a national RES industry and to
increase RES participation in
Greece’s energy balance by 2020.
Finally, 0.5% of Greece’s GDP will
be used for supporting research on
cutting-edge energy technologies
till 2015.
Energy saving
The effort to save energy and
guarantee its rational use by strict-
ly and systematically cutting ener-
gy waste, is a top national priority.
The aim is to reduce the emissions
from 5% of Greek public buildings
to zero by 2020. Therefore, the
government has joined forces with
the Technical Chamber of Greece
in order to elaborate new building
regulations that will also boost
business and employment in the
building materials, building insula-
tion and other relevant sectors, as
well as a new transportation strat-
egy, including policies designed to
reduce the use of cars through the
substantial upgrading of public
transportation and trains, along
with strong incentives for using
energy-efficient vehicles and
counter-incentives for energy-inef-
ficient older technologies, while
new standards and regulations
have been introduced in regard to
the mandatory incorporation of
RES and energy-saving technolo-
gies in the design, building and
restoration of industrial areas and
homes.
Moreover, the government is finaliz-
ing the energy self-sufficiency stan-
dards for new government buildings
and the relevant standards for build-
ings leased by the Public Sector,
while the General Building
Regulation will be revised by 2012,
with the aim of gradually making
construction “greener” (e.g. biocli-
matic standards, reduced water
consumption, use of environment-
friendly building materials).
Energy inspections have become
mandatory and the relevant certifi-
cates must be issued in all cases a
property is constructed, trans-
ferred or leased, irrespective of
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