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Inducing Change in Behaviour Through Education
Published on 05 December 2018
Croatia
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About this good practice
Poor maintenance can hamper the energy efficiency of lighting, heating and air conditioning systems. Additionally, regular maintenance checks can be invaluable at spotting problems and sources of waste. To ensure that energy awareness gets incorporated into maintenance activities the city developed a comprehensive but easy to use Guide for facilities managers of buildings renovated through ZagEE project. Facility managers were also involved as advisors during the planning process in order to receive maximum feedback from building users. This two-way communication was additionally reinforced with a series of capacity building events for facility managers that were held by City of Zagreb and REGEA’s experts. Facility managers were trained to work with new RES/EE equipment and to identify warning signs that heating/cooling/lighting systems are operating inefficiently.
Expert opinion
Basic building functions such as lighting and air conditioning can be very inefficiently operated, and quite simple tweaks can help to reduce costs significantly. These low-hanging fruit should be the starting point for any regional authority as these savings are low-cost to achieve. Training schemes for facility managers can be prepared and rolled out at national and regional level – in this case, one training programme has been implemented for 57 individuals – and have significant impact.
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
2 energy experts, 60 000€
Evidence of success
In total, 57 building managers have been trained in 2015 and 2016 while thirty more will receive education in 2017. Good energy management of public buildings will presumably result in energy savings of about 10% (3.300 MWh/year).
Potential for learning or transfer
Capacity building for facility managers has to be a mandatory follow up after the deep energy renovation has taken place. By improving levels of their knowledge and awareness significant energy savings can be achieved.
Guide for facility managers is publicly available and can be freely downloaded and translated to any language.
Guide for facility managers is publicly available and can be freely downloaded and translated to any language.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
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