Energy saving does not go to the house

The Accounts Chamber (AC) recognized the current state policy to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock as not effective enough: it lacks consistency, since the strategic documents do not contain specific goals for energy saving and reducing emissions in construction and housing and communal services. Moreover, developers have not made much progress in the construction of houses of higher energy efficiency classes. The joint venture proposes to introduce additional incentives for both developers and buyers of energy-efficient housing. Another problem is that energy-efficient renovation of houses is hampered by the lack of funds for its support mechanism and alternatives.

The Accounts Chamber, having analyzed the implementation of plans to improve the energy efficiency of apartment buildings, came to the conclusion that the work carried out was insufficient to achieve the goals of the energy saving policy. Its program in the construction industry and housing and communal services is part of the “low-carbon” strategy for the development of the Russian Federation until 2050, aimed at reducing emissions (see “Kommersant” dated February 11, 2022). As Natalya Trunova, auditor of the joint venture, explains, residential buildings and enterprises in the construction and housing and communal services sector account for almost a quarter of energy consumption and the formation of the carbon footprint of the Russian Federation.

Despite such a significant contribution of these industries to the volume of greenhouse gas emissions, as follows from the report of the Joint Venture, the work to improve their energy efficiency is clearly lacking in consistency: at the federal level, not a single state program contains a set of measures to achieve such goals in the construction complex and housing and communal services. They are indicated only in the strategy for the development of the construction industry and housing and communal services until 2030, but without quantitative indicators to reduce energy consumption and emissions. In response to these comments, the Ministry of Construction assures that they are developing a passport for the project “Improving the energy efficiency of buildings, structures and structures and in the housing and communal services sector”, which will become a structural element of the state program “Energy Saving” until 2035.

The main directions for improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock are to increase the energy efficiency class of houses under construction and the modernization of existing ones.

However, as the SP notes, measures to stimulate housing construction “do not aim to build houses of the highest energy efficiency classes” – for example, the share of houses without an assigned class decreased slightly in 2021 (from 88.4% to 86.4%), and the share of residential buildings with an increased energy efficiency class “C” and above increased slightly (by 0.3 p.p., up to 6.4% at the end of the year). In this regard, the Accounts Chamber invites the Ministry of Construction to prepare incentives for developers of “highly energy-efficient houses with almost zero energy consumption”, and at the same time for buyers of such housing: for example, “green” project financing, tax incentives or “green” mortgages. Also, the state auditors consider it necessary to establish mandatory increased requirements for the energy efficiency of housing built with the use of state support measures.

In terms of energy-efficient overhaul, the Joint Venture notes that there is only one financial support mechanism – a subsidy from the Territorial Development Fund to compensate for part of the costs of such work. In itself, the state auditors consider such work to be effective – the average amount of savings in the cost of paying for the “communal” after it is carried out is estimated at 20%. But the support mechanism covered only a small part of the houses – 410.6 million rubles were spent in 2017–2022. for 343 houses (0.02% of the housing stock). Now this tool does not work at all – there is no funding. The joint venture insists on the development of alternative incentives for homeowners and management organizations to energy efficient overhaul, such as long-term loans, including preferential ones. The Ministry of Construction, in turn, notes that the creation of alternative mechanisms is already planned: there is a bill in the State Duma that should expand the practice of energy service contracts.

Evgenia Kryuchkova