The Final Report of the EESI 2020 project has been published. The report identified following barriers preventing stronger uptake of EPC:
- High complexity of EPC models,
- Lack of trust and persisting cultural barriers between public building owners and private ESCOs,
- Too much focus on public buildings, and very few business models for private buildings,
- The Eurostat Guidance Note on EPC, which restricts off-balance accounting of EPC projects.
In order to reap in the future the full potential of EPC, the EESI2020 consortium recommends to:
- Recognise and strengthen the role of project facilitators and train them at national or regional level,
- Encourage programmes aimed at improving national frameworks for EPC and financially supporting the EPC clients (e.g. as the National Energy Services Framework in Ireland and the BAFA programme for EPC facilitation in Germany),
- Create pragmatic ways to work within and around the recent Eurostat Guidance Note on EPC,
- Put more attention on expanding the private sector EPC market.
The project EESI 2020 has been addressing ways to improve the impact of EPC in nine European regions. EPC schemes were supported on the regional level by creating task forces, including EPC in regional energy plans and by assisting pilot projects. In nine metropolitan regions, a total of 27 EPC pilot projects have been realised within EESI 2020. Additionally EESI 2020 developed facilitation materials in nine languages. Those materials include a project database with over 50 best practices, a detailed facilitator guideline and training modules.