On the eve of its 10th anniversary, European Local ENergy Assistance (ELENA) was granted €97 million in new funding for residential energy efficiency projects. The budget, which was granted by the European Commission, will support energy efficiency retrofits for privately- and publicly-owned housing across the EU.
The funding was awarded soon after EU member states voted to reduce their collective energy consumption by 32.5% by 2030. Considering that residential buildings account for around 40% of the EU’s total final energy demand, it is critical that the cocktail of measures implemented to achieve the reduction include residential energy efficiency.
ELENA is a joint initiative by the European Investment Bank and the European Commission that provides grants for technical assistance on the implementation of energy efficiency, distributed renewable energy, and urban transportation programs. Grants are typically distributed via commercial banks to homeowner associations for preparing and implementing energy-efficiency measures in multi-family buildings.