16th September 2011

Energy efficiency directive: PU Europe calls for building refurbishment roadmap

Today, PU Europe published its comments on the Commission’s draft Energy Efficiency Directive which should allow the EU to meet its 20 % energy savings target by 2020. PU Europe stressed the need to put the deep renovation of Europe’s building stock by 2050 in the centre of policy efforts.

The impact assessment accompanying the draft Directive confirms the very significant cost-effective savings potential of buildings. Furthermore, it is widely recognised that Europe cannot achieve its 2050 emission reduction targets if the energy demand of buildings is not reduced by a factor or four until that moment in time. This in turn is only possible if about 3 % of Europe’s 210 million buildings undergo deep renovation every year.

“The directive requires Member States to bring 3 % of public buildings up to minimum performance levels every year”, said Oliver Loebel, Secretary General of PU Europe. “This renovation rate would however diminish over time as it refers to the non-renovated building stock only. This is not acceptable. PU Europe also believes that buildings should be brought up to cost-optimal performance levels to reduce the need for further upgrading outside normal renovation intervals.”

Commercial and private residential buildings are not addressed at all in the Commission proposal although they account for 80 % of the overall building stock. PU Europe acknowledges that the renovation of private buildings cannot be easily regulated at EU level. However, Member States should be required to draw up roadmaps which provide details about national strategies to reduce carbon emissions of the building stock by 80 % in 2050, compared to 1990 levels. With a view to achieving wide consensus in society, all relevant stakeholders should be able to contribute to the drafting process.

“Innovative solutions to provide upfront finance for investments in energy efficiency will be key to meeting the target. Energy saving obligations could become an important tool, provided they go beyond business-as-usual scenarios and focus on deep building renovation. The directive will need further clarification in this respect”, Loebel concluded.

The full PU Europe position is available here.

For more details, please contact:

PU Europe

Email: secretariat@pu-europe.eu

Website: www.pu-europe.eu

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