Annex A. Questionnaire of OECD Survey on Decarbonising Buildings in Cities and Regions
Section 1. Subnational plans and strategies
1.1. Does your region/city have dedicated plans or strategies on energy efficiency in buildings?
Energy efficiency in buildings as stand-alone plans or strategies
Energy efficiency in buildings as part of broader regional/municipal energy plans or strategies
Energy efficiency in buildings as part of broader regional/municipal climate plans or strategies
Energy efficiency in buildings as part of COVID-19 recovery plans or strategies
If you answered “yes” to one of above choices, please provide the names of plans or strategies and the links to websites and documents, if available.
1.1.1. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, do they have quantitative targets and monitoring indicators related to energy efficiency in the building?
Yes, they have both quantitative targets and monitoring indicators.
No, they do not have quantitative targets nor monitoring indicators.
If you answered “Yes” or “Other”, please provide a description on specific policy targets/goals for improving energy efficiency in the building sector and whether your policies/strategies prioritise certain types of buildings (e.g. single-family homes, condominiums, social housing, office buildings, public buildings, etc.).
1.1.2. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, are these targets incorporated in the municipal/regional investment planning process to support the identification/prioritisation of the municipal/regional investments?
If you answered “Yes”, please provide a description on what systems are in place to monitor progress in achieving these targets (e.g. monitoring how the annual investment plan is contributing to these targets).
1.2. What are the three key priorities in promoting energy efficiency in buildings for your city or region?
Please select three key priorities only that need to be done to advance energy efficiency in buildings, including “Other”.
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
1.3. In your city/region, how would you assess the primary benefits of energy efficiency in buildings?
Section 2. Local specificities
2. What are the major local specificities and/or unique contexts related to energy efficiency in buildings? Does your region/city recognise them as strengths/opportunities or weakness/threats?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
Optional: Please provide a brief development on your above choices.
Section 3. Subnational policy measures
3.1. Are building energy codes in place in your region/city?
3.1.1. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, to what types of buildings are the building energy codes applied in your region/city?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
3.1.2. If you answered “Yes” to Question 3.1, does your region/city have its own regional/local building energy codes?
3.1.3. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, do the regional/local building energy codes require a higher level of energy efficiency than the national building energy codes?
3.1.4. If you answered “Yes” to Question 3.1.2, does the regional/local building energy codes require the level of net-zero energy buildings (or equivalent)?
If you chose “Yes, for part of new buildings”, “Yes, for part of existing buildings” or “Yes, for other sets of buildings”, please specify the types of buildings.
3.2. What other regional/local regulatory measures does your region/city take, related to energy efficiency in buildings?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.
3.3. Does your region/city promote energy efficiency measures for public buildings?
3.3.1. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, what types of public buildings are targeted?
3.3.2. If you answered “Yes” to Question 3.3, what types of energy efficiency measures does your region/city promote for public buildings?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.
3.3.3. If you answered “Yes” to Question 3.3, does your region/city require higher level of energy efficiency for public buildings than the national building energy codes?
3.3.4. If you answered “Yes” to Question 3.3, does your region/city require the level of net-zero energy buildings (or equivalent) for public buildings?
If you chose “Yes, for part of new buildings”, “Yes, for part of existing buildings” or “Yes, for other sets of buildings”, please specify the types of buildings.
3) Financial incentives/financing mechanisms
3.4. Does your region/city provide its own financial incentives or financing mechanisms for energy efficiency measures in buildings?
No, utilising nationally provided financial incentives or financing mechanisms
No, no financial incentives or financing mechanisms provided
3.4.1. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, for what types of energy efficiency measures does your region/city provide financial incentives or financing mechanisms?
Please tick all applicable boxes.
Energy efficiency renovations/retrofits for low-income households (e.g. energy poor)
District-scale energy management system (e.g. district energy, energy storage facilities, co-generation systems and EV batteries)
Digital technologies (e.g. smart efficient buildings, grid-interactive buildings, smart meters)
Renewable energy use (e.g. solar photovoltaic, solar heaters)
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
3.4.2. If you answered “Yes” to Question 3.4, what types of financial incentives or financial mechanisms does your region/city provide?
Please tick all applicable boxes.
Support to administrative costs (e.g. monitoring actual energy savings)
Auctions and obligations (e.g. obligations imposed on energy retailers or distributors to achieve specific energy efficiency outcomes)
Mortgages (e.g. preferential interest rates for energy efficient homes)
Small scale financing (e.g. on-bill financing, on-tax financing)
Promotion of new business models (e.g. cooling as a service, heating as a service, energy service company, or ESCO )
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, elaborate on the option(s) you selected in Question 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.
3.5. What other types of policy measures does your region/city take to enhance energy efficiency in buildings?
Please tick all applicable boxes.
