Savings through Active Energy Efficiency
October 20, 2010 at 7:42 pm | Posted in News from Members | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, Return on investment
Investing in energy efficiency in a building (new or existing) is by far the most popular measure in terms of return on investment. In all cases saving energy means saving money. The costs associated with energy efficiency measures are simple investments that will be returned in the future from lower energy bills.
According to Schneider Electric, there are two approaches for achieving visible results in energy saving that should be both considered when planning an innitiative regarding energy efficiency- Passive Energy Efficiency (that is regarded as the installation of countermeasures against thermal losses, the use of low energy consumption equipment etc) and Active Energy Efficiency (effecting permanent change through measurement, monitoring and control of energy usage).
The first step in any strategy or plan for reducing energy consumption in your organisation or at home is to measure and evaluate the exising energy consumption through an energy audit of the building. Like Lord Kelvin was saying ” What can be measured, can be evaluated, improved, directed – in short managed”.
The Active Energy Efficiency concept proposed by Schneider is broadly analysed and detailed in a special White Paper “Making Permanent Savings through Active Energy Efficiency”. Take a look at the document if you want to find out more about energy control in buildings, the impact that energy efficiency has on reducing CO2 emmissions from the building, legal frameworks at the EU level that encourage and support energy efficiency in buildings , possible technical solutions for active energy efficiency and returns on investment.
Anca
Changes in the “Normative for thermo-technical computation of the houses elements, indicative C 107/2005″
July 30, 2010 at 2:44 pm | Posted in General | Leave a commentTags: Bucharest, Energy Audit, Energy Certification, Energy Efficiency, Legislation, Sustainable Development
The Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism has issued an Order for modifying the technical Regulation “Normative for thermo-technical computation of the houses elements, indicative C 107/2005” approved by order of the Ministry of transportation, construction and tourism no. 2055/205.
The following changes appear in C107:
- In the first part, for the computation of the necessary heat for heating, the 7.3 chart is replaced and some modifications appear at 7.8.2 point. This is a rectification.
- An actualization is done also for the minimum values of the Normalized Insulation Coefficients GN and of the Thermal Resistances Rmin, for buildings designed after 1.10.2010. This way the stakes are raised for construction specialists.
- For a more precise computation of the Global Reference Coefficient G1, the values of the control coefficients a, b, c, d, e were recomputed are the old values are replaced (C107/2).
Through these changes in C 105 normative, the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism is raising the standards for the construction field, and make it clear that correct thermo-technical computations are needed.
The changes can be viewed here.
Catalin Gauloiu
The Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism has made acreditation for energy auditors more accesible
July 30, 2010 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Certification | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, Legislation, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Development
The Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism lunched a draft for modifying the Annex of the Law from MLRTP no 550/2003 for approval the technical regulations “Guide for certifying energy auditors for buildings and installations“. The old document in which was presented how to certify the energy auditors has been modified. The new guide comes with more details about the process. We will try to present a summary on chapters in which we will try to clarify the accreditation process regarding the old guide and the changes that were made.
The first chapter “General provision” refers to the specialists who can receive the certificate. They can be both from Romania and also from the European Union.
In the second chapter “The certification of energy auditors for buildings” are presented the levels of certification: AEC I and AEC II, and the activities each one can perform. This new Law draft makes clear the attributions of each category. AEC II can make audits only for apartments and one-family buildings.
The third chapter refers to the mandatory documents and conditions for beginning the accreditation. The submitted files are analyzed by a commission of 3 members. Then is presented a detailed list of all the specialists who can submit for accreditation. An important detail is that the file should be submitted at most 1 year after finishing the specialized studies. Another important change is the minimum period after you can apply to become an energy auditor. For AEC II is 3 years, from a 6 year period, and for AEC I is 5 years, from a 10 years period.
In the forth chapter are presented the technical and professional regulations for the certification. The review committees are formed by 7 members, high skill specialists in the construction field. More details about the examination process and the way the committee evaluates the candidates are presented in the fifth chapter. Some of the important changes presented in the last chapter are:
- The applicants that were rejected can ask for a reevaluation after a 6 month period, in the past document the period was 1 year.
- The rules by which the permit to do the energy audit is cancelled are more severe.
- The persons which are already accredited as energy auditors can ask for examination for AEC I or AEC II , in a 6 month period after this Law draft is issued.
