With energy efficiency renovations, residents benefit not only from living in warmer homes but also from paying lower energy bills. Better living conditions and higher comfort improve the overall wellbeing of people.

With the current energy crisis, the question of energy poverty became a burning issue requesting a prompt and systemic approach in addressing it. 

Habitat for Humanity International, Europe and the Middle East Area Office (HFHI EME) is currently implementing five projects, which contribute to solving the “heat or eat” dilemma of low-income families by different interventions, such as increasing energy efficiency of multi-apartment residential buildings.

ComActivate responds to growing levels of energy poverty across the EU, especially in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by addressing the poor energy efficiency of buildings as a major driver of energy poverty and climate change. Over 75% of the building stock in the EU is inefficient with buildings responsible for 36% of GHG emissions.  

Project interventions focus on multi-family apartment buildings (MFABs) as they are home to around 60% of population in CEE. Social, technical, legislative, and financial challenges to MFAB renovation are complex and poorly defined, especially when it comes to renewable energies and it requires multisectoral approach. 

ComActive will develop, demonstrate and advocate for solutions for MFABs that reduce energy poverty, enhance energy security, and bring building emissions in line with climate targets (near complete decarbonization by 2050) through:  

- Institutionalisation of Resource Centres (RCs) at the local level as a recognised mechanism to reach energy poor communities and facilitate agreement in Home Owner Associations (HOAs);  

- Development of Neighbourhood Energy Sufficiency Roadmaps (NESRs) to address the complexities of renewable energies for MFABs and determine how energy needs can be secured in line with poverty alleviation and climate neutrality; 

- Building the capacity of HOA managers for the implementation of renovations, and raising awareness of communities to dispel concerns about the benefits of renovations; and 

- Public-private policy and investment dialogue at the national and EU level to enable the sustainability of RCs and the implementation of NESRs.

Based on EU SILC indicators, almost a million citizens live in energy poverty and the jobs of almost 300 thousand are directly or indirectly linked to coal or carbon-intensive industries. Furthermore, most coal regions have lower GDP per capita. Due to that and history of lower energy prices (meaning less efficient buildings and lack of energy conservation culture), coal regions are more prone to energy poverty. 

The overarching objective of JUSTEM is to build regional capacity and include citizens in development of the energy and climate plans of the regions, and adapting them to their specific needs. JUSTEM intends to facilitate policy development and in particular the Just transition planning by increasing the uptake of sustainable energy solutions. This will be done by highlighting the multiple benefits it brings to the attention of a wider public. 

The following activities are designed to achieve JUSTEM’s objective: 

- To generate practical solutions for citizens’ capacities strengthening and citizens’ involvement in the topic of Just transition 

- To use bottom-up methods to improve and align regional energy and climate strategies and propose project pipelines 

- To evaluate multiple benefits of the proposed strategies, advancing the knowledge about energy poverty and the means for its alleviation 

Habitat for Humanity International, Europe and the Middle East Area Office (HFHI EME) will work on inclusion of vulnerable groups and people directly affected by the transitional issues in the processes, as well as contribute to preparation of the project pipelines by increasing the support and technical assistance in preparing and fast-tracking the financing of local climate action projects.

HFHI EME will contribute to dissemination activities organized by the project and hosted within the HFH branches across region as part of the project replication component. HFHI EME will also advise on building the network of regional stakeholders and development of policy recommendations.
 

Learn more about the JUSTEM project by visiting: https://ieecp.org/projects/justem/.

The most prominent technology for energy self-consumption is solar energy, like photovoltaic (PV). The SUNRISE project aims to support local organizations in initiating the expansion of solar energy projects through exchange of experience and knowledge sharing. In doing so, possible barriers on national and local level will be identified and solutions developed. 

The relatively low-threshold approach of the plug-in modules will sensitize apartment owners and tenants to the solar potential and initiate larger installations in the medium term. 

The project will moreover explore the role that homeowners can play in the implementation of such initiatives from the technical, financial, and administrative perspective.

In the project, HFHI EME will conduct research on what are the available renewable energy financing solutions, services, and load products in the implementing countries, and followingly on what are the current demands for renewable energy based on which we can better understand the market, its potential and leveraging opportunities among low-income neighborhoods.
 

Learn more about the SUNRISE project by visiting: About the Project - Sunrise Project (hfh.bg)

The Smarter4EU builds upon the achievements of the SMARTER Finance for Families (SFFF) project, which successfully expanded Green Homes & Green Mortgage (GHGM) programs across 12 European countries with the support of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program.

At the core of the SMARTER4EU project lies the concept of combining low-cost, credible green certification with a verified high standard of energy performance in homes. By incentivizing homeowners with a discounted green mortgage from partnering banks, this initiative effectively encourages the adoption of sustainable practices. To provide comprehensive guidance for residential investors and developers, the project offers the “Green Homes & Green Mortgages: Toolkit for Residential Investors & Developers,” featuring an illustrative example provided by the Romania Green Building Council (RoGBC). 

