One-Stop-Shop for energy home renovation

Aradippou municipality has set up a local buildings registry to better monitor the energy home renovation works that are implemented by its citizens. It has also introduced a local “CO2 Reward Card” to financially incentivise citizens investing in home energy efficiency measures and building-integrated PV systems.

The one-stop-shop offers homeowners a municipal tax deduction and a grant depending on the amount of CO2 emissions saved. Homeowners can benefit from two financing schemes developed by the municipality:

• A soft loan for the installation of building-integrated PV technology.
• A municipal grant for energy renovation measures and PV technology. This new financial incentive is currently under development. The idea is to introduce a local “CO2 Reward Card” that would offer a financial equivalent of the amount of CO2 emissions saved by homeowners. The reward would be recovered through a deduction or exemption from the municipal property taxes.

Business model
Aradippou municipality benefits from a trustful relationship with its citizens. That is the main reason why it wished to maintain a neutral and independent role within the local one-stop-shop. Thus, it opted for the “coordination model”. The municipality has been engaging with different local stakeholders (private construction companies, energy auditors, banks, etc.) which play the key role as partners of the one-stop-shop but it does not directly interfere in the market.
The one-stop-shop has been integrated within the technical services of the municipality. The development costs were covered through the EU Horizon 2020 funding with a budget of approximately €200,000 for 3 years. The annual running costs are expected to be relatively low – approximately €34,000/year. In the future these will be covered by the municipal budget. The one-stop-shop does not generate any revenues as it provides its services to citizens free of charge.

Aradippou’s one-stop-shop is ran by municipal officers:

• The strategy team, consulting the Mayor and the Municipal Council, includes the municipality’s secretary, the chief engineer and the EU Affairs Office Consultant.
• The operational team, one coordination officer and four civil engineers who provide advice to homeowners.
• The general call centre of the municipal administration was trained to answer first questions and redirect citizens to the operational team.