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The Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change launches a new pilot program to create green neighbourhoods in Athens with a budget of € 5.5 million from the EU funds. The Ministry has surveyed two neighbourhoods in the capital so far. Covered are about 350 people living in 80 apartments in the neighbourhoods Saint Varavara and Egalio.

The project provides full state subsidies and the households that will benefit from the project of thermal insulation will not be charged financially. The conditions for involvement in the program are the residents of the approved neighbourhoods to agree to participate in the project. Areas which have priority in the rehabilitation program are the poor neighbourhoods, which according to the Minister of Environment and Energy Tina Birbili, have the lowest energy efficiency as they consume a lot of energy for electricity, heating and maintenance.

The old buildings will be repaired so as to have minimum energy consumption. They will be nature friendly with no harmful emissions. The Ministry undertakes to turn small neighbourhoods in the capital into green oases with the support of seven branch organizations, specialized in manufacturing and installation of new energy saving technologies. Entrepreneurs specializing in insulation technologies (polystyrene), aluminum windows, and solar collectors took part in the preparation of the project. The sub-contractors have signed voluntary agreements for the program with the Ministry, offering 50% discount from the end price. "The popularity we will gain after the two pilot projects is sufficient so we will not seek profit from building the green neighbourhoods of the Ministry of Environment," said the engineer Michalis Hondos who is a project consultant.

The project will start in early November when the Ministry of Environment will announce a competition in which municipalities in the country will be able to apply for participation. The poorer they are, the better chance they have to enter the program. Then technical assessments will be made so as to determine the value of the project and to start the repairing works in the spring. Minister Birbili is ambitious to turn the unattractive areas in the capital into pleasant and energy efficient urban areas, following the model of the already successfully developed projects in the UK and Germany.