Public Call for Implementation of EE Measures: Save Energy, Money, and Protect the Environment

The Law on Energy Efficiency of FBiH has been in parliamentary procedure for two years, and by signing the Agreement “Agreement on the Establishment of an Energy Community” in 2006, BiH has undertaken a series of obligations and deadlines that it is obliged to adhere to, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

One of the numerous obligations from the signed Agreement is the implementation of energy efficiency measures, and the establishment of an adequate record-keeping network, i.e., energy management in public institutions. The Draft Law on Energy Efficiency of FBiH mandates the Environmental Protection Fund of FBiH to establish and maintain an Information System for Energy Management in Public Buildings. In practice, this means that all public non-residential buildings with an area of over 500 m² will be obliged to monitor energy consumption and report it to the Fund.

The biggest obstacles to improving energy efficiency are: lack of a systemic approach and legal regulations, lack of financial resources and modern knowledge in this field, unclear administrative procedures, and inefficient exchange of information between authorities, investors, and the public.

However, although energy efficiency has not taken its rightful place in energy policy, projects and certain activities have begun to be implemented in the Federation of BiH in terms of increasing capacity and knowledge in this area.

In order to institutionalize the management of energy, costs, and emissions of public buildings in FBiH, and to assist in the implementation of energy efficiency infrastructure measures for public buildings in FBiH, the Environmental Protection Fund of FBiH, in cooperation with UNDP, is implementing a five-year Program (2014-2018) called GED (“Green Economic Development”).

The purpose of the Program is to create essential operational conditions and mechanisms for the implementation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's international obligations, and to ensure the implementation and application of EU directives in the field of energy efficiency in FBiH, while strengthening the capacity of public institutions. The primary goal of the Program and the project cooperation between UNDP BiH and the Fund is to create an environment conducive to investing in increasing energy efficiency in FBiH, while reducing public funds spent on energy and water consumption and allocating them to more priority investments, as well as employing local labor. Since 2015, the Program has also been financially supported by the Embassy of Sweden in BiH.

This Program was preceded by intensive formation of a database of public buildings in order to identify potential energy-saving projects, with the technical assistance of UNDP. In order to ensure continuous data collection, a permanent Public Call for Data Collection has been published since May 2013, intended for all local and cantonal self-government bodies that own and manage public non-residential buildings.

Data on buildings and their energy consumption are first entered into the Fund's internal database, and then into EMIS (Energy Management Information System). This is a software application for monitoring and analyzing energy and water consumption in public sector buildings, and as such, it is an indispensable tool for energy management in the public sector. Based on the energy indicators from EMIS, an evaluation is carried out and buildings are selected for detailed energy audits, and through re-evaluation, buildings are selected for the implementation of energy efficiency measures.

- It is important to note that the “GED” Project can co-finance the implementation of energy efficiency measures through a grant of 50% of the total investment, and the remaining funds must be provided by the beneficiaries from other sources. Only public buildings registered in the Fund's permanent Public Call are included in the evaluation. Also, buildings with an area larger than 500 m², and buildings registered in EMIS, into which end-users regularly enter the requested data for each month, are included in further evaluation – it was announced from the Environmental Protection Fund.

Application forms for the permanent Public Call, as well as other information, can be found in the text of the Public Call, which is available at the following link here

So far, 35 public buildings with the greatest justification for investing in energy efficiency improvement measures have been selected for the implementation of infrastructure measures, for which detailed energy audits have been previously carried out and project documentation prepared. Energy audits have been carried out on a total of 84 buildings in the Federation of BiH.

Energy efficiency measures are defined by a detailed energy audit for each building individually, and include insulation of the building's external envelope (installation of thermal insulation on the facade and roof of the building, on the ceiling above and below the unheated space, replacement of external openings), replacement of lighting, reconstruction of the heating system using environmentally friendly fuels such as biomass, installation of thermostatic valves, etc. After the implementation of these measures, monitoring of energy consumption in the buildings continues through the previously implemented EMIS, in order to show the actual savings and benefits of the Project.

The implementation of the GED project will create awareness and understanding of the importance of energy efficiency, not only among the general public but also among politicians, which is crucial for a country that spends about 20% of its GDP on energy, three times more than in other European countries.

In the coming years, the Fund will continue to implement and develop activities to increase energy efficiency and rationalize energy management in order to reduce CO₂ emissions and introduce an information system for energy management in public buildings. Furthermore, detailed energy audits, implementation of EE measures, promotion of EE and RES will continue, thus creating and transferring new knowledge and experiences from this field.

- In the next period, a revolving fund for financing EE projects will become operational. Thanks to the technical assistance of UNDP, we have jointly developed internal documents that will enable the establishment of this financial mechanism. We are in the final stages of preparing for the public procurement of banking services for these purposes, and we expect to successfully complete this process and provide our beneficiaries with a favorable financial line to implement projects that will enable savings in local budgets and create opportunities for allocating funds through new investments – the Fund states.

Detailed information on the Fund's activities in the field of energy efficiency within the framework of the Five-Year Program “GED” can be found on the website here