Understanding Romania’s path to building decarbonisation
As Romania moves toward decarbonising its buildings, a clear picture of the current building stock is crucial for planning effective policies and identifying the financing needs, estimated at over EUR 20 billion.
To achieve the mapping of the buildings in our country, it is necessary to identify the existing data and the information that will be needed in the future. This process is hindered by the lack of digitalisation, which would allow the easy centralisation of relevant information and documents.
Core data sets supporting Romania’s building stock assessment
An important step towards mapping the building stock has been taken through the national censuses, which enabled the collection of information on the condition of buildings in terms of energy performance, with the data later included in the Long-Term Renovation Strategy – the first strategic document to outline Romania’s national action directions towards decarbonising the building stock.
In addition, two other essential tools for this endeavour are currently being developed:
- the National Systematic Cadastre Programme, which final results will become visible shortly; and
- the National Building Registry, created as part of the transposition of the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). This will be a comprehensive digital database on the condition of buildings, including energy performance indicators, and will be continuously updated based on the issued Energy Performance Certificates.
These efforts will culminate in the adoption of the National Building Renovation Plan, which is in an advanced stage of preparation and will set out the action directions for the coming period with a view to achieving the EPBD objectives.
Financing remains the biggest barrier
While data collection has improved and we will soon have a clearer picture of the building stock, the real challenges arise when it comes to identifying the financial resources needed to carry out investments in the energy efficiency of buildings.
Although in recent years several programmes have existed to finance energy efficiency projects for residential and public buildings in Romania — programmes that enjoyed budgets of several billion euros — the recent fiscal measures have suspended a large part of these funding lines and have considerably slowed down investments at national level, with no clear timeline for their resumption.
Even the Social Climate Fund, which would provide Romania with around EUR 3 billion in financial allocations for building renovation projects, focusing on vulnerable households and low-income families, is uncertain following the recent European-level decisions to postpone the implementation of the ETS2 mechanism.
In conclusion, the building decarbonisation targets are achievable, but better coherence is needed in public policies in this field, as well as improved coordination between the institutions responsible for mapping the building stock and financing its decarbonisation. In addition, the focus should be placed on supporting energy-poor households and low-income families, in order to reduce their socio-economic vulnerability and ensure success in meeting the intended objectives.
How do technical assistance projects support the transposition of the new EPBD?
The answer varies from country to country and depends largely on public authorities’ willingness to ensure transparency and allow civil society to contribute meaningfully to legislative improvements.
Fortunately, in Romania there is genuine dialogue with the institution responsible for transposing the EPBD recast — the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration — which coordinates the activity of the dedicated working group and actively encourages participation in its proceedings.
In this supportive context, projects such as JustReno and EPBD.wise provide valuable assistance. They help Member States interpret the new EPBD requirements and identify effective implementation tools. A concrete example is the series of reports developed under the JustReno Project or the guidance documents offered by the experts involved in the EPBD.wise Project, which provide both general information relevant to all Member States and country-specific data to facilitate the legislative transposition process.
About the author:
Andrei Iorgulescu is the Programme Director of the Romanian Association for the Promotion of Energy Efficiency in Buildings – ROENEF. Previously, Andrei served for more than six years as Director of the department responsible for the development and implementation of environmental programmes within the Environmental Fund Administration – Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, where he coordinated the launch of several programmes dedicated to deep renovations and the use of energy from renewable sources, benefitting tens of thousands of beneficiaries and with combined budgets of several billion euros.