More than €200 million for insulation of public buildings in Wallonia

The focus has been on insulation and ventilation to improve occupants’ comfort. This work should significantly reduce the consumption of the buildings concerned and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For these calls, applicants had to enter the data of their building and indicate on which part of the building they intended to act. Thanks to a spreadsheet provided by the regional administration, they were then able to see the theoretical energy savings generated by this work and the amount of subsidy available.

Three calls for projects have been launched:

• UREBA exceptional 2019 – 576 projects for a grant amount of €50 million;

• UREBA exceptional 2021 – 281 projects for a grant amount of €24 million;

• UREBA exceptional 2022-2024 – wave one – 319 projects for a grant amount of €77 million.

Waves two and three of the 2022-2024 call are still underway and will allow to finance even more projects with respective amounts of €60 million and €31 million.

These calls for projects have been made possible by the provision of a significant budget from the various recovery plans. It will be necessary to see, in the future, if other means are made available to relaunch such calls. For the beneficiaries, these calls made it possible to launch renovation projects that might not have been possible without intervention from the region.

Meanwhile, the UREBA classic subsidy is available on a continuous basis and enables projects to be financed – although with lower budgets.

In 2022, a reform of the UREBA classic scheme came into force. This reform aims to better support project leaders in meeting long-term renovation objectives by integrating energy audits and a global real estate strategy. Insulation standards have been strengthened and support for fossil fuels has been stopped. Only the systems using renewable energy can be subsidised.

All these measures are established in order to achieve the EU energy savings target rapidly and efficiently.

Installing renewable heating systems and insulating public buildings is not just a matter of thermal comfort – it is a commitment to the future. By reducing the energy footprint of public buildings, we preserve the environment, save precious resources, and build a sustainable heritage for future generations.

Jean Van Pamel – Treasurer of FEDARENE and Inspector General at the Wallonia Region

This best practice is extracted from our publication ‘Sustainable Regions in Action‘. Discover more best practices here!