Financing neighbourhood renovation through Energy Performance Contracts
Deep renovation of multi-apartment buildings is progressing very slowly. This is mainly due to weak economic incentives, inefficient decision-making processes in buildings with multiple owners, and generally low public interest and trust in such projects.
The weak economic case is largely linked to high upfront investment costs (including construction costs) and the lack of long-term financing instruments.
Project objective:
The goal of the project is to promote comprehensive building renovation in Riga and accelerate its pace by introducing a neighbourhood-level renovation model using Energy Performance Contracts (EPC).
The project aims to achieve positive renovation decisions for at least 60,000 m² of multi-apartment buildings.
In addition, the project includes the regeneration of residential neighbourhoods — improving surrounding areas of renovated buildings such as roads, playgrounds, green spaces, and other public infrastructure.
Project activities:
- Implementation of long-term Energy Performance Contracts to enable deep renovation of buildings
- Development of financial solutions that support market growth and expand access to long-term financing
- Transition from a “one building – one project” approach to a neighbourhood (district-level) approach, reducing costs through larger-scale investments
- Increasing residents’ interest in deep renovation by linking it with broader urban environment improvements
Project partners:
- Coordinators: Riga Technical university (RTU)
- Public agency: Riga energy agency (REA)
- House maintenance company: Rigas namu parvaldnieks (RNP)
- Energy service company: RENESCO.
Project duration 1 September 2023 – 31 August 2026
The project is co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Clean Energy Transition (LIFE-CET) programme under Grant Agreement No. 101120713.
