Background information

The 2023 Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings is included in Component 13 of the Recovery and Resiliance Programme (PRR) - Energy Efficiency in Buildings.

The Programme aims to promote improved thermal comfort in residential buildings, contributing to a reduction in energy bills and the renovation of the existing housing stock.

Content of measure

The 2023 Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings aims to fund measures that promote rehabilitation, decarbonisation, energy efficiency, water efficiency and the circular economy, helping to improve energy and environmental performance. The goal is for the measures to be supported to lead, on average, to at least a 30% reduction in primary energy consumption in the intervened buildings.

This Programme has a total budget of €100 million, of which €30 million is earmarked for this Notice.

Owners, co-owners and tenants of permanent dwellings from all over Portugal can apply for the incentive.

The incentive programme covers single-family buildings and autonomous fractions of multi-family buildings (i.e. houses and flats) licensed for housing up to and including 31 December 2006.

Type of works included:

• Type 1: Replacement of non-efficient windows with efficient windows with an energy class equal to "A+";
• Type 2: Application or replacement of thermal insulation in roofs, walls or floors;
• Type 3: Heating and/or cooling systems for the environment and domestic hot water (DHW) using renewable energy, with an energy class of "A+" or higher;
• Type 4: Installation of photovoltaic systems and other renewable energy production equipment for self-consumption with or without storage;
• Type 5: Interventions aimed at water efficiency.

A first phase of the Programme ran between 2020 and 2022.

Use of measure

The following elements on the use of measure are available regarding the first phase of the Programme.

Acoording to a press release issued by the Government on 27 November 2021, considering the extraordinary adherence to the Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings, an amendment to the regulation was made. This extended the deadline for submitting applications to 31 March 2022 and provided for a €15 million increase in funding, bringing the total to €45 million.

To date, this Programme had received more than 47,000 applications and would have supported nearly 10,500 projects to improve the environmental and energy performance of residential buildings. In addition, it would have contributed to the economy with €15.8 million already paid out by the Environmental Fund to around 9,500 projects, in line with the PRR's economic recovery objectives.

More recent information on the use of measure was made available by an article in the newspaper Expresso on 2 November 2023, according to which the third edition of the "Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings" has closed, having received 78,082 applications, the Environmental Fund said.

The programme notice was open between 16 August and 31 October and the number of applications received fell short of the 106,000 from the previous edition, which ran from June 2021 to May 2022. But of those 106,000 applications, only just over 70,000 met the requirements to receive support.

The Environmental Fund has not yet released any more details about the results of this third phase, whose applications will now be analysed, and payments to beneficiaries will only be made from January 2024.

This notice made a total of €30 million available, with a maximum support of €7500 per building or autonomous fraction targeted by the interventions.

For applications to be eligible, this programme required that the investments had already been made and the applicant had to have proof of payment for the interventions.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government EU (Council, EC, EP)	National Recovery and Resilience Facility

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The social partners were consulted in the Social Concertation Standing Committee on the RRP.

The social partners are also members of the National RRP Monitoring Committee.

Views and reactions

The views of social partners on this specific measure are not known.

Sources

• 27 November 2021: Government Press Release - Programa de Apoio a Edifícios Mais Sustentáveis reforçado (www.portugal.gov.pt)
• 16 August 2023: Programa de Apoio a Edifícios Mais Sustentáveis (www.portugal.gov.pt)
• 02 November 2023: Programa do Fundo Ambiental que subsidiou painéis solares e janelas fechou com 78 mil candidaturas (expresso.pt)