ZGRADONAČELNIK Julije Domac i Natko Bilić

Guest Julije Domac i Natko BilićHosted by Tin BašićMay 3, 2026

Julije Domac i Natko Bilić

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

Croatia faces a dual challenge: empowering its citizens to become energy producers and bringing its aging building stock into the 21st century. This conversation dissects the practical and systemic hurdles to large-scale energy efficiency and citizen participation. Julije Domac, director of the North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency and special advisor to the President on energy and climate, offers a high-level view of policy and vision. Natko Bilić, director of Planetaris, a company specializing in building energy renovation, shares the ground-level realities of implementing these changes, drawing from his company's experience with the very first EU-funded renovations in the country. They lay out what it takes to drive a national energy transition, from planning to execution.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

Julije Domac defines "citizen energy" as a move to give citizens a greater share in the energy transition, becoming owners and producers of energy, or shareholders in local power plants. The shift isn't just about clean power; it's about democratizing the distribution of economic benefits from clean energy across all citizens.

The 2014 Botinec building renovation, Croatia's first EU-funded energy upgrade, presented Natko Bilić with a core challenge: convincing co-owners that they could save energy and have a significant portion of the work paid for. When introducing a complex, first-of-its-kind initiative, the primary hurdle is often not technical, but explaining the long-term value to stakeholders with no prior experience of its benefits.

For early renovation projects, Natko Bilić's team aimed for a comprehensive overhaul, replacing windows, roof, wall insulation, and even insulating unheated spaces. For buildings constructed decades ago, incremental repairs are often insufficient; true, lasting energy efficiency and modernization require a holistic approach that upgrades all critical components simultaneously.

Julije Domac, also a co-owner representative, argues that energy renovation directly increases a property's market value, citing the leap from an F to a B energy class. Beyond immediate utility savings, a renovated building is a direct investment in asset appreciation, making a property significantly more valuable and attractive in the market.

Julije Domac points to a core systemic problem in Croatia: the lack of clear, 5-to-7-year planning for European tenders. Without a predictable pipeline of funding opportunities, the construction sector cannot invest in skilled labor or specialization, stifling the long-term capacity needed for national renovation goals.

The current philosophy of energy renovation in Croatia remains focused on individual buildings, not entire blocks or neighborhoods, Domac notes. Scaling energy upgrades efficiently requires a strategic shift to renovating urban blocks, which significantly reduces costs, optimizes logistics, and accelerates the overall pace of modernization.

Natko Bilić recounts his own experience living in one of the first renovated buildings in 2014, where neighbors now pay half their previous heating bills. The most compelling evidence of an energy renovation's success isn't a certificate, but the tangible, sustained reduction in utility costs that residents directly experience.

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