Energy: Outcomes of ‘Energies for the Common Home’ project presented in Rome

The outcomes of the ‘Energies for the Common Home’ project, inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si', which involved 10 Italian dioceses ^[1] to promote a culture of energy sustainability through building improvement interventions and energy consumption reduction in church facilities, were presented in Rome.

The project, part of the National Energy Efficiency Information and Training Campaign “Italy in Class A,” promoted and funded by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) and implemented by ENEA, was developed with the technical support of the National Network of Local Energy Agencies (RENAEL) and the collaboration of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI).

The event was also attended by Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, RENAEL President Piergabriele Andreoli, CEI bursar Don Claudio Francesconi, and, for ENEA Director General Giorgio Graditi and Energy Efficiency Department Director Ilaria Bertini.

‘Energies for the Common Home’ aims to strengthen the role of Italian dioceses as promoters of best practices in energy efficiency and foresees the creation of a platform to identify consumption and waste in church facilities, and the implementation of a plan of possible interventions that can entail economic savings, improved comfort and architectural valorization.

In the first phase of the project 34 buildings including schools, laboratories, oratories, conference centers, residential buildings, kindergartens and swimming pools were analysed, covering a total area of 67,100 square meters, while the total heated area is 57,100 square meters. The analysis showed that 79 percent of the buildings are heated with natural gas boilers. The total energy consumption amounts to 4,100 MWh per year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of about 1,520 households.

The energy diagnoses performed on the facilities showed that the main upgrading needs are: thermal insulation of the building envelope (71 percent), heat generator replacement (47 percent), lighting system upgrading (56 percent), solar thermal panels for domestic hot water (24 percent), and installation of photovoltaic systems (74 percent).

Thanks to the CEI, which acts both as a strategic driver and as an entity carrying out actions of observation and cultural orientation in all Italian parishes, the project aims to involve ecclesiastical centers across the country in the near future.

"The 'Energies for the Common Home' project is a virtuous example of collaboration between institutions in pursuit of a goal of collective interest inspired to the values of solidarity, cohesion and common good. I therefore thank ENEA, RENAEL, CEI and all those who participated in this initiative, recalling that they are invaluable partners of the Ministry in disseminating Renewable Energy Communities," said Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. "In the quest for balance between ethics and technology, between progress and respect for tradition," he said, "this project is an example of good practices to be followed and diffused, a message of hope and a call to action to preserve our environment, which we share and must guard as our Common Home.

"ENEA, thanks to its expertise in innovation and technology transfer, is engaged on many fronts for a just and sustainable energy transition, which must necessarily pass through confrontation and joint action. This project has given us the opportunity to open a dialogue with dioceses and parishes, which have always experienced community action and that constitute a widespread capillary network capable of transferring fundamental concepts of energy and social sustainability", said ENEA Director General Giorgio Graditi.

 “The Catholic Church in Italy is firmly engaged on the path to sustainable development, different lifestyles and ecological conversion, starting with the recommendations proposed at the Social Week in Taranto and with the establishment of a Technical Table on Renewable Energy Communities of the General Secretariat,” pointed out CEI bursar Fr. Claudio Francesconi. “By responding to the stimuli contained in Laudato si' and the appeals of Pope Francis on ecological debt,” he said "we have started a process, at the national and territorial level, now irreversible and indispensable for communities: we need to take care of it together and we cannot focus only on the present but our gaze must be turned to future generations, toward whom we have an enormous responsibility. This new project is a further step in the horizon of integral ecology, solidarity, care for the Common Home and all the people who inhabit it, regardless of latitude."

 “The approach developed as part of the project, which has the purpose to accompany Italian dioceses in the delicate process of energy transition, pursues to create a positive impact both in terms of reducing energy consumption and spreading energy efficiency culture, fostering social cohesion and the adoption of virtuous behaviors,” pointed out Ilaria Bertini, head of the ENEA Energy Efficiency Unit Department.

"The path we have taken shows how grassroots work is key to a sustainable energy future. The last mile, which is the hallmark of local energy agencies, is decisive in widely spreading the culture of energy efficiency. “We are proud to have demonstrated through ‘Energies for the Common Home’ how one of Italy's most important real estate assets can become a cultural driver to promote energy efficiency and foster a more attentive attitude toward energy efficiency” said RENAEL President Piergabriele Andreoli.