Our Integrated Solution
SER tackles current barriers to renovation for the third sector by offering an integrated renovation solution that combines technical and financial assistance, thus enabling easy and accessible sustainable building renovations for non-profits.
This solution includes people-centred stakeholder engagement, standardised technical project design, impact monitoring and support to access upfront funding. Towards cooperation, solidarity, and social regeneration, SER unites eight organizations from four EU countries to establish and operationalize an innovative hub known as the SER HUB.
Finally, SER enables a flow of private capital into the non-profit sector, thus maximising social and environmental impacts.
Project Pillars
SER bridges the gap between TSOs' needs and counterparties offering appropriate funding solutions, providing flexibility and adaptability to the evolving environment and market changes.
Financial Assistance
SER guides TSOs in developing their business plans. This entails providing financial advice to structure suitable financial solutions through collaborations with financial intermediaries and alternative funding sources.
These solutions combine the entities' own funds, specific grants and public incentives with market lending, crowdfunding, and/or innovative partnerships.
Technical Assistance
SER provides improved technical assistance services through demand stimulation, standardisation, and digitisation.
This promotes community training and development, data centralization, and audit standardisation.
Social Assessment
Assess and capture the multiple benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy renovations to ensure that investments have a strong social and environmental impact.
Through a comprehensive impact methodology tailored to each initiative, we are able to measure each of the relevant indicators for the projects.
Scaling Across Europe
SER is focused on Italy, with further scaling foreseen in Bulgaria and France, and exploratory roundtables in Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland.
We have developed a comprehensive replicability tool that facilitates the integration of each of our services beyond Italy.
Project Impact
Generating social, environmental and economic impact at community, national and European Union levels
893 tCO2eq/year
of CO2 emissions saved within the project duration
1.7 GWh/year
of renewable energy generated within the project duration
3.7 GWh
reduction in energy consumption within the project duration
3,100
jobs will be created by 2029
€200M
generated in clean energy
investments by 2029
News & Events
Past and future SER-related news and events
6th Consortium Meeting, Pavía
April 9 & 10, 2024
We held our sixth consortium meeting at the Cooperativa Sociale Casa del Giovane in Pavia, Italy.
Casa del Giovane is one of our pilot projects where we have contributed to the energy renovation of two of their buildings 🏡, providing technical and financial assistance, and impact assessment.
Launch of the official SER HUB Website
March 1, 2024
Following the incorporation of the SER HUB into the project, we invite you to discover its new website.
Click here.
Retrofit of Cascina Nibai
January 9, 2024
Energy Poverty Webinar - Canale Energia
November 30, 2023
Learning about energy poverty through European projects.
With Fabio Gerosa, General Director of Fratello Sole; Laura Bano and Rose Ortolani, consultants; Alessandro Fiorini, researcher at Enea; Agatino Nicita, technologist at Cnr-Itae; Tiziana Toto, consumer policy manager at the association Cittadinanza Attiva.
Eurodiaconia
November 8, 2023
Presentation of the SER Project in Brussels on the occasion of the 'Social Policy Days' of Eurodiaconia, during the session "Can Social Services really be sustainable? The Green Deal, Social Services, and Financing," in which one of the panellists was Karen Vanderpoortel of DG Grow. Read more here.
Cascina Nibai
October 19, 2023
FS together with Gruppo Iren, were working on the energy redevelopment of two buildings. As part of the European project Social Energy Renovations (SER), TIRESIA Polimi and Sigma NL Spin Off Universitario are conducting the environmental and social impact assessment of the energy efficiency project. An activity of the Cantiere Sociale that Fratello Sole always includes in its interventions in support of the ecological transition of the Third Sector.
EnergETICI
July 19, 2023
Seminar presentation of the project “EnergETICI” sponsored by FMPS and SER-HUB at FMPS offices in Siena. Read more here.
Associazione Italiana Leucemia
May 3, 2023
SER is quoted for the impact evaluation activities in the press communication released at the beginning of the building site of AIL – Associazione Italiana Leucemia (Italian Leukemia Association), which is one of SER's three pilot building sites. Read more here.
