Making heating and cooling for European consumers efficient, economically resilient, clean and climate-friendly (REPLACE)

Description

The motivation for the initiation of the REPLACE project in 2019 was the heating and cooling sector’s high final energy consumption and its high dependence on fossil fuels within the European Union. At that time, heating and cooling accounted for around 50 % of European final energy consumption, which is still the case in relative terms. Moreover, in the residential sector, heating and cooling (H&C) and hot water together accounted for about 80 % of total energy use. Two thirds of this energy comes from fossil fuels. Furthermore, in 2019, 58 % of
all boilers installed in the EU-27 were inefficient non-condensing oil and gas boilers, amounting to 61 million units.

The overarching goal of the REPLACE project was to make heating and cooling for European consumers efficient, economically resilient, clean and climate-friendly. REPLACE therefore aimed to boost the phase-out of old fossil fueled and inefficient (e.g. log wood and direct electricity) heating systems by targeting consumers, investors and owners as well as intermediaries and helped them to make informed decisions.

Over the course of three years, the REPLACE project worked towards motivating and assisting more than 8 million citizens in nine pilot regions across eight European countries to transition from fossil fuel-based or inefficient heating systems to modern, comfortable, and clean alternatives.
To implement this ambitious plan, the REPLACE project used a unique approach to bring together installers, chimney sweepers, policy makers and other key players at the local level in each target region. The role of these Local Working Groups was to design and implement effective, tailor-made measures to support the clean heat
transition in the pilot region. Efforts to improve the local enabling environment and to introduce simple behavioural or low-cost energy saving or renovation measures that reduce overall energy consumption were also part of the action.
Boiler and oven replacement campaigns were implemented in each of the nine target regions to promote the phase-out of fossil fuels in the heating market. In addition, the project developed several tools to help households make informed decisions about which renewable heating system is best for their home. These
include a heating matrix, a heating calculator and manuals for both consumers and professionals. This form of support was not previously available in the Eastern European partner countries and was made possible for the first time through REPLACE.

The geographical focus of REPLACE was on Western, Central and South-Eastern Europe, covering the following regions:

• Skopje Region (MK)
• Federal State of Salzburg (AT)
• Bavarian Oberland (DE)
• Castilla y Leon (ES)
• Primorsko goranska County (HR)
• City of Zagreb incl. three bordering counties (HR)
• Canton of Sarajevo (BA)
• Rhodope Mountain Region (BG)
• City of Sabac (RS)
• Slovenia (SI)