Sponsors workshops 2023

Workshops are 60 minutes events prepared and hosted by Sponsors. OC strongly encourages the Sponsors to prepare a workshop on an important, relevant topic and avoid product-related PR.

All the Sponsors workshop take place on Wednesday, 24 May

 

Heat pumps role in clean energy transition: real benefits or a hype?

 

14.4o-15.4o, Energy room

Nowadays heat pumps are becoming one of our main tools of reducing carbon emissions while heating and cooling our homes, offices, or producing heat (or cold) during industrial processes.

What are the benefits of heat pumps in relation to heating? Why are heat pumps considered a powerful solution for heating decarbonisation? Why are they considered a clean and renewable technology?

Or heat pumps are just a hype?

What is a heat pump? How does it work? Why does heat pump technology have a key part of the electrification process? Is it really true that heating with electricity is less harmful than heating by natural gas? What is the difference between electric heating and heating by heat pumps? Can average households in Central Eastern Europe afford heat pumps?

During our workshop we will answer these questions. What is more: bring your home energy consumption data with you and investigate with us what options you have personally for reducing your carbon emission.

Meet the team of Daikin to discuss it all these questions and possible answers and ask directly the experts of the biggest EU producer.

More information for downloading here.

“How to better place the topic of energy renovations in media

 

13.3o-14.3o, Energy room

The traditional and social media is the place where major part of public debate takes place, defining the priority topics, exchanging positions, shaping policies.

 

What would you do if a journalist asks you for a comment about a new policy or legislation? Or maybe media relations is already part of your work and you want to share your experience?

 

Let’s have a chat and exchange on tips and tricks on profiling energy efficiency in public debates and press relations.

 

More information available here.

Triggering energy renovation with non-energy benefits: thermal comfort, air quality, fire safety, earthquake-resistance and more

 

13.3o-14.3o, Inspiration room

Last year’s skyrocketing energy costs have once more demonstrated the value and benefits that renovation can bring as it has become common knowledge that the cheapest energy is that which we don’t use. The economic value in the form of reduced heating and cooling costs is however only one aspect, while the added value of making it possible for people to continue paying the rent  while also heating their homes to a healthy and comfortable temperature has increased in importance. Unfortunately, we too often become aware of fire protection and seismic stability after tragedies happen.  In recent years, we have seen increasingly severe natural disasters such as large wildfires and floodings, and most recently devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which also happened three years ago in Croatia. These events remind us in the most tragic way that we must keep other aspects in mind when designing renovation programmes and policies for buildings.

However, we have been witnessing that renovations mainly are triggered when incentivised by EU or national funds in the CEE countries and with our guests we will talk about how much the non-energy benefits of energy efficiency are  recognized as a trigger for renovation in their countries.

On top of this, there is one more challenge we need to tackle; the REPowerEU plan illustrates the high ambition for electrification of heating systems and for installing PV systems on buildings. From a climate and energy perspective, these initiatives will have significant benefits. But they will also introduce new risks and challenges which should be anticipated and addressed upfront. Once again, energy efficiency can play an important role in reducing peak demand and keeping electricity costs under control.

Moderator: Roland Gladushenko, Energy and Climate Manager, EURIMA

Invited guests:

  • Irena Križ Šelendić (tbc) (HR), Director of Sector, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, The Ministry of Construction, Spatial Planning and State Property
  • Marcela Kubů (CZ), Managing Director of MIWO association
  •  Justyna Glusman (PL), Managing Director of Renovation Wave (Fala Renowacji)
  •  Michal Maco (SK) – Director General of the Slovak Environmental Agency
  •  Oliver Rapf, Executive Director, Buildings Performance Institute Europe

 

More information for downloading here.

School Renovation: Going beyond Energy Efficiency

13.3o-14.3o, Motivation room

The workshop will feature:

  • the school renovation challenge and how to include energy performance and other comforts (indoor air quality , acoustics, visual, …)
  • an overview on the school segment,
  • opportunity to renovate as part of policy priorities (+ link with EU Green Deal / recovery plans etc…).

 

It will cover examples in SK and RO, but also examples in other EU countries.

 

Moderation: 

Tomas Gunis (ProArch Specialist, SG Construction Products, SK), Céline Carré , Head of Public Affairs

 

More information here.

Get inspired and save. Thanks to green transformation in cities and towns.

14.4o-15.4o, Motivation room

In line with the panel objective to invite for high interaction and sharing of local best practices from Slovakia and Czech Republic, the panel will be held in Czech and Slovak language.

The aim of the workshop organised by Signify is to share information, knowledge and experience regarding the green transformation from perspective of municipalities. The moderated discussion will address procedures, forms and guidelines how municipalities could achieve carbon neutrality quickly and efficiently, and as a result help improving lives of their inhabitants.

 

Invited Speakers:

Marian Piecha (CZ), Chief Executive for EU funds at the Ministry of Industry and Trade Czechia, Vice-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the National Recovery Plan

Juraj Nyulassy (SK), CEO and Chairman of the Board, Technické siete Bratislava

Patrik Reichl (CZ), CEO JINAG – South Moravian Agency for Public Innovation

Daniel Čmelík (CZ), Vice-mayor of Kyjov city

Juraj Zaťko (SK), Smart City Expert, Signify Slovakia

 

Moderator: Štěpánka Filipová

 Come and take advantage of the unique opportunity to discuss energy efficiency and energy savings with experts from the public and private sectors.

 

More information available here..

 

Going beyond energy efficiency to climate neutrality: why and how to focus on CO2 in buildings

 

14.4o-15.4o, Inspiration room

While past efforts have primarily focused on increasing energy efficiency in building operations, i.e. the use phase, recent research on the GHG emissions across the full life cycle of a building highlights the increasing importance of embodied CO2 emissions in relation to producing and processing construction materials – an aspect which so far has not been adequately addressed in EU legislation.

This session will therefore consider why it is essential to tackle CO2 and embodied carbon in buildings to deliver on the 2050 carbon neutrality target, discuss where we currently are, based on recent data and reports and debate how tangibly to go about incorporating C02 in the implementation of the EPBD. It will also include an overview of ‘Living Places’, a project to create the sustainable buildings of the future, based on very low CO2 footprints.

 

More information available here.

A pathway for efficient and decarbonised district heating in Central and Eastern Europe

Jointly organized by Danfoss and the European Climate Foundation 

 

13.3o-15.oo Innovation room

 

 

We invite participants to jointly explore pathways to improve efficiency and decarbonise district heating in CEE. We will discuss what policies, regulatory measures and financing instruments are needed in order to decarbonise district heating.

 

We will hear from experts on the opportunities and challenges to modernise the district heating systems in their countries. We will also get insights from running projects and case studies on how demand-side measures in buildings support the decarbonisation process as well as the model of community-based district heating and how it could work. Participants will be invited to share their own experience in decarbonising district heating in their respective cities or regions.

 

Panelists and speakers: Oddgeir Gudmundsson (Danfoss Climate Solution), Piotr Kleinschmidt (Forum Energii), Felix Kriedemann (Rescoop.eu), Louise Sunderland (Regulatory Assistance Project), Michaela Valentova (Czech Technical University in Prague)

 

Introductions by Aytaj Imanova Kinner, Global Public Relations Specialist, Danfoss Climate Solution

Moderated by Renée Bruel, Director of Buildings Programme, European Climate Foundation

 

More information available here.