We Must Close the Gap with Developed Countries

Heat, Water, Sound and Fire Insulation Contractors Association İZODER, which has been operating for 25 years to promote insulation awareness, today represents a sector directly related to 'energy', 'environment' and 'employment' concepts that have become the world's most important agenda items. Energy efficiency is a strategically important topic for Turkey's future. Developed countries have made significant progress through their insulation mobilization efforts that began years ago. Now it is our turn to make moves and close this gap. Turkey's current account deficit is largely driven by energy imports. Energy imports account for 20-25% of total imports. Turkey, which imports 72% of the energy it uses at a cost of billions of dollars, lists energy at the top of import items. Despite this dependence on foreign sources, we unfortunately cannot use our energy efficiently. Buildings are at the forefront of areas with the highest energy consumption. Approximately 40% of our total energy consumption is used in buildings, 35-40% in industry, and the remainder in transportation and agriculture as main consumption areas. In buildings, where nearly 40% of energy is used, a substantial portion of that energy is spent on heating and cooling. How can we address our fundamental shortcomings in energy efficiency as a country? Energy efficiency has been discussed in our country for a long time, but the first law on Energy Efficiency has been discussed only over the past 10 years. The Energy Efficiency Law, the first main legislation, was enacted in 2007. While most secondary legislation has been largely completed, unfortunately no effective implementation was achieved.

Although this 10-year period was not very long, much more efficient work could have been done. This issue has important aspects. First and foremost, the government, which will lead this effort, private sector institutions and organizations representing stakeholders and production capacity, and of course the end consumer, are all parties to this issue.

Clearly, there is a lack of a structure where these stakeholders are represented and energy efficiency is owned in all its aspects. Through a structure operating under an independent name such as an 'Energy Agency' or 'Energy Efficiency Institution', coordination can be established in the main energy consumption areas of 'Buildings', 'Industry' and 'Transportation' where energy efficiency can be achieved. When we think specifically about the insulation sector in our country, the first regulation that comes to mind is TS 825 standard. The TS 825 standard contains limitations on the amount of energy to be spent on heating. However, while the EU has begun transitioning to nearly zero-energy buildings, we still express values of approximately 100-150 kWh/m2 year based on the net heating energy limits given in the current TS 825. These figures show that we are quite far behind on energy efficiency and cannot use our energy efficiently. When we compare U values defined in developed countries with U values recommended in our country, we see that TS 825 standard definitely needs to be improved. The TS 825 Rules for Heat Insulation in Buildings Standard, which opened an important path in our country, covers buildings constructed after 14 June 2000. Even if we assume that all buildings constructed from that date until today were constructed in full compliance with regulations, we can still say that almost three-quarters of our buildings remain outside the scope of legal regulations related to energy efficiency.

Based on this, I believe that the existing building stock in Turkey needs to be closely examined with regard to energy efficiency. Consumers forced to use buildings in poor energy efficiency condition are trying to insulate their buildings using their own financial resources.

In this context, providing support to consumers is very important in preventing energy waste in our country in general. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures such as providing low-interest or long-term loans for materials and applications to increase energy efficiency, and providing tax reductions or exemptions that will be reflected to consumers. Urban Renewal appears as a major opportunity ahead since it will enable inefficient existing building stock to be demolished and rebuilt in compliance with current regulations. Energy limits defined in the regulations should be lowered as soon as possible, and the opportunity to produce housing with much better energy efficiency through urban renewal should not be missed.

Insulation Provides 50% Energy Savings

Insulation provides an average of 50% savings in energy spent for heating in winter and cooling in summer. This cuts natural gas and electricity bills in half. The insulation sector is of critical importance for the Turkish economy, which imports significant amounts of energy. Today, developed countries are oriented towards concepts such as zero-energy housing and passive houses. Turkey's fulfillment of its international commitments under the Paris Climate Change Agreement is vital for proper development of insulation in terms of building energy efficiency.

Turkey, Europe's Largest

Turkey is today the largest in Europe in heat insulation application, also called 'exterior wall cladding'. However, this scale should not deceive us. Per capita heat insulation material consumption lags these countries by 4-5 times. While Turkey consumes 0.25 cubic meters of insulation material per capita, EU countries use an average of 1 cubic meter of material. While we make do with insulation material 4-5 cm thick, EU countries use 15-20 cm of insulation material and achieve greater energy efficiency. It is clear that improvements are needed in regulations. However, energy efficiency and climate change targets mentioned in our country's commitment declaration cannot be achieved through regulations alone. At this stage, perhaps the most important point is the effective implementation and enforcement of these regulations. Additionally, raising and developing public awareness on the subject is very important. We believe the media could also play a very effective role in this matter. When we look at countries that have made progress in efficiency and reduced energy intensity, our biggest difference is that they started on 'Energy Efficiency' at least 25 years before us. During this period, they raised public awareness, created necessary regulations and implemented them effectively, and enforced them.

In fact, we see that governments have been seriously supporting these efforts, both financially and in terms of effectiveness. They have implemented short, medium and long-term strategies on this subject and continue to implement them.

While improving our energy efficiency, we also emphasize that we should not distinguish between domestic or imported energy-efficient equipment imports, but rather support the use of whichever energy-efficient product or system is the most effective. What matters is ensuring efficiency and of course being competitive in cost. In recent years, the awareness-raising efforts of both the private sector and the government on energy efficiency have been very well received by the public. Citizens believe in the necessity of heat insulation both for their own budgets and the country's interests. However, the government needs to focus on two issues. First, a very effective inspection system must be established and unfair competition must be prevented. Second, many incentive and financial systems that have been successful in EU countries must be implemented without delay. Thus, we will not stand still on energy efficiency and will not watch the EU countries widen the gap. Turkey has all the means to reach its energy efficiency targets. Reaching EU standards in energy efficiency will be Turkey's vital move. Especially for our economic and social targets, taking necessary steps on energy efficiency is our primary responsibility and obligation. I believe we will do more with less energy and reach the energy efficiency level of developed countries. As public awareness increases in line with the rise in national income, all insulation branches will develop rapidly. As İZODER, we will continue to explain to the public that modern living conditions in buildings can only be provided through insulation.   Levent Pelesen Chairman of the Board of Directors Chairman of the Board of Directors İZODER