Metropolitan Research Institute

Metropolitan Research Institute, Budapest

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MRI presents at REELIH Conference in Brussels

Anna Bajomi, Hanna Szemző and Éva Gerőházi from Metropolitan Research Institute participated at the conference “Reducing Energy Poverty by Energy Efficiency Projects in Residential Buildings: The Case for Eastern Europe” organised by Habitat for Humanity, in Brussels in 24-25 April 2017. The conference aimed at taking a deep look at the definition and policies of energy poverty in light of the energy efficient interventions the residential building stock is needed. By the participation of European and national policy makers the actors were trying to find out how energy poverty and energy efficiency are interlinked or sometimes conflicted. (The presentation of MRI on this issue can be found attached.)

The national examples have showed that several countries of Central and Eastern Europe have already introduced national subsidy schemes for assisting owners of residential buildings to implement energy efficient interventions and the countries of the Balkan or the former Soviet Union are also on the way to launch pilot projects. However these schemes are more likely to fulfil energy targets (more energy to be saved on national level) than to consider how energy poor can be or cannot be affected by them. The separation/connection of social policy and energy policy is still a topic of lively discussion not only in Central Europe but also in the old member states of the European Union.

(More information on the conference can be found at : https://getwarmhomes.org  and read or colleague’s blog article about the conference.

Social Innovation and Energy Supply

As part of MRI’s increasing involvement on energy efficiency and energy poverty, Hanna Szemző attended the the seminar “Social Innovation: Driving Force of Social Change. Foresight & Policy Workshop on Energy Supply”, organised by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek – TNO) and the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Leiden. The seminar focused on the place and importance of social innovation in the energy sector,  the mechanisms of to bring about change within the sector and the recommendations for policy makers to support this change both on national and on European level.

 

REELIH – RESIDENTIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS (2014-2016) 

Client: Habitat for Humanity International, financed by USAID

Duration: August 2014 – September 2016

REELIH looked at the increase of energy efficiency and the refurbishment of dilapidated buildings inhabited by low-income households as a way to counter effectively and on a long-term basis the energy poverty of households. Concentrating on Armenia and Bosnia, the project consisted of need assessment in the designated countries, advocacy work and pilot projects. MRI staff acted consults, focusing on three activities:

  • Providing constant support to the local Habitat offices (commissioned to carry out the local projects) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Armenia by assisting the field research, supporting the reporting process, and formulating recommendations for the two countries about the conditions of establishing a successful national/cantonal programs;
  • Undertaking the comparative analysis of energy efficiency renewal programmes in four Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania;
  • Elaborating a final report, comprising of the synthesis of national and regional research findings in the CEE countries and formulating policy recommendations on the national and regional level .

MRI concluded that introducing the same energy efficient interventions in Armenia and Bosnia are not feasible targeting low-income households, as only middle to upper middle class households could afford financing these interventions, even with public sector support. In addition, the most significant impediments against energy efficient renovations in the multi-family building stock are rooted in the inadequate legal system (insufficient laws and regulations on condominium management) and the ineffective operation of the financial system (risk-avoiding behaviour of financial institutions).

PROFICIENT (2012-2016)

Client: Directorate General for Research and Innovation (European Commission)

Project duration: September 2012 – August 2016

PROFICIENT logo

This Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funded research project had a very broad focus: on the one hand it concentrated on identifying the possibilities of establishing new collective-self organized residential complexes all over Europe, on the other hand it intended to define the circumstances under which residents of owner-occupied multi-unit buildings can implement the energy efficient renovation of their estates. The project has developed a website that assists the communities to go through either the construction or the renovation process. MRI was responsible for developing business models that would enable SMEs to be drivers of the construction or renovation process. The therefore project aimed at developing business models that focus on a special segment of the market, producing business and service products (e.g. e-market place) providing new business opportunities for SMEs in this segment, comprising

  • Collective self-organised housing (CSO), where the inhabitants have a major role in the decisions concerning construction or retrofitting thus even they have limited technical knowledge they are capable to express their ideas;
  • The business model is based on ESCO structure, building on performance guarantee;
  • The interventions focus on not only single buildings but on district level (neighbourhood) residential areas.

During the research process MRI was able to get acquainted with the establishment and operation of collective-self organized housing forms that are practically unknown in Hungary if we speak about new construction (part of this segment is co-housing that is quite common in some European countries, like Denmark), while it is the dominant form of housing if we speak about renovation as most of the multi-unit buildings are owner occupied in Hungary (while this is not the case in Western-Europe).

All the deliverables of the project can be found at: http://proficient-project.eu

 

Preparation of an Integrated Territorial Development Strategy for Ditrict XIII of Budapest (2016)

Client: District XIII of Budapest

Duration: Febraury 2016 – September 2016

Beside developing the Integrated Urban Development Strategy for District XIII in 2008 and conducting its bi-annual monitoring and reviews, in 2016 the Metropolitan Research Institute also developed the Integrated Territotorial Development Strategy of the District. The document was divided into two major units: the Backround Analysis for development and the Strategy itself.

According to the main statement of the underlying part (Background Analysis), District XIII is a progressive, dynamically developing district with a favorable urban structure. The engine of the dynamic development is a thoughtful, disciplined and transparent city management adapted to a long-term vision, in which the district seeks to maintain a partnership among all stakeholders and satisfy all the interests and prosperity of its population. The Strategy itself was developed based on the findings of the Background Analysis. It tries to overcome the contradiction that it must be forward-looking, investor-orienting, and at the same time flexible and capable of accommodating new aspirations. The strategy identifies mid-term development goals to be achieved as well as the range of interventions and implementation tools for their integrated implementation, helping the success of the next 5-7 years of urban development activities. Due to the integrated role of the Strategy, it is striving to ensure that the main development activities in the district are implemented in a coordinated way – both in time and space, creating the required synergies between the different elements and areas of development.

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