Strong and constant commitment by the promoters and the local politicians is needed.

Besides that, the Administration, supported by technical experts, should carry out a careful initial assessment of the local situation, including several factors:

• which is the composition of the building stock, in terms of typology of use, size, public/private, ownership, new/refurbished, etc.?

• is the heat consumption (in particular, the domestic hot water demand) in the area relevant?

• basing on the above information, do you estimate a large impact of the STO?

• are there enough technology suppliers available in the area?

• are there enough certified products in the market (e. g. solar collectors) and/or test institutes ready for delivering certifications in reasonable terms?

• does your Administration (Municipality, Province, Region, etc.) have the right competencies to assure that the STOs will be legally valid and operating?

• will the STO be immediately operating, with no needs for waiting application rules or being implemented in other local tools (e. g. the building code)?

• are there other ordinances already operating? If this is the case, is the new STO consistent with the previous regulations?

• is the internal staff of your Administration enough to manage the STO?

• are there any subsidies available for solar thermal?

• is a certification scheme for planners and/or installers of solar thermal operating in your Administration/Country?

2.1.1 Birth: cooperation among actors

A key factor for developing an effective STO is to promote networking and cooperation among the main actors:

• involve main stakeholders, before the STO be developed, by means of hearings (building companies, consumer association, NGOs, etc.)

• promote cooperation between actors (e. g. building companies and solar thermal industry or other RES-heat technologies providers) through platforms, workshops, etc.

• for Municipalities and Provinces: involve more high level Administrations (e. g. Regions) for promotion, advertisement, development of common tools, replication

• for Regions:

1. communication, pushing and checking towards Municipalities to have the STO applied

2. foresee compensation measures and/or fees for Municipalities which apply/do not apply the STO

3. central training of Municipality personnel and development of calculation tools

4. centralise other flanking measures (e. g. information campaign)

• Regarding the roles foreseen for the different actors:

• they should be very clear and separate

• an exhaustive and constant monitoring of the whole process is needed, in order to improve the STO through feedback signals

• managing and monitoring of the STO should be carried out by an external body (e. g. Energy Agency)