What is the purpose of this new aid? The aim is to improve the energy performance of the apartment buildings with the worst performance and thereby reduce the climate impact of Sweden's apartment buildings.
There can be many reasons why property owners do not energy efficient – usually, however, it is not considered profitable. The new proposal is designed to improve the profitability of the implementation of the measures by making it easy to allocate amounts of aid for artificially efficient measures, which will at the same time enable property owners to realise the untapped potential of energy efficiency.
In total, the aid is estimated to contribute a total energy saving of up to 47,000 MWh nationally in the first year.
The new support is aimed at apartment buildings that overwhelmingly contain rental apartments, cooperative rental apartments or condominiums, which have an energy consumption above 100 kWh per square meter per year. In order to apply for the support, there shall be plans for energy efficiency measures that improve energy performance by at least 20 % in apartment buildings.
With evidence showing possible energy efficiency, the aid shall be able to cover up to 50 % of the costs of the measures. However, medium-sized enterprises can only apply for 40 % of the costs, while large enterprises can apply for 30 %(see definition medium and large enterprises here).
In order to apply for the support, the house must have an energy performance with primary energy ratios above 100 kWh/m2/year, which corresponds to the energy classification E-G according to the Swedish National Board of Housing and Urban Development's division. A building's primary energy figure is the weighting of the building and energy engineering properties, which gives a measure of how good its energy-related properties are.
Housing is one of the sectors that uses the most energy and is therefore a priority area for energy efficiency. 79% of apartment buildings declared in 2019 had an energy consumption of over 100 kWh per square metre per year (energy class E-G). The houses from 1950 to 1979 used the most energy.
The purpose of the new support for energy efficiency is to improve the energy performance of the apartment buildings with the worst performance and thereby reduce the climate impact of Sweden's apartment buildings.
The proposal for the new support for energy efficiency is a further development of the now abolished efficiency support for properties in socio-economically vulnerable areas. This aid was found not to solve the problems of lack of profitability during renovation. The demarcation of beneficiaries also proved to be too narrow.
The old aid was phased out, but the need to energy-efficient the property portfolio remains. The new proposal, which entered into force on 1 October 2021, means that more residential buildings, regardless of their geographical location, will be able to apply for the aid.
There is a lot to read on the Swedish National Board of Housing and Urban Development's website. But if you want support and help with counting this and get good ideas for smart, long-term and very sustainable energy-efficient solutions, please contact us.
