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Greening Public Buildings: ESCO-Contracting in Danish Municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • Jesper Ole Jensen

    (Department of Town, Housing and Property, Danish Building Research Institute, A.C.Meyers Vænge 15, Copenhagen DK-2450, Denmark)

  • Susanne Balslev Nielsen

    (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygning 424, Kongens Lyngby DK-2800, Denmark)

  • Jesper Rohr Hansen

    (Department of Town, Housing and Property, Danish Building Research Institute, A.C.Meyers Vænge 15, Copenhagen DK-2450, Denmark)

Abstract

This paper presents current research on Danish municipalities’ use of Energy Service Companies (ESCO) as a way to improve the standard of public buildings and to increase energy efficiency. In recent years more and more municipalities have used ESCO-contracts to retrofit existing public buildings, and to make them more energy efficient. At the moment 30 municipalities (of the 98 municipalities in Denmark) are involved in, or preparing, ESCO contracts. Nevertheless, ESCO-contracting still faces many challenges on the Danish market, as there is a widespread skepticism towards the concept amongst many stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the various experience gained so far by municipalities use of ESCO-contracting, the different approached to ESCO-contracting being used in practice, as well as the different viewpoints drivers and barriers behind the development. The strong growth in ESCO-contracts reflects that the ESCO-concept fits well with a number of present problems that municipalities are facing, as well as a flexible adaptation to the local context in different municipalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesper Ole Jensen & Susanne Balslev Nielsen & Jesper Rohr Hansen, 2013. "Greening Public Buildings: ESCO-Contracting in Danish Municipalities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:5:p:2407-2427:d:25497
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:wbk:wbpubs:13540 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Sorrell, Steve, 2007. "The economics of energy service contracts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 507-521, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wenjie Zhang & Hongping Yuan, 2019. "Promoting Energy Performance Contracting for Achieving Urban Sustainability: What is the Research Trend?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Sanghyo Lee & Sungho Tae & Sungwoo Shin, 2015. "Profit Distribution in Guaranteed Savings Contracts: Determination Based on the Collar Option Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Polzin, Friedemann & Nolden, Colin & von Flotow, Paschen, 2018. "Drivers and barriers for municipal retrofitting activities – Evidence from a large-scale survey of German local authorities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 99-108.
    4. Friedemann Polzin & Steve Sorrell & Colin Nolden, 2015. "Innovative Procurement Frameworks for Energy Performance Contracting in the UK Public Sector," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-31, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. Bertoldi, Paolo & Boza-Kiss, Benigna, 2017. "Analysis of barriers and drivers for the development of the ESCO markets in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 345-355.
    6. Wenjie Zhang & Hongping Yuan, 2019. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Energy Performance Contracting Research from 2008 to 2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, June.

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