NEWSLETTER

http://afterproject.eu/
Newsletter # 1 February 2012

PROJECT

Buildings account for around 40% of EU energy requirements. In the last five years, Social Housing Organizations have played an exemplary role in improving the energy efficiency of the housing sector. They have anticipated forthcoming national legislation and have punctually experimented with the construction of low-energy buildings and innovative energy refurbishment. AFTER aims to promote and continue this effort especially in light of the obstacles and challenges presented by the current economic situation. The AFTER project aims to enable participating and non-participating Social Housing Institutions and Organizations all over Europe to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock with cost optimal solutions. Its goal is to promote and develop existing European knowledge in the areas of energy saving strategies and encourage their implementation by companies in the housing sector. Social Housing Organizations in 6 different countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and Slovenia) and their partners -including National Housing Associations, Scientific Committee and National Tenants Associations- are cooperating to highlight and evaluate the most efficient and adaptable energy saving measures.

AFTER asserts the importance of establishing energy efficiency as a major goal even after construction of the building. The project promotes measures adapted to a variety of investments and situations. A special emphasis is placed on the important contributions of operation maintenance and management in the energy performance of buildings. AFTER will participate directly in improving energy efficiency by 20% according to the target set for 2020 by the European Commission.

SUMMARY
AFTER Presentation .............................. p.1 AFTER ESMs .......................................... p.2 Partners Interviews ............................... p.4 Review of Current works ..................... p.6 AFTER News and Events ...................... p.7 Dissemination/EU News ....................... p.8 Partners ................................................... p.9

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First results of AFTER have highlighted different working packages of energy saving measures. This inventory collects different types of investments and tools to guarantee the efficiency of buildings.

AFTER aims to identify and to promote innovative and relevant experiences across the European social housing building stock. Several Energy Saving Measures have been developed in the last five years with the goal of improving the all around energy performance of Social Housing Companies. AFTER partners will aggregate the different kinds of Energy Saving Measures and create a common framework for evaluating them and sharing information. Energy Saving Measures can involve a diversity of approaches, ambitions and strategies. The methods used will combine different tools and may or may not be related to specific technical solutions, may or may not require major investment, and may be short or long term strategies.

WP5. SYSTEM REPLACEMENT This category is specifically dedicated to the analysis and optimisation of ventilation, central heating and water heating systems that have been changed in the 5 last years.

WP6. BUILDING REFURBISHMENT This category is specifically dedicated the past interventions on existing buildings. Global retrofitting (intervention on the shell and on the systems) and punctual interventions on the shell (replacement of the windows, partial insulation) are considered even if the project focuses on the most recent interventions (less than 5 years old) but also integrating in the scope some older but relevant measures.

WP3. HOUSING MANAGEMENT Housing management can have a major influence on energy performance of a building stock. AFTER will investigate two dimensions of housing management relating to two different stakeholders: - Contractual relations with heating providers and facility management companies. - Relationships with the end customer (the tenants or inhabitants) and promoting the energy awareness that is required to secure these contractual relations.

WP7. NEW BUILDINGS This category is specifically dedicated to recent constructions: low energy buildings built in the last 5 years, both individual and collective structures. For the needs of this project, low energy buildings can be roughly defined as a building consuming less than 50 kWh of final energy /m2 of living surface for heating, ventilation and hot water. The category examines the environmental, economic and social performance of the operating management and the running maintenance implemented on recent new low energy constructions.

WP4. RUNNING MAINTENANCE The running maintenance ESMs are often subcontracted to heating providers and Facility Management companies. They usually concern low cost measures such as the balance and regulation of heating systems, insulation and cleaning of the hot water pipes, and maintenance of boilers and substations. These low cost measures usually offer a short-term return on investment and can be highly profitable.

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HOUSING MANAGEMENT

RUNNING MAINTENANCE

SYSTEM REPLACEMENT

BUILDING REFURBISHMENT

NEW BUILDINGS

ESM TYPOLOGIES
Overview of the different families of AFTER energy saving measures. A variety of innovations corresponding to different levels of investments and gathering technical and non-technical solutions focusing on the management and the maintenance of the social housing stock

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WU is a research institution founded by the State of Hesse and the City of Darmstadt. The overall mission and task of the institute is to research forms of housing and living conditions. As a scientific partner, IWU is in charge, in the frame of AFTER, of the elaboration of the methods to assess, to optimize and to follow-up the test of energy saving measures. IWU is also the Work Package leader for the low-energy buildings issues.

