Energy efficiency in public buildings: evidence from Italian municipalities

European legislation pays a particular attention to municipalities, because of their role in stimulating the implementation of energy efficiency measures in buildings for the achievement of nearly zero-energy. In fact, local authorities are expected to provide good examples in implementing energy efficiency measures. The study aims at investigating factors that influence the development of energy efficiency improvements in municipal buildings. Based on a dataset of 322 municipalities in Northern Italy, the analysis concerns the fulfilment of energy audits and the consequent implementation of energy efficiency measures in buildings. The results show that municipalities have to improve the quality and quantity of these measures in order to avoid the “plucking of low hanging fruit”. The relevance of the untapped potential of improvements suggests the need to carry out an effective knowledge management in municipalities and the removal of current budget constraints for energy efficiency measures by national government.