Three main objectives are in the centre of EESI:

• Local and regional capacity-building through targeted information and consultation for relevant decision makers (e.g. real estate managers, local treasurers, political stakeholders, financial institutions)
  
• Broad promotion and implementation of EPC pilot projects with the public sector as leading example
  
• Advice to policy-makers on the potential contribution of energy services to national energy efficiency objectives

For more information on EESI: http://www.fedarene.org/publications/Projects/EESI/home.htm

FRESH – Social Housing comprehEnsive Refurbishment through energy Performance contrActing (FRESH)

Lack of adapted funding is a major barrier to the energy retrofitting of social housing in Europe. Funding could be found in Energy Performance Contracts (EPC), in which an Energy Service Company (ESCO) invests in a comprehensive refurbishment (CR - building insulation and renovation of the heating systems), and repays itself through the generated savings. EPCs have not been used until now in social housing because there is no visibility on the business model, although the market is well identified. In the SHERPA project, social housing operators and ESCOs from France, United Kingdom, Italy and Bulgaria propose to address energy performance contracting in social housing aiming at comprehensive refurbishment. The objective is to open the way and demonstrate to Social Housing Operators (SHOs) that EPC can be used for low energy refurbishment on a large scale, thus enabling to reduce by 4 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and to reduce energy costs for tenants; it will therefore test EPC in 4 countries and develop generic tools for the broader dissemination of EPC in social housing.

For more information on FRESH: http://www.fresh-project.eu