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CONTENTS
A SPECIAL WELCOME TO THE NEW CONCERTO PROJECTS - PART 2
A SPECIAL WELCOME TO THE NEW CONCERTO PROJECTS - PART 3
A SPECIAL WELCOME TO THE NEW CONCERTO PROJECTS - PART 4
 
 
Towards an integrated community energy policy to improve the quality of citizens' lives
Lessons learnt/ resulting recommendations for other communities:
  • Have a clear vision of your policy objectives (reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution, self-reliant and stable economy, job creation in the region, etc…) and a strategy to reach those objectives. Set clear energy policy priorities into the Sustainable Development or Integrated Environmental Strategy of your local or regional government.

  • Develop an energy action plan with measurable and realistic targets, timeframes and responsibilities. Assess and monitor progress regularly and add new targets and measures when necessary. Clearly define responsibilities and hire sufficient, skilled and dedicated staff.

  • Geneva introduced a tax on fossil fuel called “Fossil Fuel Cent” whose revenues flow directly into an energy fund, the so called “Centime Climatique” . This re-distributes funds for environmental projects (in particular Energy Efficiency and RES). Notwithstanding differences in fiscal regimes which are a national/local matter, the adoption of a similar mechanism could be strived also by other communities.
Overview of the POLYCITY project in Torino, Italy - by Pasquale Campanile2

POLYCITY3 in Torino is a project aimed at requalifying and improving the energy efficiency of a whole neighbourhood, named Arquata and located near the city centre.

The project is coordinated by Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF), in partnership with local stakeholders, such as the Municipality of Torino, the Housing Authority of the Province of Torino (ATC), the Municipal Utility for Energy Distribution and Sale (AEM) and the Politecnico of Torino.

The project POLYCITY aims at improving the energetic efficiency, the environmental sustainability and the quality of life of the area.        

The most innovative measure is the creation of the Integrated Energy Manager that has been named I-CEMS (Italian Communal Energy Mgmt System). It is an automated control system that will enable the energy management of the entire Arquata district, through the local integration of supply and demand.

Other relevant innovation from the project concerns the socio-economic side activities. A user-centred approach has been applied in the different implementation phases of the project (the design, carrying out, training, and monitoring stages) so as to involve at every stage all stakeholders that are key contributors in the value chain.
In particular a representative sample of inhabitants was involved (nearly 100 families) to provide a communication support aimed at ensuring the most effective use of the innovative systems, to save energy and reduce costs. The social indications collected from interviewing the area inhabitants will be analysed to become subjective performance indicators. They will be used in the framework of the POLYCITY project, together with more objective performance indicators, as part of a monitoring process, aimed at assessing the impact and added value achieved.
Lessons learnt/ resulting recommendations for other communities:
  • The integration of technical, socio-economic and environmental dimensions and the involvement of stakeholders can be a major asset for a project's success. The “contratto di quartiere” (neighborhood contract) was an important pre-existing element, and an innovative measure was provided for by the training of inhabitants who carried out interviews in the district and became multipliers themselves.

  • The involvement of the inhabitants of the CONCERTO districts should be strived for in both planning and implementation of the measures. Socio-economic accompanying measures/activities are crucial for the acceptance/success.

  • In the case of a complex system such as the I-CEMS where implementation requires the participation of a high number of stakeholders, it is necessary to invest time at the beginning of the collaboration phase to clearly outline the systems’ specifications so as to avoid possible misunderstanding among stakeholders.

  • An integrated system like the I-CEMS cannot be the result of a consensus process where every stakeholder expresses his/her own interests and the product is developed on the basis of this consensus. Detailed descriptions of the functionalities and specific features of the system have to be proposed at the beginning of the project and discussed as a second step with all involved partners.

2-By Pasquale Campanile, Centro Ricerche FIAT, Italy, Coordinator of the Italian Regional project in Torino “POLYCITY – Torino/Italy: Polygeneration and Energy Management for a High Efficiency City District”.
The full version of the article is available on CONCERTO webpage in the policy session: www.concertoplus.eu

3-The project in Torino is part of the Integrated Project POLYCITY, co-funded by the European Commission within the CONCERTO Call of the VI Framework Program. POLYCITY is aimed at the realization and demonstration of three high efficiency communities in Germany, Spain and Italy, based on the rational use of energy and on renewable energy. Website:http://www.polycity.net/it/index.html