Today the European Commission released a package of measures under the headline “Clean Energy for All Europeans – unlocking Europe's growth potential”.

European Aluminium welcomes measures to increase building renovation rates across the European Union, but calls for a better framework concerning the calculation of the performance of building elements under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

“Insulation is only one part of the story, solar heat gains and daylight are just as important,” said Bernard Gilmont, Director of Engineered Products at European Aluminium. “Allowing these renewables to enter buildings through windows reduces artificial heating and lighting needed during colder seasons. While during warmer seasons, natural ventilation and shading solutions reduce the risk of overheating.”

The European Commission also published its new Ecodesign working plan for 2016-2019, including ongoing works for windows.

On this point, European Aluminium highlights that 90% of windows sold in the European Union are not standard products purchased at point-of-sales, but are products made to measure  and installed by professionals. Choosing them requires personalised advice based on site-specific factors like façade orientations, climate conditions, shading and windows sizes, which a point-of-sale energy label is not able to capture. Other alternatives should therefore be considered.

Resources:

-          [VIDEO] Understand how to assess the thermal performance of windows in 2 minutes

-          [INFOGRAPHIC] Learn about the calculation

-          [WEBPAGE] Discover our campaign

-          [VIDEO]  Find out why choosing windows requires personalised advice