THE DILEMMA OF THE ENERGY-INTENSIVE CONDOMINIUM
Living in an outdated condominium in Friuli Venezia Giulia often means living with a paradox: spending significant amounts of money to heat the building and, at the same time, dispersing much of that heat through walls, roofs and other inefficient elements of the envelope. The problem, however, is not only energy.
When it comes to important condominium works, costs, assemblies, majorities, economic availability of the owners, design, companies and administrative times immediately come into play. The result is that technically useful interventions are often postponed for years.
The
new contribution of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region for the energy efficiency of the common parts of condominiums can significantly change this balance.
The measure concerns
condominiums, partial condominiums and supercondominiums with more than eight real estate units and provides for non-repayable contributions which, in the most important cases, can reach
up to 300,000 euros.
But there is a fundamental point to understand from the beginning:
It is not enough to decide what work you would like to carry out. It is first necessary to understand which energy category the overall intervention will fall into.
And it is precisely on this classification that a very important part of the contribution that can be obtained may depend.
THE FVG CONTRIBUTION CAN COMPLETELY CHANGE THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE WORKS
The first big news is obviously economic.
The Region provides three main levels of support:
- major first-level renovation: 40% contribution, up to a maximum of 300,000 euros;
- major second-level renovation: 40% contribution, up to a maximum of 150,000 euros;
- energy requalification: 30% contribution, up to a maximum of 100,000 euros.
It is therefore not a marginal incentive!
A first example
Let's imagine a condominium of 20 apartments that has planned
500,000 euros of eligible expenses.
If the project were classified as a simple
energy requalification, theoretically 30% would correspond to:
500,000 × 30% = 150,000 euros but the ceiling is
100,000 euros.
The maximum contribution would therefore be:
100,000 euros.
If the same works, properly designed and expanded, could instead configure a
major second-level renovation, 40% would be:
500,000 × 40% = 200,000 euros with a ceiling of
150,000 euros.
Contribution:
150,000 euros.
Finally, if a more organic project could be classified as a
major first-level renovation, the theoretical contribution would be:
200,000 euros, entirely included in the ceiling of 300,000 euros.
We therefore have, on the same order of investment:
€100,000, €150,000 or €200,000 of contribution, depending on the technical configuration of the intervention.
This is why the energy design must come
BEFORE the request for the contribution.
The goal must not simply be to ask:
"How much does the Region give us to redo the coat?"
The correct question is,
"What is the most cost-effective overall redevelopment project for this building?"
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIRST-LEVEL, SECOND-LEVEL RENOVATION AND REDEVELOPMENT CAN BE WORTH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF EUROS
Here we come to the most technically interesting part of the call. The Region recalls three different categories of intervention:
Major first-level renovation
It occurs when the intervention affects
more than 50% of the gross dispersing surface of the building and includes the
renovation of the heating system at the same time.
This is the category to which the highest contribution is associated:
40% of eligible expenditure up to 300,000 euros.
However, beware of a very common mistake!
Exceeding 50% of the envelope does not automatically mean being in the first level!!
If, for example, almost all the facades and the roof are insulated but the heating system is not affected by a real renovation, the project does not automatically become first-level.
Similarly,
simply changing a boiler does not necessarily mean that the heating system has been restructured for the purposes of regulatory classification.
The configuration must be verified by the energy designer on the building-plant system as a whole.
Major second-level renovation
The second level, on the other hand, concerns interventions involving
more than 25% of the gross dispersing surface of the building. The intervention can also affect the heating system, but this is not the determining condition for the first level.
The regional contribution envisaged is:
40% of the eligible expenditure up to 150,000 euros.
Energy requalification
On the other hand,
energy requalification includes interventions with effects on the energy performance of the building that cannot be classified as a major renovation of the first or second level. They can concern both the envelope and the systems.
The contribution drops to:
30% of the eligible expenditure, up to 100,000 euros.
A SEEMINGLY SMALL DIFFERENCE CAN BE WORTH €150,000 !!!
Let's take another example, this time deliberately simplified.
A condominium is planning a major intervention on the envelope.
HYPOTHESIS A
Intervention on
24% of the dispersing surface.
