This two-day workshop, convened by the Alliance to Save Energy, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., will address legislative, institutional, technical, financial and implementational barriers to energy-efficiency projects in housing stock. The workshop will emphasize the crucial role that energy-efficiency retrofits in the residential sector play to make the communal services affordable to low-income consumers. The workshop will showcase some of the most exemplary case studies on energy-efficiency projects in urban housing
The workshop is sponsored by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program (REEEP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It brings together policymakers, national and local government administrators, business representatives, managers of housing associations and utilities from Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Armenia, Baltic States, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and the United States to pursue a discussion about ways to overcome the barriers to residential energy efficiency and to develop sustainable housing stock.
This group of experts will have a unique opportunity to discuss the role of various institutions in making energy-efficiency and related improvements to multi-apartment buildings, role of tariffs, subsidies and cross-subsidies, housing policies, energy policies, ownership policies, taxes, energy planning, and the enforcement of these various policy measures that either encourage or discourage residential energy efficiency. Throughout this 2-day event, multiple workshop sessions will present various policy suggestions that aim to alleviate the burden of utility costs on vulnerable households, provide data about affordability in urban areas, and compare costs and benefits the more traditional policy approaches with the experiences from energy efficiency retrofits in selected countries of the region.
The workshop gives the opportunity to identify and exchange "best practices" in promoting and encouraging residential energy efficiency for neighboring European countries and to expand REEEP's and USAID's institutional capacity on energy-efficiency practices and policies worldwide. The workshop will also give the Ukrainian local and national government officials an opportunity to observe the energy-efficiency practices in other countries, and to stimulate similar undertakings in Ukraine in order to increase independence from Russia's energy sources and to provide affordable utility services to its citizens.
The workshop will take place at the RUS Hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. Registration is open until January 31, 2006.
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The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, economy, and national security.