‘EasyPro’ project to improve energy efficiency of Irish universities

The EU-supported ‘EasyPro’ project should improve the energy efficiency and carbon neutrality of Irish universities.

The project, which was launched on 1 July 2024, is planned to develop a tailored energy performance contracting (EPC) facilitation service and procurement framework that can open the way for large scale investments in energy efficiency projects in Ireland’s and other EU country’s public sectors.

The service and framework will then be piloted at four Irish universities, University College Cork, Technological University Dublin, Maynooth University and Dublin City University.

“EasyPro will play a key role in tackling global warming by enabling energy efficiency in Irish universities, which have a privileged and respected position insofar as they’re seen as credible teachers and sources of knowledge,” says project coordinator, Luciano De Tommasi, senior research engineer in Ireland’s International Energy Research Centre.

“This, in combination with our industry-led team, gives our project the unique opportunity to lead by example, facilitating the application of accessible and low-cost solutions to four Irish universities and, in the coming years, to several other buildings of the higher education sector and of other public bodies, in Ireland as well as in other EU countries.”

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The basis for the EasyPro project is the importance of public bodies becoming more energy efficient to support the drive for net zero.

In Ireland, for example, the government’s climate action plan has set the target for all public sector bodies, including the higher education sector, to improve energy efficiency by 50% by the end of 2030.

With energy performance contracting, an energy service company (ESCO) partners with a client organisation to install energy-saving measures in their buildings and guarantees a certain level of energy savings, while getting paid based on the amount of energy saved over time.

However, these contracts can be complicated and expensive to procure, with significant legal, administrative and financial barriers. In addition, knowledge of EPC templates and how to successfully facilitate deployment is distributed among different stakeholders of the supply chain, making the procurement process challenging.

The EasyPro project is intended to address these challenges with an end-to-end solution that is designed to meet the needs of all stakeholders – the universities, technology suppliers, ESCOs, etc. – for the deployment of energy efficiency measures.

The solution is planned to include novel EPC templates that should enable the universities to reach their targets for carbon emission reductions and energy savings, as well as calculation methodologies, measurement and verification protocols, financial modelling tools, risk assessment tools, a tailored tendering process, and a matchmaking service between investors and clients.

Ultimately the goal is that the project can prove that a standardised procurement process can be successfully implemented in the higher education sector in Ireland and in turn pave the way for its rollout to the rest of the Irish public sector and beyond to the public sectors in other EU Member States.

By the end of the EasyPro €1.1 million ($1.2 million) project, it is expected to facilitate up to €45.3 million of investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.