Energy renovation of apartment buildings
It is estimated that Croatia has approximately 50 million m2 of usable floor area in multi-apartment buildings. 65% of buildings are located inland, while around 35% is in the coastal part of Croatia. The majority of buildings were built before 1987, which means they consume approximately 200-250 kWh/m2 of thermal energy for heating. By implementing energy efficiency measures, the consumption of these buildings can be reduced to 50 kWh/m2, i.e. as much as five times!In cooperation with the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, in July 2014 the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the first Programme of energy renovation of multi-apartment buildings for the period 2014 - 2020. Pursuant to the Programme, the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund provided almost HRK 270 million grant funding from national resources for renovation, and after 2016, the funding for this purpose started to be withdrawn from the EU funds.
In 2016, under the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion, around HRK 560 million in grants were provided for almost 600 buildings (More >). During the implementation of the EU call, the Fund directly provided technical suppoer to all interested building managers and representatives of co-owners, meaning assistance not only with the application itself, but also with project monitoring in terms of consultations and providing all the necessary information.
The call was also published in 2022, under the initiative of the Sixth National Recovery and Resilience Plan Renovation of Buildings, i.e. investment C6.1. R1-I1 Energy renovation of buildings. The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets launched the Call for grant application “Energy renovation of apartment buildings” worth HRK 300 million, where grants were allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Facility under the “NextGenerationEU” instrument. Potential applicants could again use expert support from the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund - Energy Efficiency Sector, which was related solely to verifying the compliance of the project proposal with the technical requirements of the Call.
The calls promoted energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy sources and were to result in at least 50% savings of the annually required energy for heating (QH,nd) (kWh/yr) compared to the situation before the renovation per individual apartment building through an integrated approach, and applying measures to improve the building’s resistance to earthquakes and fire safety, and providing healthy indoor climate. At the C6.1. R1-I1 Energy renovation of buildings investment level, it was necessary to achieve annual primary energy savings (Eprim) of at least 30%.
For the purposes of the Call, an apartment building is an existing building that cumulatively meets the following requirements:
- At least 66% of the net usable area is used for housing;
- Has three (3) or more dwelling units;
- It is managed by the building manager;
- It is a single architectural unit;
- No more than 25% of the above-ground construction (gross) area is unheated.
Within the Call, grants were awarded for the preparation of project documentation and the implementation of energy renovation of apartment buildings not damaged in the earthquake, and the application for co-financing in the name and on behalf of the co-owners of the multi-apartment building could be submitted by an authorised representative of the building co-owners or the building manager.
More information about the Call >
Complete documentation of the Call for Grants "Energy renovation of apartment buildings"
Video showing the experiences of applicants to the 2016 Call for the energy renovation of apartment buildings.
Short film BUILDINGS THAT SAVE MORE ARE WORTH MORE
