Budapest, Zugló, HU

Zugló is the official name of the 14th district of Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and has a population of approximately 1250,000 inhabitants. Zugló is located close to the centre of Budapest and is thus one of the main districts involved in the process of making of Budapest a green capital. As part of this process, the municipality has joined the Covenant of Mayors in 2015 and started to create its  Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan in 2016.

In the district of Zugló, many projects to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions have already been implemented, with the aim of renewing the district in a smart and sustainable way. In the framework of one of these initiatives, the district heating company connected the public baths with the nearby zoo and installed heat exchangers so that the geothermal heat that has not been utilised for the baths can be recycled and used to warm the 350 species of animals living in the zoo. In addition, a school is currently being renovated in Zugló in order to make it more energy efficient. The refurbishment will include the thermal insulation of the façades and the roof, the replacement of windows and boilers, the upgrading of the ventilation system as well as the installation of solar panels. Furthermore, new energy efficient buildings are being built in the district, thus contributing to the transformation of Zugló into a sustainable district.

In addition, Zugló opened an Energy officein a disused shop on the main square to inform citizens and SMEs on energy efficient refurbishment solutions. In addition, the Energy office offers regular support to citizens in the preparation of their applications for energy efficient building refurbishment grants.

In the framework of the Replication Campaign of the EU-GUGLE and SINFONIA projects, the district of Zugló intends to collect advice and best practices on energy efficient building refurbishment in order to make of smart energy management a rule in the district.