REELIH country projects included in the UNECE report of best practices in energy efficiency of buildings

Compendium of best practices on standards and technologies for energy efficiency in buildings in the UNECE region is a fresh publication which collected the best case studies in the UNECE region supporting energy efficiency of buildings.The case studies serve as best practice examples providing practical information as well as inspiration for others.

The report was prepared under the framework of the UNECE projects “Energy Efficiency Standards in Buildings in the UNECE region” by the activities of the UNECE Joint Task Force on Energy Efficiency Standards in Buildings. The compendium serves as a basis to improve the knowledge of UNECE member States concerning energy efficiency best practices related to existing standards and technologies, so that they will be able to develop and implement more effective energy efficiency policies in buildings.

Due to a specific character of some parts of this region such as Eastern Europe,the report turns its attention to existing building stock and its retrofitting which is a crucial activity for future development and fight against energy poverty in many countries.

Success stories and positive numbers are recorded in the following categories:
  • Legislative and regulatory framework
  • Management of multi-family housing stock and public buildings
  • Awareness raising and behavior change     
  • Technical measures, including smart  and affordable technologies and innovation
  • Financial mechanisms

As Habitat for Humanity International EMEA has long been working with UNECE, we were approached to contribute with local best practices from the field in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and North Macedonia thanks to our common project with USAID and delivered four successful case studies focusing on residential energy efficiency.

Case studies are focusing on efficient management and maintenance of multi apartment buildings, organizing homeowners to make a common decision together, raising awareness of the energy efficiency retrofits and its process and creating viable and sustainable financial models to support vulnerable households to reduce their energy consumption. All these components are essential for an “eco-system” of residential energy efficiency to work.

All of the four case studies are included in the report, two of them showcasing REELIH project of Habitat for Humanity International and USAID and other two showcasing work of HFH Macedonia that were possible to implement thanks to their previous residential energy efficiency projects funded by USAID.

The four case studies from HFH network in the UNECE compendium:
  • Under the category of Management of multi-family housing stock and public buildings, case study from Macedonia, where HFH Macedonia established residential management company Habidom in order to improve the maintenance and management quality of multi apartment buildings in Macedonia.
  • Under the category of Awareness raising and behavior change,an Armenian case study is featured on a specialized information to increase the level of knowledge and engineering capacity of local specialists, which will be later involved in the process of energy efficiency buildings retrofit.
  • Under the category of Technical measures, including smart and affordable technologies and innovation, REELIH’s local project in Bosnia and Herzegovina showcasing work with homeowners to reach consensus on energy efficiency renovations and its co-financing.
  • Under the category of Financial mechanisms, a case study from HFH Macedonia showcases sustainable financial models and set of activities to help Macedonian households living in multi-family apartment buildings and reduce their vulnerability to the energy price increase and decrease air pollution.

We thank UNECE to be the convener of showcasing best practices from the region and enabling to share the knowledge further, so that these cases become a mainstream practice instead of one time project cases.


Find the new UNECE report here. Find more information about REELIH project on this website and here. Find more information about UNECE here