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Improving energy efficiency in public buildings is one of the main challenges for a sustainable requalification of energy issues and a consequent reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper aims to provide preliminary information about economic costs and energy consumption reductions (benefits) of some considered interventions in existing public buildings. Methods include an analysis of some feasible interventions in four selected public buildings. Energy efficiency improvements have been assessed for each feasible intervention. The difference of the building global energy performance index (EPgl) has been assessed before and after each intervention. Economic costs of each intervention have been estimated by averaging the amount demanded by different companies for the same intervention. Results obtained show economic costs and the EPgl percentage improvement for each intervention, highlighting and allowing for the comparison of energy consumption reduction and relative economic costs. The research results come from data gathered from four public buildings, and as such they could not be used to generically identify cost-beneficial energy efficiency interventions for every context or building type. However, the data reveals useful cost based considerations for selecting energy efficiency interventions in other public buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of monitoring tools and energy management systems (EnMSs) supports companies in their long-term energy efficiency strategies, and they are essential to analyse the effectiveness of energy performance improvement actions (EPIAs). The first fundamental step towards increasing energy efficiency is the development of energy audits (EAs). EAs provide comprehensive information about the energy usage in a specific facility, identifying and quantifying cost-effective EPIAs. The crucial role of these tools in clean energy transition is remarked by the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which promotes the implementation of EAs and EnMS programmes. The purpose of this work is to better understand the link between EnMSs (specifically ISO 50001) and EAs in the EED Article 8 implementation in two industrial and two tertiary sectors in Italy. Moreover, the impact of company size, energy monitoring systems, and EnMSs on planned and/or implemented EPIAs is analysed. Our findings show that, albeit the complexity of the variables involved in energy efficiency gap, the "energy savings/company" and "EPIA/site" ratios are higher in enterprises with an EnMS and monitoring system. Thus, a correct energy audit must always be accompanied by a specific monitoring plan if it is to be effective and useful to the company decision maker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]