visit the facebook page or send an email to Charles Yousif or Damien Gatt
