Green homes and efficiency improvements, the Province of Trento opens: «Incentives cannot be ruled out»

With the approval of the «Provincial environmental energy plan» (Peap), the Province has set more ambitious objectives than Europe in terms of energy efficiency of homes. And also in Trentino remains the question that Giancarlo Giorgetti asked himself sarcastically immediately after the approval of the directive «Green Homes»: «Who pays in the end?». Especially since, proportionately, the effort required is greater in the province. It is up to the budget councilor Achille Spinelli to provide some indications: «Incentive tools are not developed. We can try to find some forms of it, following the evolution of the situation. I don’t rule it out.” And yet: «As Italy we ended up with the 110% Superbonus and we end up in another tunnel. Furthermore, any incentive could be irrelevant after that.”

Green homes

At this point, however, it is necessary to take a step back. The European “Green Homes” directive approved on Friday in Brussels requires that residential buildings must reduce consumption by 16% by 2030. Furthermore, this objective will mostly have to be achieved by intervening on houses with the lowest energy performance. However, in Trentino Peap aims even higher: by 2030 cut by a third within the consumption of Trentino residential buildings compared to 2021. A result to be achieved precisely by intervening on houses from energy performance worst — those in classes E to G — which must be brought to class D. These are 50 thousand buildingsequal to 40.2% of Trentino’s residential stock, but responsible for 64% of consumption of homes in the province (over 1.8 billion kilowatt hours per year). Although Europe asks states less than the Trentino don’t ask your valleys, the provincial plan remains: «At the moment we are not thinking of modifying the PEAP – declares Energy Councilor Gottardi -, we set the objectives regardless of the EU, and they were a territorial priority».

Structural interventions

The main problem is expressed in a joint note by Emanuela Faggioni (CGIL), Michele Bezzi (CISL) and Walter Alotti (UIL). How long «shareable» and «ambitious», they say, without “a targeted incentive policy, the PEAP risks remaining, largely, a dream book”. Therefore the invitation to the council is to launch «a plan of structural interventions that gives citizens certainty“, remembering that “in our province 80% of private assets are owned homes. Without adequate support measures not everyone will be able to afford it efficiency measures energy requirements”. And – it is worth repeating – the costs of achieving the PEAP objectives are estimated to be in the order of 1.5 billion net of inflation and ancillary costs.

Urban planning regulations

It is therefore not surprising that, like his colleague Spinelli, Gottardi is open to «measures to support the new urban planning legislation» and remember the incentives in place: «It is necessary to collaborate with categories, professional orders, the banking system and Municipalities, to promote territorial information with respect to the existing bonuses (both the 85% earthquake bonus and the eco bonus remain) which allow , with tax compensation, of amortize over 100 thousand euros per housing unit in a few years». And this is where Spinelli’s concern comes in: «Many companies will have work for another ten years. But no incentive will ever be as rich and powerful as 110%. After that the danger is that any incentive will be unattractive. A big problem for Italy. And for us it’s the same». The issue, in the words of the Budget Councilor himself, is that “the Superbonus was quickly burned”. Furthermore, a great connoisseur of the 110%, the Trento deputy Andrea de Bertoldi (Fdi), comments on the hypothesis of the return of the Superbonus in this sentence: «We have no elements to give particular answers. It’s premature». Finally, closing the discussion on expenses is my colleague and fellow party member, Alessia Ambrosi, who defines the European directive as “delusional” and proposes: “let’s send the bill for the Green Houses to the Democratic Party” (who had voted in favor). Ambrosi was part of the majority in the provincial council in 2021, when the more ambitious PAEP was launched.

The bureaucratic knot

Alongside the economic one, the other issue to face is the bureaucratic one. Gottardi declares it again: «It is urgent to intervene, at the level of regulatory instrument, on the urban reclassification of buildings in historic centres”, the majority of those for which efficiency improvement is necessary. And, continues the councilor, it is necessary «Make the intervention easier and quicker, placing the concept of energy efficiency and production as a priority over a priori conservation at an urban planning value level. This does not mean “demolishing everything” but making it possible to intervene drastically on existing structures in order to make them eco-sustainable.”