Buildings typically hide a large and cost-effective potential for saving carbon dioxide through energy efficiency improvements. However, numerous barriers make the opportunities for energy saving in buildings difficult to capture. The project-based mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol do not seem to adequately cover energy efficiency activities in the building sector. Green Investment Schemes (GIS) as an innovative instrument offer promising solutions but the main question is how they could be practically designed for this purpose. The work examines the applicability of GIS with respect to energy...