As a general conclusion. the accreditation process became more facile. Conditions as the necessary seniority or the number of recommendations for submitting the file have changed, for more easy terms, making easier the whole process. The exam can be held in the big universities around Romania. For the construction and real estate market, the modifications are of support. The investments and transactions in this field won’t be burdened once the energy certificates are approved.
The Order can be viewed here.
Catalin Gauloiu
Lobbying for adoption of a strong EPBD
October 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm | Posted in General, Legislative Outreach | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, EPBD, Legislation, Lobby
The key points that were made in both meetings I had in Brussels for presenting our position paper on a stronger EPBD are:
1. Lobbying at national levels in other EU countries - to representatives from national Ministries is not inefficient – there are still negotiation on the position of the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is the most rigid institution in the trialogue and challenged important provisions from the current version of the Directive – such as common methodology for calculation, verification of inspection report and of the energy performance certificate (these only from the discussions that were made so far – on half of the amendments)
2. European Parliament is not in a hurry. Ms. Ticau said she won’t make a compromise on a weak Directive and if agreement is not obtained by December they will start the normal co-decision procedure that might take some time. The European Parliament (EP) wants to have an agreement soon, but not in the detriment of the content. Strong points that EP doesn’t want to make a compromise on – common methodology for calculation, setting energy efficiency requirements for building components , fiscal and financial measures to support the implementation of the Directive, net zero energy buildings.
3. Another important point – if the three institution fail to reach an agreement by December – the process might take much longer afterwords (Ms. Ticau was saying that some Directives are discussed in the Council for years).
The opportunity we have now is that the three institutions that are now negotiating – European Parliament, Council of Ministers, European Commission feel some pressure from achieving an agreement before Copenhagen – to demonstrate leadership in the negotiation there.
RoGBC decided to ask the other Green Building Councils in Europe (18 organizations) to start lobbying heavily at their national level for their governments to support an agreement at the EU level on a strong EPBD. This would help creating the needed market conditions all over EU for developing energy efficient buildings and rehabilitating the existing ones.
Anca
RoGBC signs position paper “Romania and Climate Change Policies – Economic Stimulus from a Green Economy”
September 19, 2009 at 4:46 pm | Posted in Events, Legislative Outreach | Leave a commentTags: buildings, climate change, conference, Energy Audit, Energy Certification, Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, GBC, Green Building, Green Building Council, green buildings, LEED, Legislation, Legislative Outreach, renewable energy, strategy, sustainability, sustainable architecture, Sustainable Development, WWF
The Romania Green Building Council (RoGBC) along with WWF Danube-Carpathian Romania, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Association of Energy Auditors for Buildings (AAEC) signed a shared position paper, regarding the measures that should be taken in order to encourage energy efficiency. The document, entitled “Romania and Climate Change Policies – Economic Stimulus from a Green Economy”, draws the attention on the economic opportunities associated with the implementation of environment policies, especially in the construction field. Some of the opportunities highlighted are the reducing energy costs, ensuring energy safety, raising comfort and creating new jobs.
In addition, the position paper underlines the necessity of immediate action in order to move towards a greener economy and explains that the practical measures to be applied do not represent budgetary costs, but investments towards a sustainable development. .
The position paper is available for reading here.
Energy efficiency conference organized by the Association of Energy Auditors – October 22-23
September 3, 2009 at 3:45 pm | Posted in Events | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, EPBD, event, Legislation, Legislative Outreach, meeting, sustainability
The capacity of Romania to meet the EU requirements regarding the energy performance of buildings
When: 22-23 October 2009
Where: Bucharest, Parliament Palace, Nicolae Balcescu room
Organizers: the Association of Energy Auditors for Buildings (AAEC) in collaboration with Commission of Industries and Services, with the support of the Chamber of Deputies.
It is a two day conference that will discuss the following:
- the technical regulations and legislation regarding the building energy audit, at a national and international level
- the institutional capacity of Romania to promote the energy efficiency of buildings
- the financial tools (national and EU) and banking products available for energy rehabilitation of buildings
- the building energy audit
- the architectural solutions available for the energetic rehabilitation of buildings, and other technologies available for energy efficienc buildings
- the use or renewable energy sources in buildings
- the impact of the Energy Performance Certificate on the real estate market
- the involvement of the society in the reduction of the energy consumption and the environment protection
- relevant aspects from the activity of the building energy auditors.
