INTERREG SUDOE Project
The COLEOPTER project (SOE3/P3/F0951) is financed by the Interreg Sudoe Programme that supports regional development in Southern Europe, financing transnational projects through the European Regional Development Fund. The Programme promotes transnational cooperation to solve common problems in Southern Europe, such as low investment in research and development, weak competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises and exposure to climate change and environmental risks.
The COLEOPTER (COncertation LocalE pour l’Optimisation des Politiques Territoriales pour l’Energie Rurale) project develops an integrated approach to the energy efficiency of public buildings that links technical, social and economic challenges. COLEOPTER addresses two energy efficiency challenges in buildings: difficulties for rural municipalities to act and carry out work despite the positive local impact (i.e., energy savings and local employment) and a lack of awareness of building challenges, which leads to irrational use of energy/water and low renovation rates.
The COLEOPTER approach has three components:
1. Territorial dialogue with local actors to co-construct work plans of public buildings.
2. Use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a collaborative tool to support the dialogue.
3. Consideration of water efficiency issues along with energy challenges to better consider usage.
The approach has been tested on four public buildings, three renovated buildings (in Póvoa do Lanhoso, Portugal; Cartagena, Spain; and Creuse, France) and one new building (in Creuse, France). It has been replicated in Escaldes-Engordany (Andorra) to validate its transferability. The main contributions of the project, namely the COLEOPTER approach and the work conducted on
the test sites, benefited municipalities, citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), leading to better planning of energy and water efficiency policies and increased public and private renovation rates.
