MOOC Técnico

Economic and Legal Aspects of Energy in Buildings (IST)

Offered by Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa,

This course introduces the basic economic and legal aspects of applying energy efficiency in buildings. It introduces the different components that impact on energy prices, the main legal and regulatory frameworks applied to buildings, the methodologies to evaluate energy efficient projects in
buildings, and the financial mechanisms used to support energy investments contracts.

The intended learning outcomes are:

Understand the energy prices components and different pricing mechanisms;
Know the main European and National Legal Frameworks, namely Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPDB) and Energy Efficiency Directive (EED);
Know how to calculate the investment worthiness of basic energy related investments and perform project evaluation for energy efficiency projects;
Perceive how to finance energy efficiency investments using legal/regulatory compliance, incentives and other financial tools;

The course is divided into 4 modules:

"Energy Prices": where we introduce the main market elements, such as pricing components and mechanisms;
"European Regulations": where we discuss the main legal frameworks, namely in the EU, as the EED and EPDB;
"Project Evaluation": where we provide an overview of the financial indicators and its internal mechanics;
"Energy Contracts": where we present the main elements of Energy (Services) Contracts, namely Energy Performance Contracts (EPC).

This course is designed, in particular, for: facility or energy managers in the public and private sector; professionals at energy services companies and utilities and higher education students attending bachelor's, master's or postgraduate degrees that are interested in the course’s theme.

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