Improving energy efficiency in buildings

Buildings of all types in Europe account for 40% of its energy consumption, 36% of its CO2 emissions1, and 55% of its electricity consumption2. This means that savings of emissions and energy in buildings is vital to meeting the EU's climate and energy targets.

Building renovation is another important way to tackle fuel poverty. To date, renovation rates remain low in the EU and renovating the existing building stock to make it more energy-efficient remains a challenge. Increasing the rate at which existing buildings are renovated to at least 2 to 3%, and certainly more for the public sector, per year until 2030 is a key objective of the EU’s Resource Efficiency agenda.

The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) identified the existing building stock as “the single biggest potential sector for energy savings… crucial to achieving the European Union's objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95% by 2050 compared to 1990.”

These barriers are picked up in several Interreg Europe projects such as BUILD2LC and REBUS look at the energy-efficient refurbishment of buildings; FINERPOL investigates financial instruments for energy renovation and Social Green works with greening the social housing sector. 

Read the policy brief for recommendations on energy efficiency in buildings.