Austrian winters are cold, but in one old Vienna apartment block, most residents never bother to switch on the heating.
Energy consumption in the solid, 19th century building has fallen by 90% since it was renovated and upgraded to “passive house” standards, with thick insulation to keep the temperature steady, solar energy panels and a heat pump in the basement.
The house exemplifies innovative efforts to increase energy efficiency, responding to the challenges of climate change and energy security facing cities around the world. Many of those cities are also at risk of earthquakes or increasingly extreme weather events.
Yet the benefits of integrating energy efficiency measures with improved resilience against seismic and other risks are often overlooked in urban planning and building construction. Addressing both challenges simultaneously creates synergies that can reduce overall cost and deliver better long-term results.
“Energy efficiency and resilience really need to go hand in hand to make cities not only more sustainable, but safer for everyone,” said Xiaoqing Yu, the World Bank’s Director for the Western Balkans.
Committed to developing a more integrated approach, around 50 policymakers and practitioners from 14 countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) gathered in Vienna with international experts in architecture, energy, urban planning and finance for a Technical Deep Dive on Energy Efficiency and Resilience in the Built Environment.
The event, which took place from November 3-6, 2025, was organized jointly by the World Bank’s Urban and Energy Global Practices under the umbrella of the Vienna Development Knowledge Center, and supported by the ECA Cities and Climate Change Program and the ECA Energy Knowledge Network.
Building better buildings
Buildings consume about 40% of energy in ECA, most of it for space heating. Many buildings in the region predate modern energy efficiency standards or building regulations to strengthen seismic resilience.
“Initiatives on the private and public sector sides, and policies that increase energy efficiency and resilience, are increasingly important,” said Elisabeth Gruber of Austria’s Ministry of Finance.
Vienna is at the forefront of innovative approaches to energy efficiency. Participants in the Technical Deep Dive had the opportunity to see examples at first hand, from the “passive house” experiment to an inner-city development where 2,000 new apartments will stay warm in winter and cool in summer thanks to a network of geothermal heat pumps. Nearly half of Vienna’s households are now connected to emissions-free heating, made easier by the fact that much of its housing stock is publicly owned.
Discussions covered new building design and retrofitting for existing buildings, as well as new neighbourhoods – often supplied by large-scale district heating or more localized geothermal systems.
Participants from Tajikistan noted that the country kept its Soviet-era district heating and recently modernized three of its gas- or coal-powered heat stations to improve efficiency. Although Armenia’s former system was shut down, its delegation expressed interest in reviving the approach.
Other examples showed how increased resilience against natural disasters can be combined with energy efficiency. For example, in Türkiye, public buildings such as hospitals, universities, and schools are being upgraded to simultaneously increase earthquake resilience and energy efficiency measures.
“Structural strengthening and sustainability goals can be achieved together,” said Gizem Sarışen Öztürk, an architect at the Istanbul Project Coordination Unit.
The Kyrgyz Republic has identified 40 priority school buildings for retrofitting or replacement. Not only is the new Sadda School No 103 far more earthquake-resistant than the previous, ramshackle building, but better insulated and heated by electricity instead of coal.
Bridging the funding gap
Although energy efficiency brings long-term financial savings for both households and public authorities, making them happen is challenging. Issues include finding the financing to cover the initial investment costs, or complex ownership patterns in multi-apartment buildings, where owners must be convinced to invest in energy efficiency while tenants benefit from lower energy bills.
“The main challenge is to find the right language of benefits, and to make sure the funding is there when the household makes that brave decision,” said Marta Babicz of Poland’s National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, which runs an ambitious national-level program improving energy efficiency in more than two million homes to reduce air pollution.
Various financial models were discussed to address the funding challenge, including government subsidies; public-private partnerships; green mortgages offering lower interest rates or extended repayment terms; and public guarantees to de-risk investments in order to attract private funds.
One approach that sparked significant interest was the revolving, savings-based model currently being rolled out in Kosovo, in which investments to upgrade public buildings are repaid with funds generated by a municipality’s energy savings, and then channelled back into further energy efficiency investments.
Other major takeaways from the event included the importance of strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks; close coordination between national and local governments, international financial institutions and the private sector; sound data for evidence-based planning; and training and outreach to ensure that all stakeholders, from policymakers to contractors, bank staff and the public, are well informed.
The event encouraged lively peer-to-peer exchanges and created a strong basis for further contacts in the future.
“This workshop is very important for us because it touches upon many related issues, which can help us later to connect with other countries through the World Bank and create a platform of cooperation,” said Erik Hovsepyan of Armenia’s Urban Development Committee.