HFHI EME brings to the project its extensive experience and results from working in the challenging field of assisting vulnerable/low-income persons. HFHI EME achieves this by creating partnerships with municipalities and other government entities. Their goal is to mitigate energy poverty by co-creating energy efficient/green affordable social housing. HFHI EME will guide the European and worldwide discussion to use innovative “hybrid” green finance solutions to leverage public money with private investment subject to stringent green criteria. HFHI EME is the lead on one of the project work packages on Hybrid Finance Tools for Vulnerable Citizens, under which HFHI EME aims to identify existing solutions or create new solutions for using green finance innovation to improve the health, comfort, and financial stability of low-income households.   
 

Learn more about the SUNRISE project by visiting: Home | Smarter Finance for EU - Green homes mortgage programmes 

The LOCATEE project aims to empower municipalities in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe to address energy poverty by supporting the renovation of private multi-apartment buildings for vulnerable residents. Energy poverty affects millions across Europe, and LOCATEE seeks to bridge the gap between private housing owners and local climate and energy policies. 

Through the development of a comprehensive toolkit, LOCATEE will help municipalities identify energy-vulnerable households, design tailored interventions, and integrate energy poverty alleviation into long-term municipal strategies like Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs). The project leverages administrative data to create typologies of households and buildings, enabling targeted identification of priority intervention locations. 

By fostering institutional and cross-sectoral coordination, LOCATEE will support local authorities and social partners in addressing energy poverty through solutions like establishing contact points and focus groups with housing entities. These mechanisms will facilitate regular knowledge exchange on renovation programs and tailored solutions, ensuring a coordinated response to the needs of vulnerable households. 

Using a pilot evidence-based approach, LOCATEE will address financial, regulatory, social, and technical challenges in renovating private multi-apartment buildings. It will also enhance the capacity of local authorities to act as intermediaries in the energy transition. Collaborative efforts among stakeholders will lead to the design and implementation of targeted interventions and support initiatives that explicitly benefit vulnerable populations. 

Learn more about the LOCATEE project by visiting: LOCATEE - Local authorities tackling energy poverty in private multi-apartment buildings - IBS - Instytut Badań Strukturalnych

HFHI EME leads a consortium of partnering organizations who work on alleviating energy poverty in the CEE and CIS region.

Resulting from mass privatization in the 1990s and coupled with the deconstruction of the social safety net, the housing stock in this region currently consists mostly of privately co-owned buildings. These buildings are characterized by a large percentage of multi-family apartment blocks lacking functioning homeowner associations and any maintenance mechanisms. Undertaking renovation works in these old, energy inefficient multi-family buildings, however, requires coordinated action among the apartment owners.

To address the complex roots of energy poverty, there is a need to develop a new approach to make interventions affordable, substantially influence energy costs and consequently reduce the high energy poverty levels.

ComAct aims to make impactful energy-efficient improvements in multi-family apartment buildings affordable and manageable for energy-poor communities as well as to create the necessary assistance conditions for lifting them out of energy poverty. After identifying and selecting energy-poor communities in the CEE and CIS region, ComAct will operate in three main dimensions:

- To empower and activate the communities of homeowners’ associations

- To develop and adapt financial tools that provide financing for low-income families

- To optimise technical solutions that provide most favourable cost-benefit ratio for the energy efficient improvements in multi-family apartment buildings.
 

Learn more about the ComAct project by visiting: https://comact-project.eu/.

The REELIH project, led by Habitat for Humanity and USAID, was pioneering in developing new ways to help communities overcome the legacy of poorly built, energy inefficient multi-apartment building stock while contributing to creation of strong, stable and healthy communities and neighborhoods.

At the heart of REELIH’s approach was creating an “ecosystem of stakeholders” in which the challenges of common space renovations and its financing are funded by appropriate funds and loans fitting the needs of the low-income households. This approach empowers local stakeholders to take action through their local housing associations or representative bodies. At the same time, such mobilization of communities and their motivation to renovate opens the construction market. The environmental benefits of the renovation are similarly crucial since these residential buildings currently top “the black list” of producers of CO2 emissions.

The Residential Energy Efficiency for Low-income Households project is one of the many assistance projects supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Since 1992, the American people through USAID have provided a broad range of development programs in Armenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, shifting from an initial humanitarian emphasis to assistance for economic, political and social transition.

Learn more about the REELIH project by visiting:https://getwarmhomes.org/our-approach/, or taqtun.am (in Armenian), domuvanje.org.mk/reelih/ (in Macedonian), topaodom.ba (in Bosnian).

We are keen to work with more partners and funders to scale up these and other energy resilience programs in Europe. Read more about our work on project websites or contact us directly.

Join our Energy Efficiency for Common Spaces group on LinkedIn.

For more information, check out https://getwarmhomes.org/.