ENSAMB (Energy Saving in Municipal Buildings) is a EU financed project through the IEE-program MLEI (mobilising local energy investments). The project started in June 2012 and ended in October 2015.
ENSAMB is a cooperation between a grouping of 5 small municipalities in rural areas of Norway (Elverum, Engerdal, Stor-Elvdal, Trysil and Åmot) that are planning to achieve at least 25% energy savings in all their 133 municipal buildings, representing 11 GWh/year and a foreseen investment of 11,25 M€. The Regional Council for Sør Østerdal organises a part of the energy work in the municipalities, who have also signed the Covenant of Mayors and have a goal of saving up to 25% in municipal buildings in the adopted Energy and Climate Plans.

The Sør Østerdal covers 5 Municipalities, with 35.000 inhabitants. There are 133 municipal buildings covering a surface of 260.000 m2, with an energy consumption of 45 GWh/year. Most buildings are from the period 1950 - 80 (when energy costs were very low).
It lays in Hedmark County which is a minority (7%) partner in the project. Secondary schools and some healthcare buildings are managed at the Hedmark County level.
The starting point for the project was the approval of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP) and the signature of the Covenant of Mayors. With the municipalities having limited resources, the motivation for financial savings dominates.
They are using EPC (Energy Performance Contracts) as a work tool for most measures.
Investments are being bundled into 5 packages:

• EPC for most of the buildings belonging to Elverum Municipality, covering most of the city’s municipal buildings
• EPC (similar) for Engerdal, Stor-Elvdal, Trysil and Åmot Municipality
• Conventional (separate contractor based) implementation of measures for buildings belonging to the Hedmark County
• Conventional implementation of measures in the remaining buildings belonging to the municipalities
• Integrated project, i.e. the energy saving part of buildings undergoing a major upgrade

Activities for each bundle include: analysis, preparatory work, inquiry, evaluation, negotiation and contract.
The project also includes training for operating personnel, and documentation for copying and motivation for other similar players/organizations.
Funding for the projects comes from the municipalities and/or banks.
They signed contracts for the first phase (analysis phase) in the EPC for the 4 municipalities Trysil, Engerdal, Åmot and Stor-Elvdal with Norsk Enøk og Energi (NEE). The analysis for the buildings was finished in May 2013. The realization phase started in 2014, and they are now in the beginning of phase 3 (the warranty period).
Some key numbers:

• The contract includes 71 buildings with total area of about 115.000 m²
• Estimated energy savings are about 26 % which represents more then 60.000 €/year (6 million NOK/year)
• The total investment will be approximately 3 million € (30 million NOK)
• The first phase (analysis phase) with NEE has a value of approximately 60.000 € (600.000 NOK)