Since 2014 Termo has been involved in energy upgrading activities that include design, execution and management of related practices. It describes itself as a company at the forefront of the Greentech industry, and for this very area it recently identified the 5 trends that will characterize 2023.
- Renovation wave and green homes: the risk of fuel poverty in a complex regulatory environment
- Renewable "quick" to respond to the crisis
- Prioritizing consumption reduction and self-generation
- Digitization, the key enabler of the energy transition
- ESG policy to certify environmental impact
"Today, the market is rapidly moving toward two main drivers: energy upgrading and consumption reduction. The rising cost of energy has accelerated a process already underway, highlighting the importance of putting in place concrete strategies to achieve the environmental and economic goals common to different countries," says Gabriele Basile, CEO of Termo. Along with the climate emergency, the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ensuing crisis have confronted governments and institutions with the urgency of adopting an approach to energy management marked by optimization and awareness. "In Italy, the challenge for the government will be to define the means to support the energy transition (from PNRR to tools such as invoice rebates, tax deductions, and so on). For companies, it will be essential to embrace a culture oriented toward responsibility: precisely for this reason, for example, we at Termo have recently chosen to transform ourselves into a Benefit Corporation, basing our actions on a structure that allows us to operate in a sustainable and transparent way."
Greentech trends.
Renovation wave and green homes: the risk of fuel poverty in a complex regulatory environment
As early as 2020, the European Union launched the so-called Renovation Wave, a long-term strategy that requires member countries to plan interventions and incentives aimed at building upgrades and energy efficiency. In addition, in order to achieve the goal of zero emissions by 2050, EU institutions are working on potential new directives that would establish the adaptation of building energy classes to the new efficiency standards. The debate is heated and involves all EU member states, with governments at the forefront of defining measures that can provide real support for businesses and citizens. Indeed, the risks of energy poverty are real: in the face of economic instability and rising energy costs, the number of consumers who will not be able to access minimum energy goods and services (representing 8.5 percent of households in Italy) will increase. At the same time, paradoxically, only those who will have the ability to invest in upgrading properties and systems will be able to reduce consumption. In Italy, after the numerous changes made to the regulations on Ecobonus and Superbonus 110%, in the coming months it will be essential for the government to provide clarity and define guidelines that will pave the way for a system of incentives that is truly accessible, effective and above all stable in the medium to long term. For operators in the sector, the challenge in 2023 will be to move successfully through an extremely complex and variable regulatory environment to help end users and ensure that they have access to the benefits.
Renewable "quick" to respond to the crisis
Renewable energy may be the ultimate, long-term solution to the global climate and economic emergency. However, if the crisis is advancing fast, causing among others an increasingly exponential increase in costs, the same cannot be said of those technologies that involve the implementation of complex systems based on renewable energy sources: wind farms and large photovoltaic parks, for example, can take years to be approved and built, without considering any environmental impediments that may need to be addressed during implementation. Alongside multi-year and 10-year plans for the development of renewable energy sources, therefore, solutions with less systemic impact, but more agile in terms of deployment, will come to the fore in 2023: these include geothermal or domestic and SME photovoltaic systems, which can be designed and installed in a matter of weeks, bringing immediate benefits to end users.
Prioritizing consumption reduction and self-generation
While until a few years ago the focus was solely on energy production through renewable sources, today institutions, companies and consumers are focusing on the immediate effects of reducing consumption. Rising costs confront the need to improve day-to-day energy management by optimizing storage and consumption.In 2023, the installation of new devices and renovations will therefore be geared toward the immediate reduction of consumption. End users will be able to turn to high-efficiency condensing boilers and hybrid or electric heat pumps that offer the best performance in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact. In addition, those technologies that enable self-generation of electricity, such as photovoltaic panels, will continue to spread, according to a dynamic that enables the production of the very energy that is consumed, ultimately rationalizing costs.
Digitization, the key enabler of the energy transition
Reducing consumption and optimizing costs would not be achievable without adequate technological support to simplify and standardize processes for all parties: businesses, institutions, and end customers. On the one hand, in order to adapt quickly to the current regulatory complexity, it will be necessary for businesses to renew obsolete bureaucratic procedures with the introduction of experiences based on modern digital tools (from paperless media for documentation management to digital signatures and SPID). Institutions will need to invest in digitizing and speeding up processes. For example, the timing of a GSE file is a strong deterrent for companies that want to supply PV systems by offering the rebate on the invoice. Indeed, not being able to assign credits until the file is approved limits the attractiveness of this activity. On the other hand, we will see an increasing adoption of smart technologies, combining home automation with thermal and energy management. Monitoring will become the new buzzword for smart buildings: the Internet of Things will in fact allow users to monitor consumption in a granular way, so that individual devices can be acted upon when necessary, lowering consumption and costs.
ESG policy to certify environmental impact
The culture of sustainability is spreading among both consumers and businesses and will continue to bring about profound transformations in the approach to business by organizations of all sizes in the coming months. This awareness will drive an increasing number of companies to adopt ESG policies that make noneconomic values the pillars on which to build future strategies and actively contribute to achieving the goals set by the United Nations for 2030 and 2050. Sustainability reports will thus become a tool for communicating with their consumers and investors, engaging from the perspective of transparency and social responsibility.
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