Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
concerns the amount of energy saved in buildings. Indeed, whereas (16) of
directive No. 2012/27/EU states that ''buildings represent 40 % of the EU final
energy consumption […] and Member States should establish a long-term strategy
beyond 2010 for mobilizing investment in the renovation of residential and
commercial buildings''.
Amongst the European various legal instruments enacted by the EU to foster
the energy efficiency and reach an overall objective of an energy efficiency target
of saving 20 % of energy consumption we need to indicate directives No. 2006/32/
EC, No. 2009/125/EC, No. 2009/28/EC, No. 2010/30/EU and No. 2012/27/EU
(just to mention some of them). It is necessary to remember that generally
speaking directives must be implemented in the Member States, as they are not
immediately effective there. Italy has applied the above-mentioned directives by
mostly adopting legislative decrees (at the time of drafting this manuscript the
directive No. 2012/27/EU has not been implemented yet but just before publishing
this contribution a bill of law has been submitted to the Parliament in this respect).
For instance, a definition of ''energy efficiency'' from a legal viewpoint is included
in directive No. 2006/32/EC (''a ratio between an output of performance, service,
goods or energy, and an input of energy'') and article 2 of legislative decree No.
115/2008 (which implements directive No. 2006/32/EC) defines ''energy effi-
ciency'' as ''the ratio between the results in terms of performance, services, goods
and/or energy to be meant as the services rendered, and the input of energy''.
A starting point of our analysis of the Italian legislation can be considered the
SEN (Strategia Energetica Nazionale, literally ''National Energy Strategy'' as
enacted by the decree dated 8 March 2013) considering that the SEN should show
the path for the future laws in the energy sector (even if it is not truly a starting
point, since many previous laws have tried to increase energy efficiency). First of
all the energy efficiency is the first priority set forth in the SEN. The SEN
establishes that in 2050 the private energy consumption of energy (if compared
with the same in 2010) shall be reduced by a range between 17 and 26 %.
According to the SEN, the major obstacles preventing the adoption of tech-
nologies for the improvement of the energy efficiency are:
• in a non-industrial and non-public context high investments and lack of
knowledge;
• in the public sector the fact that it cannot benefit from tax credit and tax
deduction and the difficulty to finance such kind of intervention which would
require a large use of the ESCO
1
model;
1
Directive No. 2006/32/CE has introduced the regulation of ESCO in the EU. The ESCO is
defined as ''a natural or legal person that delivers energy services and/or other energy efficiency
improvement measures in a user's facility or premises, and accepts some degree of financial risk
in so doing. The payment for the services delivered is based (either wholly or in part) on the
achievement of energy efficiency improvements and on the meeting of the other agreed perfor-
mance criteria''. This directive has been implemented in Italy by legislative decree No. 115/2008
which has introduced the concept of the ESCO (the Energy Service Company) (which incurs in a
certain degree of financial risk) and ESPCo (the Energy Service Provider Company) (which does
not incur any risk).
