The members of the GiDomus consortium held an exclusive webinar this morning aimed at local councils, supramunicipal entities, and county councils in the province of Girona to explore innovative solutions for energy rehabilitation and the energy transition in municipalities. During the session, the director of the Europace Foundation, Jordi Ayats, presented the project's impacts throughout its implementation, highlighting the energy rehabilitation of “more than 800 homes” and the mobilisation of “€11.8 million by 2027.”
The event began with the presentation of the LIFE-GiDomus project by the director of the Europace Foundation, Jordi Ayats, who emphasised the initiative’s goal of “accelerating the pace of energy rehabilitation in residential buildings in the Girona region.” To achieve this, Ayats pointed out the importance of “supporting the end user” through the actions proposed within the project’s framework, such as the opening of Energy Transition Offices, and of “generating demand” by simplifying the renovation processes.
Currently, there are two major barriers to energy rehabilitation in buildings, according to Ayats. “There is no real interest in carrying out this type of rehabilitation at a residential level,” he said, stressing the need to build “trust” among families and homeowners' associations, who will be responsible for these interventions. Secondly, Ayats also highlighted the renovation process itself, which for many users can be “stressful, slow, and complex,” as another obstacle to advancing rehabilitation initiatives.
GiDomus in the European context
The session continued with a presentation by Christophe Milin, project advisor at the European Commission for the Horizon and LIFE programmes in the field of energy efficiency. Milin placed the GiDomus project within the European context and outlined the European Union’s priorities in the energy sector, focusing on housing and referring to the EPBD and EEC directives, which set the path “to reduce primary and final energy consumption in Europe.”
He also discussed the OSS (One-Stop-Shop) concept, which underpins the GiDomus project and is expected to be key in simplifying energy renovation in buildings. As part of the strategy to promote OSS, Milin highlighted the importance of “cultural change,” “streamlining access to financial support,” “building trust,” and “aggregating small-scale investments.”
One-Stop Shops: A key element for residential decarbonisation
During the session, Ayats also discussed the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) model, which is designed to “boost the local economy and facilitate interaction among different rehabilitation stakeholders by centralising processes, training professionals, and creating synergies with existing initiatives.” In this regard, the director of the Europace Foundation also referred to the role of OSS in the new European directives, where they have become a “key element” in the decarbonisation of the residential sector.
Interactive session with public administrations
To meet the session’s objective, the consortium members organised an interactive session with local public administrations to learn about the initiatives currently being carried out in the region and to seek synergies with existing building energy rehabilitation projects.
The session concluded with a Q&A session, during which technical experts and public administration officials shared their experiences and clarified doubts regarding the project.