On the energy efficiency of buildings and homes it is necessary to “increase the availability of data both for a correct design of policy measures and for the development of market solutions. Public intervention should address then priority to less well-off families and focus on measures better able to improve energy efficiency. It would also be appropriate for tax incentives to be accompanied by other instruments and for adequate and certain coverage to be provided”. This is supported by a study published by the Bank of Italy in the series “Economic and Financial Issues”.
The work illustrates the current national regulatory framework regarding the improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings and provides data on the characteristics of Italian homes and their occupants. Summarizes the literature on the costs and benefits of energy efficiency investments and the role of the public sector, financial intermediaries and the private sector. Based on the Italian and other countries’ experience, it formulates some considerations for the design of public interventions aimed at promoting the improvement of energy efficiency.
According to the analysis, the European standards for the energy efficiency of homes, currently being approved, will be able to impose significant obligations in a limited time period. This work describes the reference context in relation to the regulatory framework, the characteristics of the homes and those of the residents, the economic literature on the costs and benefits of investments in EE and the role of the public sector, financial intermediaries and the private sector. Subsequently, some considerations are proposed for the design of interventions aimed at increasing investments in efficiency.
A critical element, the study warns, concerns the limited availability of data on the energy efficiency of homes, on energy consumption and on past incentive measures, which would instead be necessary both for the development of market solutions (the action of banks and the private sector in favor of investments in efficiency) and for a correct design of public interventions. Also given the public finance constraints, the latter should give priority to less well-off families, who are more likely to live in non-efficient homes and be subject to liquidity constraints, and focus on the measures most capable of improving the ‘energy efficiency. It would also be appropriate for tax incentives to be accompanied by other instruments and for adequate and certain coverage to be provided.
