Abstract

This paper focuses on the Energy performance contracting (EPC), defined by the directive 2012/27/UE as a contractual arrangement between the owner of an energy system and an ESCO, verified and monitored during the whole term of the contract, in which the investments are paid for in relation to a contractual agreed performance criterion. The minimum items to be included in EPC in the public sector or in the private sector aiming to access to public financing and the consequences of the lack of such items are examined. Furthermore the problem if in Italian legal system an EPC is a new type of contract or it is connected to existing types of contract, such as «appalto», is analyzed. Finally, the Guidelines that ENEA is drafting in matter of EPC for the public building are examined, aiming to understand how they deal with the conflict of interests existing between the contracting parties and which contract rules can be applied in default of a specific provision of the contract or to correct the private autonomy.