Pax Bank, Rome
January 24, 2023
In January, Fratello Sole was invited to present its activities in support of the ecological transition of non-profit organizations and, together with GNE Finance. The seminar's subject was social and environmental impact finance, as envisioned by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, summarized in the document Mensuram Bonam, which illustrates investments compatible with the environment and the well-being of people, in line with the encyclicals Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti. Read more here.
Economy of Francesco 2022 Global Event #EoF2022
September 23, 2022
SER Project presented among the "Inspiring Projects" or the Energy and Poverty Workshop at the Economy of Francesco 2022 Global Event #EoF2022.
Tackling energy poverty and enhancing energy efficiency in Non Profit Organizations
August 20, 2022
SER has a dedicated box in the Toolkit for social organizations “Tackling energy poverty and enhancing energy efficiency in Non Profit Organizations”, a publication realized within the project GreenAbility (Green abilities to tackle social issues), funded by the EU program Erasmus+ of which FS and ENEA were partners. Read more here.
SERVICE4Impact Video
June, 2022
SERVICE4Impact is the ENEA application capable of measuring the energy and structural criticalities of third sector buildings. The application - developed by the Agency for Energy Efficiency and the Laboratory of Seismic Engineering and Natural Risk Prevention - is implemented within the framework of the SER project.
Guidelines for the sustainability of Third Sector entities - Energy and Water
November 1, 2021
SER has a dedicated box in the publicatio “Linee Linee Guida per la sostenibilità degli enti del Terzo Settore – Energia e Acqua” (Guidelines for the sustainability of Third Sector entities - Energy and Water), realised by FS with ENEA and presented in a road show in Italy in November and December 2021. Read more here.
EUSEW Sustainable Energy Days: Fostering Sustainable Renovations in the Third sector
October 28, 2021
In light of the ambitious target set by the European Commission to make the EU the first carbon neutral continent by 2050, this event served as a platform to exchange lessons learnt and best practices supporting the uptake of sustainable and energy efficient measures in Europe’s social and non-profit sectors. Read more here.
ENEA Official Press Release (Italian)
June 10, 2021
SER enables sustainable building renovations in Italy's non-profit sector, but its benefits go beyond energy savings. In the next 5 years €200M will be invested in clean energy, 3000 jobs will be made & 900 tons of carbon dioxide will be mitigated. Read ENEA's full press release here.
SER Kick-off Meeting
May 25 & 26, 2021
The SER Project offically kicked-off in a hybrid setting, with several partners having participated digitally in the project's first Consortium Meeting hosted in Milan, Italy. Partners engaged in productive discussions about how to foster sustainable renovations in Italy's non-profit sector via the removal of their financial and technical barriers, and explored SER's replication in other EU countries.
SER brings together 8 organisations from 4 EU countries
GNE is a high impact investment company focused on providing financing for the built environment. GNE is a leader at leveraging finance to deliver innovative solutions that maximise social and environmental impact while delivering sustainable returns to capital providers.
FS is a consortium of non-profit organisations engaged in transferring sustainability to third sector organisations. It promotes resource efficiency and energy efficiency in order to cut costs and allow investments to flow into social and welfare activities, and also supports the third sector's green transition.
CGM created in 1998, supports the development of social cooperation among industries and plays a central role across the financial system supporting the consortium in managing relations with the banks and financial institutions of the territory.
ENEA is the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development which provides technical and scientific support and consultancy services to the public central administration (mainly the Ministry of Economic Development), regions and local bodies.
Politecnico di Milano is one of the most outstanding universities in Europe that hosts an international research center, TIRESIA (Technology Innovation and Research for Social Impact), dedicated to pursuing scientific excellence in the research on social impact and inclusive innovation.
A fully owned subsidiary of Econoler Inc. The firm boasts experience in renewable energy, energy performance contracting, and climate change mitigation and designs, implements and performs feasibility studies for financing mechanisms.
It is a non-profit organisation, officially recognised for public interest since 1962. SC has developed a new vision for society. It is mainly focused on fighting poverty and its causes. It is also involved in social and environmental transition.
The SER HUB is a legal entity providing consulting services in the technical, administrative, fiscal, and financial fields to promote the Energy Transition of the TSOs and religious entities. Configured as a "boutique one-stop-shop," the SER HUB comprises an ecosystem of partners delivering modular and tailor-made solutions for specific projects.