More details about the event and the Call for Papers can be found here. (Romanian version)
The Registration Form is available here. (Romanian version only)
ARCHIBUS receives Buildings Magazine award
August 6, 2009 at 1:32 pm | Posted in News from Members | Leave a commentTags: BREEAM, Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, Green Building, green buildings, LEED, sustainability, sustainable_development
The RoGBC member ARCHIBUS received an award from the Buildings Magazine, attesting the excellent quality of their software ARCHIBUS TEAMS. The company received this distinction during the 2009 edition of “Top 100 Products/Services“.
Each year, the magazine awards 100 elite products, that go under a thorough selection process, based on criteria like the ease of use, the durability/life-cycle, the efficiency or applicability,the universal appeal and the sustainable/green elements.
The ARCHIBUS TEAMS suite of environmental applications was developed by ARCHBUS Solution Center – Environment + Sustainability Services, and contains environmental applications integrated with geographic information system (GIS) applications developed by ESRI. The applications contained in the ARCHIBUS TEAMS environmental software are:
- Compliance & Financial Management – For consolidating Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) programs and tracking permits, orders, corporate initiatives; includes calendar with e-mail notifications.
- Environmental Monitoring – Consolidates monitoring data, manages data for any media, compares data to standards, plots and reviews trends.
- Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) – Collects information on training, incident reporting, as well as medical monitoring.
- Clean Building – Manages asbestos, lead-based paint, and other hazardous material.
- Green Building – Tracks and documents progress toward LEED certification and Green Rating projects, as well as carbon footprint metrics.
- Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS) – Web-based MSDS inventory; search by location or chemical manufacturers.
- Waste Management – Manages any wastes/discarded materials; recycling; tracks storage, transportation, and final disposition/storage.
Tudor Trita, CEO of ARCHIBUS Solution-Centers Romania, said that “the recognition of the quality of our environmental software ARCHIBUS TEAMS given by such a well-known instance in the Facility Management world such as Buildings makes us very proud and at the same time is yet another confirmation of the quality of the ARCHIBUS solutions.
Software for calculating the energy efficiency of buildings
July 20, 2009 at 2:48 pm | Posted in News from Members | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Certification, Energy Efficiency, EPBD, Green Building
Nemetschek Romania launched a software package dedicated to “Calculating the energy efficiency of buildings”. The software, which is fully translated into Romanian and complying with the current legislation, uses all the architectural data from the unique model of the building, avoiding the potential errors due to defining the building through a great number of numerical data, that are difficult to manage. The package supplies all the features necessary to obtaining an energy efficiency certificate, including instructive tutorials.
Obtaining an architectural model is very simple. After 10 to 12 hours of preparation, a user with no experience in assisted planning can, in approximately 3 hours, make a model of a P+4 apartment building, with two entrances, in compliance with the requirements of the Energy Efficiency of the Buildings Program.
The software automatically determines the physical characteristics of the architectural elements, allowing the Certificate for Energy Efficiency of the Building to be printed with just one mouse click.
The certificate is obtained according to MC001/2007 and elaborated by applying the law 327/2005, which includes energy consumption for heating, hot water and lighting.
Also, the software offers a quantity list of added materials (e.g. new insulation layer) for rehabilitation options.
Nemetschek offers live demonstrations to those interested in test running the software program.
Online Training Video: Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
April 10, 2009 at 11:26 am | Posted in Events, Training | 1 CommentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Certification, Energy Efficiency, EPBD, Green Building, Legislation, renewable energy, sustainable_development, Training
We are pleased to announce that videos from our training on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive are now available online. The presentations are in Romanian, with subtitles in English.
“How to get an A rating on the Energy Performance Certificates?” was held in October 2008. It was a training event dedicated to explaining the most important aspects to be considered to score the highest rating on the energy performance certificates in the European Union’s mandatory Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
The presentations covered: definitions and benchmarks in a building energy performance certificate, energy saving measures (insulation, architecture and vicinity passive solutions, traditional and unconventional heating systems, lighting, ventilation and air conditioning, etc), case studies.
To view the presentations, go to www.RoGBC.org, Watch Green Videos section.
a WWF press release on the recent gas crisis…
January 11, 2009 at 11:14 am | Posted in Legislative Outreach | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, EPBD, Green Building, renewable energy, WWF
WWF published this recent press release on the gas crisis of the region and the need for a rapid move towards clean energy and energy efficiency. RoGBC will continue to work with WWF Romania to promote creation and implementation of effective energy efficiency in buildings legislation.
- Steve
You can read the press release here.
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