On its EU integration journey, Moldova transposes multiple European directives into legislation, including the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, as Mihai Tîrșu, director of the Technical University’s Institute of Energy, says that Moldova is quite advanced in implementing this directive.
During an IPN debate on Tuesday, Mihai Tîrșu said this is demonstrated by the adoption of the Law on the energy performance of buildings, with secondary legislation being currently in the works. He estimates that by the end of the year the entire package transposing the Directive will be adopted, and starting next year the government will be ready to put this legislation in practice.
Mihai Tîrșu believes that today many residents of apartment blocks are not very aware of the need for energy efficiency improvements. “Some residents are fine with the bill relief payments and are reluctant about making changes in their apartments such as replacing pipes. I think that today the level of awareness and understanding of social benefits is still quite low. That’s why more programs for renovating buildings need to be available”, said Mihai Tîrșu.
He believes it is quite a difficult job to make the population responsible for the advantages of energy efficiency measures. To begin with, associations of owners must be created and start working with each individual who understands that this activity is beneficial. To give a large-scale effect of building efficiency, a critical mass of renovated buildings is needed initially, after which the process of involvement will start in a cascade.
“The effort to rehabilitate the housing stock is estimated at 52 billion euros. By 2030, 10% can be secured. The money from the government covers about 6% of the resources needed until 2030: we are talking about one billion euros. That’s why we need financial sources from our development partners, to attract programs and stimulate the private sector to invest”, says Mihai Tîrșu.
The debate titled “Improving energy efficiency in the residential sector with European support” was the fifth installment of the “EU Accession Benefits” Series, run by IPN with the support of the Soros Moldova Foundation.