Integrated building renovation services via financial intermediaries

The fi-compass internal training ‘Integrated building renovation services via financial intermediaries’, co-organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), took place online on 26 April 2021.

This internal training, dedicated to European Commission staff, was aimed at raising awareness about the potential for investment in energy efficiency through financial instruments. The European Union has set itself ambitious climate targets under the Paris Agreement and the renovation of both public and private buildings is an essential measure in this context. Member States will see an important increase in the renovation rate of buildings in order to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The Cohesion policy is expected to contribute substantially to these ambitions.

This interactive training identified the financial and non-financial barriers to residential and commercial building renovation and presented solutions in the form of integrated building renovation services.

Several best-practise solutions from different EU countries were presented, which draw on ERDF resources and combine them with other European or national resources in form of financial instruments and grants. One case highlighted in the training is the Hauts-de-France Pass Rénovation in France, an all-inclusive one-stop-shop for building renovation solutions where, thanks to a French law, the Region can also act as a credit institution to offer flexible financing solutions for building renovations. The Haut-de-France Pass Rénovation, financed by the Region and the EIB, consists of loans and subventions financed by ERDF and accompanies the house owners with technical assistance throughout the building renovation project.