95 Experts Attend First Eskişehir Training on Accelerating Building Efficiency

ESKIŞEHIR, TURKEY (June 9, 2017) — The Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA), with support from Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, hosted the first in a series of trainings on building energy efficiency in Eskişehir, Turkey. This training increased the capacity of local professionals in working with distributed district heating and cooling systems. The workshop convened 95 experts from local government, academia and the private sector.

Hale Kargın Kaynak, the deputy chairperson of strategy development for Eskisehir Metropolitan Municipality, delivered the opening remark. “Today, cities are expected to lead the actions to be taken in the field of energy efficiency and sustainability around the world,” she said. “We are working together with WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities in project development, design and application areas to create a healthier and more livable Eskişehir. Within the scope of the project, today we have brought NGOs and the public and private sectors together for a training on the different thematic issues related to building efficiency to strengthen the professional technical capacity in Eskişehir.”

Hale Kargın Kaynak delivered an opening remark and presented on the BEA Eskişehir Project. Photo by Gözde Çoban

Following Hale Kargın Kaynak, Strategic Communications Coordinator at WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities Hande Dönmez presented on WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities’ main practice areas and high-level projects. Then, the training began.

Danfoss Global Business Development Director Dmitry Bochkalov, Danfoss Turkey Heating Solutions Business Development Manager Murat Necati Erdoğan and Danfoss Turkey Technical and Service Manager Sencer Erten led attendees through a three-hour training, exploring best practices and methods for building energy efficiency. Throughout the interactive training, participants raised questions around the district’s energy systems and concerns on energy efficiency implementation in Turkey. Both Danfoss experts and Meltem Bayraktar, building efficiency technical advisor at WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities, answered questions.

Dmitry Bochkalov presented on district heating and cooling systems and applications during the workshop. Photo by Gözde Çoban

Following the training, attendees approached BEA technical staff, noting that the training was very educational and they wanted to attend future events. Attendees were informed about the benefits of district heating systems, whose impact between 1980 and 2006 was measured in Sweden and demonstrated as one of the best practices, according to Swedish District Heating Association. During this period, the fossil fuel utilization rate decreased from 90 percent to 15 percent, the heat pumps eliminated the use of electric boilers, the use of renewable energy increased from 10 percent to 85 percent and carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 80 percent.

Why Are Training Workshops Important?

The BEA Eskişehir Project has defined ambitious targets with the help of various stakeholders at both the local and national levels. These stakeholder meetings have revealed a great lack of knowledge among industry professionals on building efficiency. To fill this gap, the BEA decided to organize technical seminars to build capacity in the design and construction of energy-efficient buildings. These trainings are organized to target a variety of people across the buildings spectrum, including contractors, local government, the private sector, engineers, architects, university urban planning programs and NGOs. This diversity of attendees encourages a holistic approach to building efficiency, enabling the policies at local level to become more sustainable and long lasting. 

The steps to follow in determining building energy efficiency training content. Graphic by WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities

The BEA Eskişehir Project

The Building Efficiency Accelerator is a sub-platform of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) a global partnership to create healthier and more livable cities by improving energy efficiency in buildings. Eskişehir became a part of the BEA network in June 2016. Within the scope of BEA Eskişehir, the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality will be responsible for policy development, pilot project design and implementation with technical support from the WRI team in Turkey. Goals of the project include:

• Developing a policy mechanism ensuring new buildings in Eskişehir are constructed at Class B or above
• Developing, publicizing and realizing an incentive mechanism structure
• Organizing vocational training programs/seminars for engineers and architects
• Localizing suitable financing programs to support investments in efficiency practices
• Fostering mechanisms that will ensure building inspections include energy efficiency
• Implementing a pilot building that will showcase innovations and best practices

To raise awareness, and to be the most effective, activities will be organized for different age groups, both for children and adults. Activities include a documentary movie week, which will be free of charge, and events for children that revolve around gamification.

The first training attracted 95 people from Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, French Development Agency, Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers, Osmangazi University and Istanbul Technical University, along with some local private companies.

The second phase of training will begin in September 2017 and continue monthly under the leadership of WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities and Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality covering a wide variety of building efficiency knowledge.