Citizen engagement (e.g. campaigns, “one-stop shop” technical assistance)
Support to local industry (e.g. skill development for small and medium-sized local businesses)
Private sector engagement (e.g. platform for local businesses related to energy efficiency in buildings)
Capacity building in subnational governments (e.g. code enforcement, public procurement)
Pilot and demonstration projects (e.g. low-carbon district developments)
Locally tailored analysis and planning (e.g. local database on building energy performance)
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.
Section 4. Obstacles
4.1. What are the three greatest obstacles to enhancing energy efficiency in buildings in your region/city?
Please select three key obstacles only, including “Other”.
Lack of motivation for property owners (e.g. “split incentives”, difficulty of reaching co-investment decision in multifamily residences)
Institutional fragmentation across relevant departments and agencies
Insufficient local market size to bring in private investment
Lack of incentives from national regulations for developing new business models
Insufficient speed of industry (e.g. contractors, professionals) in responding to needed innovations and new technologies
Insufficient data and analysis on local building stock and policy measures
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.
4.2. What are the current data and information gaps that prevent the understanding of where your city and region stand in terms of energy efficiency in buildings?
Please rate the following statements, according to your level of agreement: “strongly agree” / “agree” / “disagree” / “strongly disagree” / “unsure or no opinion
Optional: In the open-response box, please provide any additional information: for instance, information on specific data/information gaps or how your region/city is going to address them. (Where possible, please also outline any ongoing efforts to utilise digital technologies for data collection, analysis and management, e.g. accessing smart meter data, environmental data, advanced analytics, data-driven spatial planning, digital twins, aerial data.)
Section 5. Policy co-ordination and stakeholder engagement
5.1. To which ministry is the local authority with power of mandate on energy efficiency in buildings linked?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
5.2. How well are energy efficiency policies in buildings co-ordinated across and between levels of government in your country?
Please rate the following statements, according to your level of agreement: “strongly agree” / “agree” / “unsure or no opinion / “disagree” / “strongly disagree”
In the open-response box, please provide any additional information: for instance, if you can elaborate on specific vertical and horizontal policy co-ordination challenges and how your region/city/country is addressing them.
5.3. Beyond governments, which types of stakeholders in the private and utilities sectors are engaged in policy making and implementation related to energy efficiency in buildings?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
5.4. Beyond governments, which types of stakeholders in civil society and non-profit organisations are engaged in policy making and implementation related to energy efficiency in buildings?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
5.5. Which mechanisms are used to engage these stakeholders?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected in Question 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5.
Section 6. Support from national government and supranational and international donors
6.1. Do you think your region/city has enough support (e.g. financial, technical, human resources) from the national government to enhance energy efficiency in buildings?
6.2. Which types of support from the national government does your region/city need further?
Please tick all applicable boxes.
Removing barriers in national regulations that inhibit innovative local actions
Technical support for developing local plans, strategies or building energy codes
Capacity-building support (e.g. code enforcement, public building procurement)
Financial support to advance pilot projects in cities and regions
Territorial considerations in national plan, strategy or regulations (e.g. differentiated supports/building codes for different types of cities/regions)
Database on energy efficiency in buildings with localised indicators and benchmarks
Platform for public private partnership (e.g. between subnational governments and relevant national private sectors)
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.
6.3. To what extent does your region/city utilise funding or support from multilateral development banks, supranational or other international donors, with regard to energy efficiency in buildings?
Please rate the extent to which your region/city utilise funding/support from the following organisations, according to the level of utilisation: “extensively” / “moderately” / “not at all” and provide corresponding names of organisations.
In the open-response box below, please provide additional information (e.g. names of organisations, fund/facilities and projects, year, and amount of funding) on your above choices.
Section 7. Challenges and opportunities related to COVID-19 and recovery packages
7.1. How has the COVID-19 crisis affected your city’s or region’s actions on energy efficiency improvement in buildings?
Please tick all applicable boxes.
Less public expenditure for energy efficiency in buildings due to rising public deficit
Greater public expenditure for energy efficiency in buildings from COVID-19 recovery packages
Less demand for private energy efficiency investment in buildings due to economic downturn
Greater demand for home retrofits or renovations (including energy efficiency) as a place to telework
Greater needs for energy efficiency retrofits or renovations for low-income households to ensure energy affordability
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
Optional: In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.
7.2. Does your region/city think that energy efficiency measures in buildings will contribute to the COVID-19 recovery?
7.3. Does the COVID-19 recovery plan/strategy of your region/city include energy efficiency measures in buildings?
7.4. If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, which types of energy efficiency measures are they?
If you chose “Other”, please specify.
In the open-response box below, please elaborate on the option(s) you selected.