Analyst, graduated from the International and Political Studies Faculty of the Jagiel-lonian University. Worked as an intern at the Polish Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and in the European Parliament in Brussels, dealing with fuel poverty among other things. Currently employed in the Institute of Environmental Economics, implementing projects in energy efficiency.
MAŁGORZATA KOJS, MA
* http://www.nfosigw.gov* http://
www.nfosigw.gov.pl/o-nfosigw/
aktualnosci/art,384.html.pl/o-nfosigw/aktualnosci/art,384.html
depending on the reduction of the building’s demand for usable energy and the co-financing of construction costs as a refund for incurred eligible expenses, depending on the reduction of the building’s demand for usable energy for heating and ventilation (Eu hv):
• reduction of Eu hv by 20–40% – co-financing of PLN 300/m2,
• reduction of Eu hv by 40–60% – co-financing of PLN 500/m2,
• reduction of Eu hv by over 60% – co-financing of PLN 700/m2. The Fund is also preparing detailed technical criteria that have to be fulfilled by these buildings. Each programme has a budget of PLN 300 million.
Programme Programme of subsidies to loans for the construction of energy-efficient houses and apartments for natural persons
Programme of co-financing for the construction of energy-efficient public buildings
Budget PLN 300 million PLN 300 million
Implementation period 2013–2018 2013–2020
Type of co-financing One-time subsidies to loans Co-financing for construction Level of co-financing • single-family houses
a) NF40 standard
– Eu hv 40 kWh/(m2 year) – subsidy PLN 30,000 gross;
b) NF15 standard
– Eu hv 15 kWh/(m2 year) – subsidy PLN 50,000 gross;
• flats in multi-family buildings:
c) NF40 standard
– Eu hv 40 kWh/(m2 year) – subsidy PLN 11,000 gross;
d) NF15 standard
– Eu hv 15 kWh/(m2 year) – subsidy PLN 16,000 gross.
The exact form of support has not been defined yet. The Fund is considering:
• co-financing of up to 70% of eligi-ble expenses connected with the construction design, depending on the reduction of the building’s demand for usable energy;
• co-financing of construction costs as a refund of incurred eligible expenses, depending on the re-duction of the building’s demand for usable energy for heating and ventilation (Eu hv):
– reduction of Eu hv by 20–40%
– co-financing of PLN 300/m2, – reduction of Eu hv by 40–60%
– co-financing of PLN 500/m2, – reduction of Eu hv by over 60%
– co-financing of PLN 700/m2.
Polish legislation does not specify the technical require-ments for nearly zero energy buildings. Pursuant to Direc-tive 2010/31/EU, such a definition should be included in the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Poland. One of the aims of this document is to increase the number of nearly zero
*
*
*
*
76 | Energy Efficiency in Poland – 2012 Review. Buildings
energy buildings. The Plan will be prepared by the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy. The aforemen-tioned directive states that from 1 January 2019 all new public buildings will have to display low energy demand. From 2021 this requirement will be extended to other types of buildings.
The National Fund hopes that the technical requirements that will have to be fulfilled under its two new programmes will help prepare the market for these changes.
Some people have accused the Fund of preparing a pro-gramme that mainly supports banks and affluent people who can afford to construct an energy-efficient house, as the sub-sidies for natural persons are available for those who take out a loan. The construction of a low energy house requires higher investment outlays during design and execution. The subsidy is insufficient to cover these additional expenses. Therefore, the programme will only be attractive for people who have already been planning to construct a house with high energy perform-ance or have been considering this. The Fund replies that this solution results from the fact that it has insufficient capacity to deal with all the applications and that bank involvement will al-low it to reach a greater number of people. The Fund hopes also that the programmes will act as an educational measure, stimu-lating the construction of energy efficient houses. Apart from energy saving and CO2 emission reduction, the programmes will undoubtedly promote new standards among architects, con-struction companies and final clients, which will stimulate the development of the Polish market for energy efficient materials.
The programme for natural persons alone will enable subsidies for 12 thousand energy efficient houses and apartments.
Subsidised credits will be available in: Bank Polskiej Spółdzielczości, SGB-Bank, Bank Ochrony Środowiska, Bank Zachodni WBK, Getin Noble Bank, Nordea Bank Polska and Deutsche Bank. On its website the National Fund presents de-tailed technical requirements and a good practice guide for ben-eficiaries, designers and construction companies.
The average energy consumption ratio per 1 m2 is very high in Polish buildings – in 2006 it amounted to 170 kWh/m2, while in Norway, where the climate is much harsher, it was slightly over 110 kWh/m2*. New buildings constructed in Poland are also among the most energy-intensive in the whole EU. Demand for heat energy for heating new houses constructed in Poland amounts to 90–120 kWh/m2; in Denmark it is much lower – 22–55 kWh/m2*. At the same time, only slightly over 18% of Poles are aware that heating consumes the largest part of their energy costs*. Public opinion research shows that one of the main barriers hindering the development of energy-efficient buildings in Poland is insufficient awareness in Polish society, i.e. a lack of information about energy consumption, a lack of in-formation about the benefits of energy efficiency improvement investments and a lack of information about possible sources of financing for such investments*.
The majority of Poles associate energy saving with turning off lights. Integrated thermal modernisation measures can re-duce energy consumption in a building even by 70–90%*.
One of the measures that is meant to help increase Poles’
awareness of energy saving issues is the conducting of edu-cation and information campaigns envisaged in the National