Making houses more efficient is one of the objectives of the Portuguese government through the “Casa Eficiente 2020” (Efficient House 2020) program, which will receive funding of 200 million euros in the period 2018-2021 and aims to make Portuguese houses more welcoming and efficient. Estimates suggest that 12,000 homes could benefit and that the average cost of the works could be between 12,500 and 13,000 euros.
These predictions were made by Pedro Marques, Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, during the presentation session of the program on Friday 13th April, in which João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister of the Environment, and Ana Pinho, Secretary of State for Housing, also participated .
“The estimate for the 12,000 homes comes from an average intervention value of around 12,500, 13,000 euros per home. The most important thing is that there are no restrictions in geographical terms,” warns Pedro Marquesstressing that the program “can reach many more people in the entire national territory” because it is not integrated into rehabilitation areas.
The minister also underlined the fact that anyone can be a candidate, whether they live in an apartment, a house or an urbanização housing estate. Companies which own buildings for housing purposes can also make use of the program.
“We are going to support the improvement of energy and water efficiency in individual private homes,” said the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure. “There are families, house to house, who need to improve the conditions of their windows, appliances, water recycling, solar panels, etc.,” he added.
How does it work? Those interested in the program will be able to simulate on the Portuguese-language website created for the program, Casa Eficiente 2020, how much it will cost to carry out the renovation works they consider necessary to make their home more efficient. To do this, they have to choose the company that will do the work from a list on the website. Afterwards, they will receive an “Efficient House 2020” declaration and will be able to turn to their bank for funding. This program will offer more favorable conditions than traditional consumer credit.
EIB wants to copy the project
According to Andrew McDowell, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB)which co-finances 100 million of the 200 million euros that cover the “Casa Eficiente 2020” project (the remaining 100 million being granted by CGD, BCP and Nuevo Banco) this is a pioneering program. He stressed that the EIB wants to “learn and be able to replicate elsewhere” the initiative, which he praised and called innovative.
Such praise did not go unnoticed by Pedro Marques. The minister pointed out in his presentation the fact that the EIB had announced that it wished to copy this initiative in other countries, which demonstrated its importance.