Aug. 19 – Anna Moreno is an ENEA researcher working on the European project Elihmed (Energy Efficiency in Low Income Housing in the Mediterranean), dedicated to reducing fuel consumption and improving the efficiency and comfort of housing occupied by low-income families. For her efforts, she was recently praised by the Legambiente National Centre for the promotion of renewable energy sources. Elihmed established a large-scale trial for the retrofit of older homes occupied by low-income families in six Mediterranean countries (Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Cyprus and Malta), in which this type of buildings accounts for 40% of the total. In Italy, the pilot project took place in rural Sardinia and in condos in Genoa and Frattamaggiore (Naples); overall, a total of 100 homes were upgraded. According to the researcher, “Elihmed’s success demonstrates how the rehabilitation of buildings can help promote a new vision of economic and social housing. On top of being a valuable tool to reach the EU 20% consumption cut target by 2020, this project holds important social values: in terms of thermal insulation, it involves structures with high efficiency potential; in terms of inhabitants, low income households are hardly reached by traditional energy efficiency policies. It is estimated that, in Europe, a few tens of millions of citizens live under an energy poverty regime, that is to say, they aren’t able to pay for their energy consumption: for these people, we must strive to provide nearly zero energy housing.”