Darmstadt, Germany

PARTNER

Interview with Iris Behr and Britta Sein, IWU members and scientific partners of AFTER. Aims of WP 7: Recent low energy buildings
In the frame of the work package recent new buildings (completed during the last five years) are monitored. We deal with individual and multi storey low energy buildings (LEB) with less than 50 kWh/(ma) final energy for heating, hot water, auxiliary energy. These buildings for the time being - are not the standard of new construction but stand for ambitious projects - so to say lighthouses. However, when taking into consideration the EPBD recast of 2010 the future requirements for 2020 demand the nearly zero energy construction. The LEB respectively the Passivhaus Standard will become state-of-the-art. IWU is well experienced with the development and monitoring of low energy buildings and Passivhauses - you should remember that it was the IWU researcher Dr. Wolfgang Feist who invented the Passivhaus at IWU. LEBs consist of distinct elements: - super insulated shell, - high standard windows + window frames, - heat recovery system, and - efficient heating system, - possibly supported by solar thermal installations These components of course can be used in all kinds of renovation projects, and might therefore be useful in the context of the other work packages dealing with refurbishment, replacement of heating, ventilation and domestic hot water systems.

What is different and special in comparison with the other work packages?
Low energy buildings and even more Passivhaus buildings are based on an integrated approach. Cooperation and communication of everyone involved is essential: there is the investor who looks at the live cycle of the construction and understands this (somewhat more expensive construction compared with the legally required standard) as an investment into the future. Planners (architects, civil engineers, special consultants) as well as skilled craftsmen have to take care of a very precise implementation, and finally the consumer, the inhabitant of the LEB, who needs to take care of that type of construction: to whom the ventilation system and the potentials to save heat, water and electricity must become familiar.

AFTER : obstacles and hopes ?

Data collection shows that nearly all partners started with low energy building construction. There are real new low energy buildings but also rehabilitations of the existing stock up to LEB-standards. It is noticeable that the SHOs are trying to address different target groups: students, families, elderly people, and residential communities living together under the roof of a low energy building and who want to address energy saving and other common issues.

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Ljubljana, Slovenia SPL is a leading Property Management company in Slovenia distinguished by a 40-year tradition in administering, managing and renovating residential and commercial buildings. Labeled ISO 900A, SPL d.d. operates in the central Slovenian region, covering capital city Ljubljana as well as other towns near capital city, e.g. Domale, Kamnik, Koevje, Medvode, Menge, Ribnica and Trzin and Postojna. As a housing facility management company, SPL is in charge, in the frame of AFTER, of reporting energy saving measures and testing new optimized measures.

PARTNER

Interview with Franc Props, General Manager of SPL Ljubjlana D.D What is your interest in the AFTER Project ?
SPL LJUBLJANA d.d. manages residential buildings and commercial buildings as well. For the management company a special challenge is to ensure the highest level of comfort in the buildings for different users, both inhabitants and workers. We see the After Project an opportunity to get knowledge about: 1. first kind of measures to be adopted for saving energy consumptions; 2. quick, low-cost and simple solutions to save energy; 3. solutions that can ensure the best comfort of living.

AFTER : obstacles and hopes ?

In Slovenia there is a monopoly of the energy market and for this reason we fear that the introduction of these energy saving measures cant reduce the costs of the buildings. The lower income due to reduced consumptions, could have compensated by an increase of prices per unit. We expect that the exchange of best practices thanks to the After project will increase our knowledge and improve expertises between our employees. We wish that thank to this new knowledge, we will also successfully face the pressures of competition and participate in projects with the aim of reducing energy consumption in building sector.

As a Social Housing Organization, how do you consider your role among the other partners of the project ?
Contact and exchange with our customers represent our primary role. We propose them some solutions. Our target groups are: 1. owners and tenants - for the correct daily use of energy; 2. staff - for the improvement of abilities in the maintenance and energy savings measures; 3. manager for the necessary skills to propose the most cost-effective solutions.

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REVIEW OF CURRENT WORK

Handbook Typology checklist

Factsheets

Collecting datas
AFTER project is based on a three-steps approach : - identification of energy saving measures - evaluation of their efficiency - improvement and testing on pilot sites. The first phasis is devoted to the inventory of most relevant energy saving measures experimented in the social housing stock on the last five years. This work aims to collect best practices and datas to inform them. Social Housing Organizations, helped by AFTER scientific team, have selected during the last monthes over 200 experiences. These measures are currently analyzed and compared, the goal is to highlight the most interesting ones and to implement a large-scale diffusion. AFTER partners have now a complete overview of new energy saving measures regarding the management and maintenance of the social housing stock. They will confront them comparing their economic, energy and social performance and compare the implentation of a same measures in different places and countries. The final production will consist in a first collection of the most relevant measures. This collection is organized with a fact sheet system which will constitute a common basis for all the partners. The next steps of the project consist in the implementation of these measures in different european pilot sites in order to improve them in a concrete context.

