Improving energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective options for climate action and to meet growing energy demand in most countries. It contributes to energy security, a better environment, improved quality of life, and economic well-being. Out of all sectors of economic activity, the buildings sector has the largest potential for cost-effective improvement in energy efficiency and emissions reductions.
To help Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Moldova reap this potential, UNECE held national training seminars on high-performance energy efficiency standards in buildings. This helped strengthen the capacity of national authorities, building sector professionals (including energy managers and energy auditors) and other stakeholders to implement more advanced energy efficiency standards in buildings and introduce energy efficient technologies at the national level.
Conducted under the project Enhancing national capacities to develop and implement energy efficiency standards for buildings in the UNECE region and held under the auspices of the UNECE Joint Task Force on Energy Efficiency Standards in Buildings, the training aimed to (i) improve knowledge of stakeholders on energy management and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) in the buildings sector; (ii) provide information on institutional, organizational and legal aspects of energy management and MRV at the global and European Union levels; (iii) introduce municipal energy management as a part of the national MRV system; (iv) provide energy management information system and examples of energy management system tools; (v) cover energy audits procedure of buildings and multicriteria analysis; and (vi) provide best practices of funding possibilities for energy efficiency measures in buildings.
The training seminar in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova was conducted on 20-21 January 2022 with close to 100 experts participating. The event was jointly organized with the UNDP Office in Moldova, and the Agency for Energy Efficiency of the Republic of Moldova. Experts in the area of energy efficiency from the Russian Federation also took part in this training.
This complements recent training sessions in Armenia and the Republic of Moldova. The training seminar in Yerevan for 56 experts from the energy and buildings sectors was organized jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia the training also covered establishment of building sector MRV in the framework of the “De-risking and Scaling-up Investment in Energy Efficient Building Retrofits” project.
The training seminar in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for some 39 participants was organized jointly with the UNDP Office in Kyrgyzstan and the State Agency for Architecture, Construction, and Housing and Communal Services under the Cabinet of Ministries of the Kyrgyz Republic. The training was conducted in the Bridges Hotel, which serves as an example of implemented energy efficiency measures in a newly contsructed building.
In its final stage, the project will focus on assessing the impact of its activities on better implementation of best practices and guidelines developed by UNECE in the national measures to address energy efficiency in buildings.