On 7 November 2024, BPIE and Terra Mileniul III organised a workshop on Building Renovation Passports (BRPs) and their implications and opportunities for local authorities in Central and Eastern Europe. The event took place in Bucharest, Romania, and it was organised in context of the Renocally project, funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

The aim of the workshop was to enhance mutual learning amongst the partners in the project that have implemented BRPs in Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, as well as to share those learnings with third countries and parties, such as municipalities.

During the first session, project partners shared first-hand accounts and lessons learnt from their experiences implementing BRPs for deep renovation. Terra Mileniul III, AE3R, Eneffect and B4F, agreed that it is key to be part of a consortium that allows them to collaborate, share knowledge and build capacity. Belonging to Renocally helped them overcome common challenges local authorities often face, such as lack of funding, skills or capacity. They all believe that local authorities can be key players in decarbonising the building stock, but more resources and expertise are needed, as well as long-term goals and planning.

In view of the recently approved EPBD, two sessions were dedicated to this directive. One focused on the EPBD requirements on the medium term for municipalities by Aura Oancea from the Energy Policy Group, and another one on national building renovation plans (NBRPs) by Julien Tami from DG ENER of the European Commission.

Financial and technical assistance for deep renovation is one of the main difficulties local authorities encounter when implementing BRPs. That is why, a one-hour session brought together experts on this topic. Ion Dogeanu from the Regional Resources and Expertise Center on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Heat Pumps presented the finance strategies developed for Romanian municipalities in the project, Karine Jegiazarjana from IWO shared experiences on financial and technical assistance in their RenoWave project on OSS in the Balkan states, and Venera Vlad, Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Romania, talked us through their successful renovation projects in Romania.

In the afternoon sessions, the floor was given to other projects that are working in the same geographical areas as Renocally, and touched upon one-stop-shops (OSS) and their legislation. Denisa Diaconu, from BPIE, outlined the OSS legislation introduced in the revised EPBD, and gave good practice examples from the ComActivate project. Irina Tatu from Energy Cities Network highlighted learnings from their CETAC project, and Jana Bendzalova from ENBEE outlined the pilot BRPs developed within Renocally for Slovakia, as well as some recommendations for the Slovakian context.

The workshop concluded with a one-hour World Café that welcomed all attendees to take part in the discussion around how municipalities can leverage BRPs to achieve deep renovations. The lively workshop highlighted that funding and financing are major barriers to achieve deep renovations. However, it ended on a positive note – projects like Renocally help bring people together, improve communication and networking and give local implementers of renovation projects a deeper understanding of EU legislation and the impact it has on their work.