SEACAP 4 SDG delivers a training on how to develop and implement building rehabilitation projects through participatory approaches in Bizerte (Tunisia)
On the 14th and 15th of February 2023, the Mediterranean Renewable Energy centre (MEDREC), partner of SEACAP4SDG, organized a training on “How to develop and implement building rehabilitation projects through participatory approaches” at the Municipality of Bizerte, Tunisia.
The Municipality of Bizerte is located in the region of the Bizerte Governatorate and has undergone several actions to improve energy efficiency in selected buildings since the work on the national program "Alliance of Local Councils for Energy Transition” (ACTE) in 2020. The initiative aimed to strengthen the capacity of Tunisian municipalities to contribute at their levels to the national energy transition and eventually reduced energy consumption by 29.7%. The actions included façade isolation, lighting upgrade to LED, cooling and heating efficiency, and PV installation
The expectations in participating to the support mechanism include to propose, experiment and test new contextualized methodologies involving different actors (Living lab) focusing on users experience design in public buildings and ensuring the implementation of the resulting activities.
This training was organized and delivered in collaboration with the Municipality of Bizerte, selected as beneficiary of the support mechanism set up by the project in Tunisia, and the Agency Atmospheres ADD (represented by a group of engineers and architects) selected to assist the municipality in the implementation of the actions planned.
The training was delivered to the members of the Local Living Lab established in Tunisia and gathered around 35 participants including staff of the Municipality of Bizerte, students from the National Engineering School of Bizerte and the National School of Architecture and Urbanism.
During the two session training, MEDREC and the Agency Atmospheres ADD focused on the planning and implementation of building energy renovation measures based on the capitalization toolkit proposed by SEACAP4SDG, and while adopting a Living Lab approach. The tools selected to be adopted in the local context were developed in the framework of Med-EcoSuRe, PrioritEE and IMPULSE projects.
The Impluse tools presented are applications developed in Excel, and will help listing the buildings in a given municipality, classify them and select an "ambassador" building of the category of interest and allows to estimate for each scenario the cost/kWh reduced. The Med-EcoSure tool will help to evaluate the thermal behaviour of the building, in particular university building. It can be implemented and adapted on the city hall of Bizerte.
The trainers highlighted also the importance of Green Nudging which is a behavioral science applied to promote environmentally sustainable behaviors, and which is being widely promoted to encourage energy conservation and altering energy use choices.
During the training, the participants started exploiting the proposed tools to evaluate the energy performance in a pilot building selected in the Municipality of Bizerte, and will propose energy renovation measures to reduce its overall consumption.
A video coverage of the training is available HERE.