The broad consensus also means that politicians in the Planning Committee stand by their decisions and
manage to secure broad support in the City Council. This has resulted in a good stability in the process
where the decisions adopted by the Planning Committee has been implemented. They have managed over
time to create a broad political intention of the municipality to work with energy savings.
A responsive approach
Both the close cooperation and consensus-seeking approach means that politicians are more responsive in
their approach. Politicians show an interest in how the administration works in everyday life. They listen to
each other. They have respect for the diverse interests that are at stake. The result is that political
ambitions become less high-flying and abstract. They are realistic and focus specifically on how the ongoing
work can be strengthened.
The responsive approach does not mean however that politicians cannot think new thoughts. On the
contrary, there is a willingness to try new things. Eg. the
Committee has been willing to find new ways to raise
money for energy savings. As the budget could not be
stretched further, they opened the possibility of testing
the ESCO model. And when the ESCO model met
challenges, the committee again found a new path in
cooperation with the administration. This shows that
there is political will to think outside the box.
This will help policy makers in paving the way for energy
savings on their platform.
Many municipalities today work with energy savings in the overall administration. They have, for example,
energy employees who are committed to working to promote energy savings. The staff can often have a
strong impetus to identify opportunities to implement energy savings. The administration's ideas may in
some cases have a tendency to get stuck, either because of lack of political ambition or practical obstacles
in relation to daily operations.
In the municipality of Egedal, the Energy Coordinator is a key player in the administrative work. She has
worked committed to promoting energy savings since her appointment in 2008. She complements the
municipality's special consultant working on the development of strategic plans on among others the
energy area. The Energy Coordinator has helped create a systematic and sustained effort to present
documentation of where to take action and what the savings are. In addition, she has helped engage more
operations-oriented employees.
Recording, analysis, and documentation
The Energy Coordinator has helped create a systematic basis for recording the energy consumption. The
municipal properties' energy status has been mapped through the energy-labelling scheme and data on the
energy consumption has been systematized. For one thing, all electricity meters have been mapped and
registered in the municipal property database. secondly, there has been obtained access to more detailed
consumption data from the various utilities.
Registration forms the basis for analysing and documenting where the greatest investment potential lies in
relation to buildings, installations and use. The entries e.g. show that school energy consumption
constitutes more than half of the total consumption. This analysis and documentation formed the basis for
managers are talking about renovating the
roof. I can say, 'remember that it might
actually pay off that you are looking at this
and that' "
Lisbeth Berg energy coordinator, the
municipality of Egedal