Possible classification:
energy requalification → 30% → maximum
€ 100,000
HYPOTHESIS B
With a slightly more extensive design, for example, it reaches
30%.
Possible classification:
major second-level renovation → 40% → maximum
€150,000
HYPOTHESIS C
The condominium decides to face an overall redevelopment:
- envelope over 50%;
- renovation of the heating system.
Possible classification:
major first-level renovation → 40% → maximum
€300,000
This does not mean that you have to do unnecessary work just to reach a threshold.
Instead, it means that
before definitively deliberating on the interventions, it is advisable to compare different scenarios.
Sometimes it can be the case that a relatively small additional investment allows the building to be significantly improved and at the same time access a more favourable contribution category.
And this is exactly what our studio is about: through a
preliminary energy and economic feasibility study, we analyze the building, compare the different intervention scenarios and identify the most convenient solution from a technical, energy and contribution point of view.
FOR OLD DIESEL SYSTEMS THERE IS A SPECIFIC BONUS
The tender also contains a particularly interesting provision for buildings still equipped with systems powered
exclusively by diesel.
In the event of replacement with more energy-efficient systems, an
increase in the contribution is envisaged up to a maximum of 20,000 euros.
This is a significant forecast especially for those condominiums built in the sixties, seventies and eighties in which the thermal power plant has never been radically redeveloped.
WHO CAN ACCESS: BE CAREFUL, IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE MORE THAN EIGHT APARTMENTS
The first check to be carried out concerns the composition of the building.
The call is aimed at:
condominiums, partial condominiums and supercondominiums with more than eight real estate units.
But there is a second extremely important condition.
The contribution can be requested with reference to the
thousandth shares of the housing units belonging to the cadastral categories from A/1 to A/6 and A/11 and owned by condominiums who are natural persons.
This means that the theoretical contribution does not necessarily have to be calculated on the entire expense of the condominium.
THE REAL MISTAKE WOULD BE TO WAIT FOR THE OPENING OF THE CALL TO START DESIGNING
Applications can be submitted
from the second half of September 2026 and throughout 2027. At first glance, it might seem like there's a lot of time.
In reality, there is a word that completely changes the strategy:
AT THE COUNTER.
The contributions will in fact be assigned at the counter.
This means that we are not faced with the classic call in which all applications are collected up to a certain deadline and then ordered through a ranking.
As a result, waiting for the platform to open to start wondering what work to do would be imprudent.
A condominium must in fact go through several steps: analysis of the current state, surveys, energy assessment, choice of interventions, economic estimate, comparison of scenarios,
condominium assembly, possible acquisition of estimates, design and preparation of the necessary documentation.
The period before the opening must therefore be used to
arrive prepared, not simply to wait.
THE CONTRIBUTION IS IMPORTANT, BUT THE REAL OPPORTUNITY IS TO DESIGN WELL
The new FVG call represents one of the most interesting opportunities in recent years for the energy redevelopment of regional condominiums. But the contribution, alone, is not enough.
Two apparently similar condominiums can achieve very different economic results: one can limit itself to adding up individual works, the other can instead set up an
organic energy redevelopment project, designed to really improve the building and, at the same time, exploit the opportunities offered by the tender in the most effective way.
And this is precisely where the work of our firm comes into play.
Before bringing important interventions to the assembly, it is essential to analyze
the state of the building, the dispersing surfaces, the existing system, the necessary works, the costs, the estimates already available and the possible classification of the intervention, so as to understand what contribution can really be obtained and which solution is most convenient for the condominiums.
Our firm carries out this preliminary assessment and, at the request of the condominium administrators, can prepare a
free estimate for the energy feasibility study, design and management of the intervention. To receive it, simply send by email:
- some photos of the condominium;
- a short list of the works that would like to be carried out;
- any estimates already collected from companies or suppliers.
Starting from these elements, we can carry out an initial assessment and correctly set up the technical and economic path to be explored with the condominium.
Because the real goal is not simply to obtain a contribution, it is
to design the intervention well, choose the right works and transform the regional contribution into a concrete opportunity to reduce costs, improve the building and increase the value of the properties.
Condominium administrators: to request a free quote, you can write to
architettodusso@gmail.com attaching photos, a list of works and any estimates already available.
