Appendix 2: Best and good practices in the Nordic countries
The following sections provide country overviews of the good and best practices for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Each country overview is organised into two categories: building sector and the industry sector.
2.1 Denmark
BUILDING SECTOR
Best practices
Highly insulated and airtight building envelope
Energy-efficient windows
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery
Heat pumps for house heating (prevalence of air and ground-source heat pumps)
Energy-efficient appliances and lighting
Building code for new buildings and major renovations.
Good practices
District heating systems
Building energy labelling
Subsidy schemes for private buildings, including heat pump replacement outside district heating grids
BetterHomes scheme for energy-efficient renovation
Danish Energy Agency, “Videncenter for Energibesparelser i Bygninger [Knowledge Center for Energy Savings in Buildings].” Accessed: Mar. 20, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://byggeriogenergi.dk/
ARA, "The housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland", Accessed: Apr. 02, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.ara.fi/en/
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Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, “Avustus pientalon öljylämmityksestä luopumiseksi [Grant for phasing out oil heating in small homes].” Accessed: Apr. 02, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.ely-keskus.fi/oljylammityksen-vaihtajalle
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Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Ympäristöministeriön asetus rakennuksen energiatodistuksesta [Decree of the Ministry of the Environment on the energy certificate of the building], 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2017/20171048
industry sector
Best practices
CHP for electricity and district heating
Use of energy management systems
Energy-efficiency agreements (industry, energy production and energy services)
Subsidies for energy audits and energy investments
Mandatory energy audits for large industries
Subsidised Energy Audit Programme for non-mandatory audit subjects
Energy efficiency requirements in environmental permits
Good practices
Electrification of industrial processes
Waste heat in industrial processes and district heating
Use of waste heat and heat pumps (to allow low-temperature sources) in district heating production
In-depth energy audit model for large industries
Energy-related guidance to industry (within the framework of energy efficiency agreements)
Icelandic Parliament, Lög um niðurgreiðslur húshitunarkostnaðar nr. 78 [Regulation on the implementation of the law on heating cost subsidies No. 78], 2002. [Online]. Available: https://www.althingi.is/lagas/nuna/2002078.html
Geothermal energy in district heating networks and industrial processes
Grants and loans to increase the use of geothermal resources
Good practices
Waste heat in industrial processes
Energy fund for industrial energy conversion projects
Green tax incentives for businesses
Public support for agricultural, land use, and forestry activities
Energy audits and assessments
Use of energy management systems
References
Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation, “The Icelandic National Renewable Energy Action Plan for the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources in accordance with Directive 2009/28/EC and the Commission Decision of 30 June 2009 on a template for the national renewable energy action plans,” 2014. [Online]. Available: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2014-11/dir_2009_0028_action_plan_iceland__nreap_0.pdf
Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, “Forskrift om energimerking av bygninger og energivurdering av varme- og klimaanlegg [Regulation on Energy Labeling of Buildings and Energy Assessment of Heating and Climate Systems].” Accessed: Nov. 22, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2009-12-18-1665
International Energy Agency (IEA), Norway 2022. Energy Policy Review. in IEA Energy Policy Reviews. Paris, France: OECD Publishing, 2022. doi: 10.1787/7411c642-en.
Building code for new buildings and major renovations
Energy and carbon dioxide tax in the household sector and tax deduction for renovation
Programme for buildings with very low energy use (LÅGAN)
Good practices
Use of biomass heating systems
District heating systems
Building energy labelling
Technology procurement groups (e.g. Belok, Bebo)
References
The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning: The Authority for Urban Planning, Building, and Housing, Boverkets byggregler, BBR. BFS 2011:6 med ändringar till och med BFS 2020:4 [The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning’s Building Regulations, BBR, BFS 2011:6 with amendments up to and including BFS 2020:4]. Boverket, 2020.
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R. Holmberg and B. Lapillone, “How are the Swedish taxes on energy and carbon dioxide related to energy efficiency?” Odyssee-Mure. Policy brief, 2021.
T. Jansson, M. Grudin, and K. Henningsson, “Slututvärdering av Programmet för byggnader med mycket låg energianvändning (LÅGAN) [Final evaluation of the Programme for low energy buildings (LÅGAN)],” 2016. [Online]. Available: https://laganbygg.se/UserFiles/Projekt/Slutrapport_Lagan_160218.pdf
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Swedish Ministry of Climate and Enterprise, Lag (2006:985) om energideklaration för byggnader [Law (2006:985) on energy performance certificates for buildings], 2006.
Combined heat and power for electricity and district heating
Use of energy management systems
Waste heat for district heating and industrial processes
The energy step programme (Energisteget)
Programme for energy efficiency in the energy-intensive industry (PFE)
Mandatory energy audits in large companies
Good practices
Electrification of industrial processes
District heating systems as supplementary heat
Energy efficiency networks for SMEs
S. Paramonova and P. Thollander, “Energy-efficiency networks for SMEs: Learning from the Swedish experience,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 65, pp. 295–307, Nov. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.06.088.
S. Paramonova and P. Thollander, “Energy-efficiency networks for SMEs: Learning from the Swedish experience,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 65, pp. 295–307, Nov. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2016.06.088.