Lead Energy Efficiency and Knowledge Expert - “Roadmap development towards net/nearly-zero pathway for the (public) building sector in the Balkan region“

Contract

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Background

Governments and people in the European region are experiencing first-hand the impact of the energy crisis. The combination of the increase of the price of oil, gas and commodities, disruptions in energy supply chains, and financial market volatility highlight the need for new, innovative solutions. This is happening as global energy demand is rising, and as post-COVID-19 recovery efforts in many industries are reviving economic activities that are energy intensive. At the same time, soaring energy prices and inflation have put significant economic pressure on the governments, public and private sector as well as individual citizens.

Countries in the region show relatively high levels of energy intensity, depending largely on imported hydrocarbons. Most of the energy infrastructure in the Western Balkan countries and Moldova was built during the 1960s-1970s and have been also reaching the end of their lifetime. Energy systems are designed to last for about 50 years so in some cases the energy systems have past the time to be renewed. To respond effectively to the energy crisis, it is critical to decrease energy intensity and manage energy demand. The cheapest energy is the one we don’t use. Energy efficiency is a source of energy in itself, inexhaustible and available in all countries. The countries in the region regard energy efficiency as a key pillar of their national energy strategies, enhancing energy security and contributing to economic growth. In parallel, as part of the Green Deal agenda, the European Union (EU) intends to launch a renovation wave, including in this region. The wave of building renovations should have a strong impact on the decarbonization of public and private building stock in the Western Balkans, while keeping digitalization in focus, as well as combating energy poverty. Renovating buildings is also an opportunity to restart the regional economy, following the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which has slowed down the activities in the sector.

In the midst of this multi-faceted crisis, cooperation and knowledge exchange among decision makers at multiple government levels, investors and financial institutions, as well as private sector is critical to enhance the regional efforts to promote and implement energy efficiency measures, while maximizing climate change mitigation, social and health benefits – reducing use of fossil fuels, creating jobs, improving indoor comfort levels in the buildings, as well as local air quality. Finally, energy efficiency is seen as a critical tool in helping to mitigate the effects of necessary and planned tariff reforms by offsetting the higher energy costs to the entire economy and especially to the lower income segments of the population. Further, energy efficiency in buildings contributes to both fulfilling obligation of the Western Balkans countries towards the Energy Community and Agenda 2030, as well as the national economic and health policy.

UNDP has had a large portfolio of energy efficiency projects in the region, providing support to the countries in form of a technical, investment and policy assistance, ranging from residential and public buildings through water sector. The knowledge and experience generated through UNDP and other projects/programmes is often not shared more widely within the region, despite being of a high value especially as the countries often face the same types of challenges and barriers related to implementation of energy efficient concepts on the ground – be it limited availability of investments for energy efficiency, nascent stage of energy efficiency market development for public (and residential) buildings, or limited private sector involvement.

Duties and Responsibilities

UNDP is aiming to organise a Balkan+ Energy Efficiency Knowledge Symposium is to help countries to scale up improvements in energy efficiency in buildings through sharing of best practices, policy and implementation options, case studies and plans. The regional symposium is planned to take place in Q2 of 2023 in Serbia and shall shed light on the pathways, their effectiveness and common challenges to reach net zero in public and residential buildings in the Balkan+ region. The symposium aims to bring together not only the governments, financial institutions and international organizations but also academia and the key experts (also from other regions) to share their lessons learned and analysis of the current trends and innovation on the above topics to help the countries advance and implement their near and longer term strategies on energy efficiency. As a knowledge focused symposium, the event will aim to extrapolate and build on the vast UNDP and partners´ experience with energy efficiency and move beyond a usual conference after which the results of the discussions, key knowledge and take away points are often not disseminated systematically or codified as knowledge to support the countries (see more details in the knowledge management strategy for the event).

The targeted countries are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo. The symposium is called Balkan+ (Balkan plus) as it also recognizes that other neighbouring countries, often facing the similar energy efficiency market barriers might be also interested to join the symposium, namely Moldova. Key target audience will be the main actors in the energy efficiency sector of each country, including government (national and sub-national level), municipalities and cities, and national financing institutions. One segment of the symposium will be also focusing on a wider public to raise awareness about energy efficiency in the context of household energy consumption, to bring the topic also closer to the citizens of the participating countries. The symposium is expected to take 2.5 working days and is proposed to be split into two broader thematic blocks/questions which the symposium will aim to answer through its individual sessions (and sub-topics):

I. Why buildings are the foundation of an energy-efficient future in the Balkan+ region? II. How can we accelerate energy efficiency in buildings as a key for lowering energy demand quickly?

