From the point of view of the direct role of the state, two short-term measures are possible to stimulate the demand for green products and services, namely increasing financial incentives to households, companies and the public sector for energy rehabilitation of buildings and reforming the green public procurement system.
Green public procurement
In the field of green public procurement, the existing legal framework for public procurement needs to be modernized to provide a demand-side stimulus for the development of more environmentally friendly products, services and technologies and to strengthen the role of the public sector as a model and driver of new markets.
Green public procurement will also play a key role in promoting renewable energy sources. In accordance with the objectives of the Renewable Energy Action Plan, Slovenia must achieve at least a 25% share of renewable energy sources in the heating and cooling, electricity and transport sectors by 2020, for which further investments in green infrastructure are necessary.
Energy rehabilitation of buildings
One of the most important areas for increasing energy efficiency or achieving climate and energy goals by 2020 is the energy rehabilitation of buildings, as it has the potential to create synergistic environmental, economic and social effects. Among the latter, the most important is the potential of green jobs in construction and related industries that produce building elements, equipment and materials.
The incentives offered by the Ecofund are intended for e.g. investments in outdoor furniture (windows, balcony doors and fixed glazing), facade insulation, roof insulation, floor insulation, heat recovery ventilation system – recuperation, for heat pumps, for wood biomass boilers, which encourages the purchase of more environmentally friendly technologies as well as their production.
In 2016, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning plans to allocate up to 80% of the Climate Fund’s resources to resource efficiency measures and renewable energy sources, which could achieve 160 GWh of energy savings. The expected benefits are also a multiplier effect per unit of investment: 500 direct jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises in construction and 500 indirect jobs (production of built-in materials and furniture; overhead; local self-sufficiency in energy, thus reducing energy import dependence; annual savings of around EUR 2 million in energy costs in the public sector, and improvement of the competitiveness of Slovenian industry due to the reduction of energy costs.
MEASURES
- Systematic renewal of the green public procurement regulation
- Increasing financial incentives to households for energy efficiency of buildings
BD
