Buildings renovation takes centre stage as debate heats up over energy efficiency targets for 2030

Campaigners are urging policymakers to act now and tackle the huge potential for energy savings in Europe’s building stock, which currently accounts for 40% of Europe’s final energy demand.

In the European Parliament, energy efficiency advocates are pushing for an ambitious 80% reduction in the consumption of energy in buildings by 2050, compared to 2010 levels. The own-initiative report on the European Commission’s Energy Roadmap 2050 was adopted by Parliament on 14 March 2013, after a vote in the industry committee on 24 January.

“There is no doubt about it – we urgently need to address the energy efficient renovation of the EU building stock. With poor performing buildings, we are not only wasting energy and money, but we are also missing out on a golden opportunity to deliver on the EU’s climate change, jobs, growth and energy security goals”, said British MEP Fiona Hall  MEP (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, ALDE), who is Shadow Rapporteur on the Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy committee (ITRE).

“This ambitious yet achievable building renovation target, which received cross-party support in the ITRE Committee vote in January, is recognised as essential to provide market certainty needed in order to unleash investment in the building renovation sector”, claims Renovate Europe, a campaign group set up by EuroAce, the European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings.