Renovation needs to be significantly accelerated in Europe

Over 6 million buildings need to be deeply renovated. Without accelerating the rate and depth of renovation, the EU risks missing its 2050 climate neutrality objective by up to 400 million tonnes CO₂.

At the moment, buildings are replaced and refurbished very slowly. Currently, it would take over 100 years to achieve a highly energy-efficient, decarbonised building stock.

Renovation needs to be significantly accelerated in Europe – over 6 million buildings need to be deeply renovated. Without accelerating the rate and depth of renovation, the EU risks missing its 2050 climate neutrality objective by up to 400 million tonnes CO₂.

To accelerate renovation, minimum energy performance standards for existing buildings need to be introduced, alongside financial and technical assistance. This will help to phase out ‘leaky’ buildings and create more comfortable and affordable housing.

Eurima wants finance to be more effectively mobilised towards deep building renovations – which is why it supports the Renovate Europe campaign.

The EU-wide Renovation Wave needs to incentivise a range of investment projects using resources from the EU’s multi-annual budget, the NextGenerationEU recovery and resilience facility and the European Investment Bank. Revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System can also be used to tackle the biggest challenges in the climate-neutral transition, especially for reducing energy use in buildings.

Private finance can be increased by setting robust, harmonised standards for a sustainable building investment where mineral wool plays an important role in energy efficiency.

Finally, simplified state aid rules and providing technical support to stakeholders could also increase investment for energy efficiency programmes in buildings.