One of the sessions aims to focus on the topic of nearly-zero energy buildings: setting the scene in the context of current challenges and opportunities. This session shall discuss the state of play vis-a-vis the nearly – zero energy buildings - the state of readiness of the countries in the Western Balkans, approaches taken by different countries to reach near-zero targets. Nearly zero energy buildings concept combines energy efficiency and renewable energy generation to consume only as much energy as can be produced on site, through renewable resources and within a specified time period. The EU has introduced this standard and allows each country to define it at the national level in order to have a buildings with very high energy performance. The amount of energy required for such buildings is nearly zero or very low and should be covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby. According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, all new buildings constructed in EU Member States must be nearly zero-energy buildings. As the countries in the region, strive to join the EU, they need to adapt to this new legal framework. In this context, UNDP is seeking to engage two Energy efficiency and knowledge management experts to lead drafting of a roadmap for the transition of Balkan+ countries towards net/nearly-zero pathway focused on public buildings. This roadmap shall (1) outline the rationale for net zero/nearly zero energy efficiency in the building sector as an element in the overall clean and just energy transition as well as to help enhance the energy security of the countries in the region; (2) outline national approaches to defining net/nearly zero in the building sector in the region and other countries (such as those in the EU/other regions) and analyse/present methodological or policy related challenges in the definition of net/nearly net zero buildings the countries in the region face as compared to the EU definition; (3) assess market, institutional, financing and other barriers for the Balkan +5 countries/and the Balkan region as a whole when it comes to reaching net zero energy efficiency in public buildings; (4) recommend concrete steps/approaches to be taken at the national/sub-national (and possibly regional) level for the countries to be able to reach net-zero for public building (to overcome the identified barriers), and (5) support capacity building, supply chain innovation and other market enablers. The roadmap shall be based on the concrete examples and best practice within the region as well as from other countries (including the EU) and extrapolate knowledge from the UNDP projects/reports; other partner projects, where possible. This roadmap will be completed before the symposium and will provide input for discussion in the Symposium.

The Lead Expert will:

a. Provide oversight in and lead in the drafting of the roadmap of the net and nearly net-zero pathway for public buildings. b. Strategically work with internal and external colleagues and organisations to gather the data needed for the Roadmap. c. Work with the other Expert

• to analyze, develop strategies, and identify opportunities to integrate the net zero program roadmap into the Balkan+ partners’ plans, objectives, and goals. This specifically includes evaluation of county officers’ plans to drive net zero decarbonization.
• to define what net zero means for each of the Balkan+ countries.

This assignment is planned to commence in January 2023, subject to agreement with the consultant. A proposed content outline for the roadmap shall be presented to the Regional Energy Policy Specialist, after the start of the contract as per agreement. The consultant is expected to work effectively with the other consultants/UNDP staff and collect/coordinate information to ensure high quality outputs. The consultant might be also engaging with government and other entities at the national level, as required. The roadmap shall focus/consider all countries targeted by the UNDP Balkan+ symposium to the extent possible. The consultant is expected to conduct research on the given topic and comprehensively present the findings, The roadmap is expected to target national policy makers. UNDP will provide comments/feedback, which the consultant is expected to consider/incorporate to the extent possible.

All deliverables are subject to clearance by the Regional Energy Policy Specialist.

Expected Deliverables of the assignment:

The deliverables to be provided under the assignment include the following:

Output 1: Content outline for the roadmap (max. 2 pages) and methodology outline The content outline shall describe the key topics and sub-topics/concepts that are proposed to be discussed in the roadmap, as well the methodological approaches and data to be used. The content outline shall be discussed in detail with Regional Energy Policy Specialist and Global Technical Specialist – Energy as a basis for agreement on the level of detail and content for the roadmap. During the content outline creation, the consultant is encouraged to liaise with the Balkan+ UNDP country offices to access project and other relevant datasets (this communication will be faciliated by Regional Energy Policy Specialist and/or Global Technical Specialist) upon signature of the contract.

Output 2: 1st draft roadmap The first draft of the roadmap will be shared with country offices for commenting/inputs. These inputs shall be considered/incorporated during the finalisation stage of the roadmap. The consultant is expected to consider also inputs received from other UNDP staff/consultants and partners.

Time duration: the assignment should be implemented during the period of 15 January 2023 – 31 May 2023, with 34 consultancy days and at least two in-country visit.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in environmental science, engineering, energy, economics, other related discipline would be considered as advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in the field of research, knowledge management and/or project management in the field of energy efficiency in buildings;
• Experience with drafting/preparing research and analytical papers/technical reports (in English) is required;
• Experience working in or with Balkan+ countries (as defined in the previous section) is desirable.

Languages:

• Knowledge of Montenegrin language would be considered as asset;
• Demonstrated knowledge of English language adequate for preparation of strategic documents and sharing with international entities.

Other:

• Excellent oral and written communications and presentations skills in English Demonstrated experience in working with government partners and other stakeholders;
• Experience with the usage of various systems analysis methods and techniques would be considered as advantage;
• Excellent social, communication skills and writing skills;

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

• Technical criteria weight - 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
• Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by January 8, 2023 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".