A common scientific framework

This inventory has been supported by the production of different tools which are now part of all the AFTER methodology. AFTER scientific partners have created different frames to select and analyze energy saving measures : - a Typology list which classifies the different kinds of energy saving measures that have been developed by the Social Housing Organizations. These typologies will help other Social Housing Organizations to identify their own innovations and to understanding what could be the different scales of action - a Handbook which will serve as a guide for every partner to inform their innovations with common and relevant indicators These tools are very important and emphasize a double aspect of the AFTER approach : collecting existing measures but also to preparing a future framework for other actors in order to follow the evaluation of energy efficiency among other Social Housing Organizations.

NEWS AND EVENTS

Ljubljana / Project Meeting #2 22-23.11.2011
Partners of the European project AFTER have met in Ljubljana on the 22th and 23th of November. The meeting objective aimed at discussing at the same time the main advances realized since the AFTER kick-off meeting on May 2011 in Paris. The Ljubljana meeting helped to underline the interesting diversity of energy saving measures collected among participating social housing organizations.

Focus on... National Advisory Boards

National Advisory Boards are auxiliary partners of the AFTER project. Their ambition is to insure a link between AFTER partners and a dissemination at a national level. They act at the crossroad between the AFTER team and the other social housing national actors. National Advisory Boards gather AFTER national members and different protagonists such as energy providers, thermic engeneering professionals, public social housing organizations, etc... National Advisory Boards will act as a local committee and advice, evaluate and disseminate the results of the project.

AFTER Website on-line end of february

AFTER website is very important for the communication of the project. The website will present the global approach of the project and inform about its methodology. It will also allow a larger public to access to the different deliverables of the project.

COMING EVENTS
Darmstadt / Project Meeting #3 21-22.03.2012

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DISSEMINATION

17-19/10/2011 : AFTER at... Nordic Passive House Conference 2011 Helsinki, Finland

12/05/2011 :AFTER at... National seminar for associations of Czech municipality housing companies Havov, Czech Republic
Number of participants: 17 Type of participants: Directors and managers of Czech municipality housing companies. Formal part of the national seminar of several Czech municipality-housing companies lasts from 14:30 to 18:00. The agenda included reports from individual housing companies by directors, presentations about AFTER and the presentation on installation and operation of low voltage distribution systems in residential buildings (Internet, cable and satellite TV, telecommunication law etc.).

Number of participants: 175 Type of participants: Building professionals Architects, Engineers, Constructing Architects, Researchers, Teachers PHN11 Helsinki conference was the 4th conference in the Nordic series of seminars on passive houses. The first conference was held in Trodheim (Norway) 2008, the second in Gothenburg (Sweden) 2009 and the third in Aalborg (Denmark) 2010. The themes for PHN11 are based on the conclusions from the Aalborg conference.

FOCUS ON... European Commission : Proposal for a Directive on energy efficiency 22.06.2011
Last September in Bruxelles took place the final conference of Power House Europe big Green Housing Exchange, project financed by the IEE programme. This event, organised by the European Federation for Public, Cooperative and Social Housing and hosted by the Committee of the Regions, focused on the proposed European Directive on Energy Efficiency, published by the Commission on the 22nd of June 2011. The aim was to discuss with stakeholders of the housing and energy sector and with Committee of the Regions members and Commission s representative, the opportunities that this Directive offers to reduce energy consumption and energy poverty. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/eed/eed_en.htm

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PARTNERS

FRANCE

Social Housing Organization Le Toit Angevin

Scientific Partner CSTB

Tenants representatives CLCV

National Housing Association Union Sociale pour lHabitat

CZECH REPUBLIC

Social Housing Organization MRA

Scientific Partner STU

DENMARK

Social Housing Organization Aarhus

Scientific Partner AAA

National Housing Association BL

SLOVENIA

Social Housing Organization SPEKTER

Scientific Partner AAA

National Housing Association SPL

GERMANY
Social Housing Organization Bauverein Scientific Partner IWU

ITALY
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Social Housing Organization ATC

Scientific Partner Schol (SiTI)

National Housing Association Federcasa

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FACTS AND FIGURES

* Started on May 2011 for a duration of 3 years. * 2,7M budget granted for 75 % by the European Commission. * 18 partners and 6 Social national housing organisations managing 103 000 housing units. * 200 professionals participating in 3 National workshops and final seminars * 3 pre-tested standard energy saving measures per country targeting an immediate energy reduction of 3 to 7,5%. * 3 pilot sites per country to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of well-developed energy saving measures. * Promoting low-cost innovations: under 500/housing unit.

COORDINATION AND CONTACT

PROJECT MANAGEMENT Julien Bonnet bonnet@delphis-asso.org c/o DELPHIS 33, rue Saint-Augustin 2375002 PARIS, France www. http://www.delphis-asso.org/ Tel. : + 33 (0)1 56 08 54 Fax : + 33 (0)1 56 08 01 09

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