The energy efficiency portal developed by the partners of the European GEAR@SME project, which aims to support SMEs and stakeholders on their path to greater energy efficiency and sustainability, is now online. Italian partners who collaborated in the implementation of the platform include Certimac and CNA Ravenna.
The project, which began in September 2020, starts from the assumption that the SME sector has enormous potential to reduce energy consumption. So far, however, this potential has only been partially exploited due to a lack of time, capital and specific expertise.
To bridge this gap, the project has developed an innovative approach to energy efficiency based on 3 key concepts. The introduction of the figure of the Trusted Partner who can train companies on energy efficiency issues and support them impartially in the choice of technologies and suppliers; the Collective Approach which involves the creation of a network of companies that can share experience, expertise up to and including collective energy efficiency projects; and the introduction of the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency, an approach that aims to value not only the energy savings resulting from an efficiency measure but also the positive spillover effects on other business aspects.
The portal - designed for SMEs, trade associations and Energy Management Experts - can be consulted free of charge and offers the possibility of creating one's own customized path toward implementing energy efficiency interventions through the provision of training materials, best practices and energy tools.
More specifically, tools are available to carry out the energy self-assessment that allows, in a simplified and preliminary way, to identify the most suitable energy efficiency interventions for their own business reality and estimate the related costs/benefits in terms of energy and economic savings by comparing the different technological solutions that can be implemented at the company level.
The possibility is also given to all users to get in touch with a local expert for any need for in-depth study or clarification regarding reduction of corporate energy consumption, energy efficiency interventions, access to public incentives to finance interventions, Energy Communities, evaluation of non-energy benefits and much more.
