The following information has been gathered as part of the CONCERTO Premium policy research.

Benefits of CONCERTO:

Key benefits:

urban rehabilitation of degraded areas

• development of first zero energy building in Corsica
• Approx. energy saving: 20 %
• Approx. energy from RES: 15 %
• Ajaccio has been selected by ADEME agency in 2010, as demo-buildings, becoming the first example of positive energy infrastructure in the Corse Region.

Barriers encountered:

Administrative barriers:

Delay in financial approval from National Agency and difficulties in different funding scheme synchronizations.

Technical barriers:

There was a lack of training in the sector (especially for installers) and a of training for architects for the environmental quality of buildings. Ademe organized an architect training course in Corsica. The first took place in 2010 and the second in 2012.  As a result, 20 professionals from the industry gained knowledge on environmental quality. The small size of most enterprises led to the issue that they could not miss the workable hours ‘lost’ on training. ADEME organized six sessions about thermal regulation information for enterprises (in the evening).

Economic barriers:

The CONCERTO projects were significantly delayed because communities only began receiving financial support from the ANRU (national funding that covered a high proportion of over-all refurbishment costs) in 2009.

Social barriers: 

Intrusive technical monitoring in the apartment was not understood by the tenant. It would be better to combine technical and social monitoring in one hand and do it locally.

Success factors identified:

Technical Success Factors:

In 2011, a call for tender was launched by ADEME on a regional level for architects to design an exemplar building with ambitious specifications. The winning architects conceived an ‘energy-positive’  building: It will produce more energy than it needs, because it is fitted with 200 m² of photovoltaic panels. A great but realistic design. This extremely high result for the public building would not have been possible without the European cooperation in the cRRescendo project.

Institutional success factors:

The project received good benchmark and feedback for the regional energy observatory.

Other:

The highest priority has been given to urban renovation activity. In 2009, Ajaccio benefited from financial support for the Urban Renovation Programme (ANRU) in Cannes- Salines district. The (ANRU) support has been much more important from a financial point of view than the CONCERTO funding. However, the Urban Renovation Programme did not cover energy improvement measures. The CONCERTO program imposed measurement standards that endorsed the use of energy efficiency. The combination of these 2 incentives (ANRU-Concerto) has led to a positive mix in terms of standard and cost effectiveness.

Legacy – follow-on projects:

In terms of replication initiatives deriving from the CONCERTO project, it can be claimed that the “Zero energy” public office buildings have been selected by ADEME agency in 2010 as demo-buildings. They became the first example of positive energy infrastructure in the Corse Region. The project has received additional incentives.
From a “Zero energy” public office building planned CONCERTO  a  so called “positive energy building”. It was the first demo-building in the region (with additional money from National agency ADEME).

Legacy - Policy Developments:

The project introduced the production of more Eco buildings such as positive energy buildings and BBC (low consumption) buildings.