The environment ministry on Wednesday announced that its "Building the Future" programme, through which companies selling construction materials and related goods can voluntarily offer discounts to property owners carrying out energy-efficiency upgrades of the homes and business premises, will be proclaimed within June.
The ministry is also pressing ahead with procedures for implementing greater tax relief for this form of investment, through certificates issued by the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources that will submitted along with one's tax statement.
The announcement was made during a seminar at the Greek-German chamber on "Energy Conservation in Buildings" held at the Evgenidio Foundation.
Under the programme, there will be incentives given for seven categories of home improvement for residences and five in other types of buildings. Among these are:
Replacement of windows and doors with higher-specification types in 20,000 residences.
Replacement of single- with double-glazing in 25,000 residences.
Installment of 5,000 solar panels.
Installment of 'cool' roofs on 20,000 residences
Insulation of roofs for 20,000 residences
Insulation of facades on 20,000 residences
Replacement of 20,000 conventional heating systems with new high-efficiency systems.
Envisaged works on commercial and other buildings include:
Installment of integrated facades (windows, double-glazing, shading systems) on 3,000 commercial buildings.
External insulation on 5,000 buildings
Installation of high-efficiency cooling-heating-ventilation systems on 5,000 commercial buildings.
Replacement of artificial lighting systems in 10,000 commercial buildings
Installation of advanced energy monitoring systems in 1,000 commercial buildings.
Based on the planning of the programme, it will not be based on income criteria but in order of priority. The incentives are the discounts that suppliers will offer voluntarily, tax discounts and the reduction in utility bills for those taking part in the programme.
A law increasing the tax discount for this class of investment has already been passed, raising the amount discounted to 20 percent of spending up to 3,000 euro and ten percent from 3,001 to 6,000 euro.
ANA
