A project investigating the potential for, and policies of, green building through the cooperation institutions of applied research and key regional stakeholders.
The building sector is not only one of the main contributors to the global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), but it also has the greatest energy saving potential due to the fact that almost 40% of the final energy consumption takes place in buildings. In this framework, the aim of the RE-GREEN project is to help regions in improving, developing and implementing green building policies oriented to the enhancement of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies as a means of contributing to the development of green regions. By promoting innovative policy solutions for green buildings, namely green public procurement, the project intends to support regions in renovate and retrofit public but also private buildings. This goal considers local and regional public authorities as key players in the process of moving to a greener economy, therefore acting as leading examples in introducing energy efficiency measures in public-owned buildings.
Besides management, coordination, dissemination and communication activities, the main actions of the initiative include the exchange of experiences oriented to the identification and transfer of good practices and the development of new policy tools. This comprises study visits to locations regarded as references in the scope of the project's objectives. Site visits are complemented with interregional workshops to debate lessons learnt and improve understanding on key practices. Furthermore, regional implementation plans will be carried out by local/regional public authorities with the support of local/regional self-assessment reports and good practices guides as well as local/regional stakeholder seminars.
The partnership, led by INTELI from Lisbon, Portugal, is integrated by 10 partners from 10 European countries: Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Estonia, Romania, Slovenia, Poland, Ireland and the United Kingdom.