Raising summer energy poverty awareness to reduce cooling needs
The COOLTORISE project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon programme, focuses on the topic of ‘summer energy poverty’, thus addressing an often overlooked aspect of energy poverty itself.
According to data collected by Eurostat (Eurostat, 2018), the statistical office of the European Union, about 19% of the population is unable to keep their home cool enough during the summer period and 7.3% of the population is unable to keep it warm. Among the main reasons are low income, high energy bills and low housing efficiency. The climate is undergoing significant changes that have significant impacts on human health and well-being. Rising temperatures will have a greater impact on the most fragile sections of society, who will be more exposed to heat-related problems, such as heat stroke or heart disease. In addition, the characteristics of buildings are becoming increasingly important. In older buildings, without adequate insulation, or in apartments with bedrooms on the upper floor, high temperatures can easily be reached.
The COOLTORISE project aims to reduce the incidence of summer energy poverty among European households by improving indoor thermal habitability conditions and reducing their energy needs during the hot season. This will reduce exposure to heat and the health risks associated with it.
COOLTORISE therefore aims to raise awareness of the problem of summer energy poverty, an issue that is becoming increasingly complex, by providing solutions to reduce the effects of heat waves in inefficient homes and by providing tools and information to enable families to keep their homes adequately cool during increasingly hot summers.
Objectives:
- Establish a common framework on summer energy poverty in southern European countries (more exposed to heat waves);
- Define common solutions to tackle summer energy poverty;
- Train ‘summer energy poverty operators’ who will work with the most energy-vulnerable households;
- Reducing the proportion of people living in energy poverty
- To strengthen women’s knowledge and skills on energy consumption;
Actions:
- Selection of households in four countries of the European Union (Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Spain);
- Selection and training of “summer energy poverty operators” – as key figures to raise awareness of energy poverty. The operators are evaluated on the basis of their skills and will be divided into two groups: volunteers and professionals.
- Organization of workshops on summer energy poverty;
- Planning of outdoor and indoor interventions;
- Development of a common protocol for heat waves;
- Development of a communication and dissemination plan that puts the problem of energy poverty at the forefront.
Partners:
Aisfor srl – AISFOR (IT)
Universidad Politecninca de Madrid – UPM (ES)
AsociaciónEcoserveis – ECOSERVEIS (ES)
Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo – ABD (ES)
Municipality of Parma (IT)
Sdruzenie Tzentar za Ustoychivost Iikonomichesko Razvitie – MOP (BG)
Obshtina Peshtera (BGR)
Vilabs OE – VILABS (GR)