Inventory and analysis of best practice - existing incentive programs in Switzerland and Europe

Grit Fowler Architect-Researcher

Abstract
In Switzerland, political measures to achieve the nationwide climate goals set for 2050 are complex because of three layers of authorities (confederation, cantons and communes) and unharmonised responsibilities, competences and roles of cantons and municipalities. Nevertheless, the role of the commune as first point of contact for the local population is a fact.
In Europe, recent programs in form of One-stop-shops have been developed and documented. The Horizon 2020 project Innovate showed very good examples and provided documents on how to set up One-stop-shops.
In Switzerland, a multitude of research projects, federal and cantonal programs are currently underway, in addition to available tools. Associations such as Energiestadt or EnergieSchweiz are national platforms adapted to disseminate tools and information.
In this report, examples from the canton Geneva are listed where incentive programs encouraging private property owners to renovate have been developed, such as “Onex-Rénove” and “Commune-Rénove”, supported by the Canton and the local energy provider SIG. Commune-Rénove has also been exported to the canton Vaud to three municipalities (Vevey, Morges and Nyon).
The success of those initiatives relies on experts, technical but also social. Programs implementing the new roles of energy counsellor and user facilitator, assisting owners and tenants before, during and after refurbishment works, are also described here.
Furthermore, some tools such as simplified building audits or cost estimations, building fact sheets with typologies and geoportals are at disposal. In some cases, guidelines for organisation of information events are published on cantonal websites.
Finally, to achieve the goals of renovating a maximum of buildings as soon as possible, we need to map the current situation of stakeholders and experts. Professional associations such as the SIA (Schweizerischer Ingenieur-und Architektenverein) play a major role in the process, also banks and regional energy providers.

Authors: Rinquet, Lionel; Fowler, Grit; HEPIA.