In October 2020 the European Commission launched the Renovation Wave Strategy, an initiative aiming at reducing the energy performance of the EU building stock and at least doubling the renovation rates by 2030. As mentioned by the Commission, ‘buildings are responsible for about 40% of the EU’s energy consumption, and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions from energy. But only 1% of buildings undergo energy-efficient renovation every year, so effective action is crucial to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050’.
As a promoter of nZEBs renovation, RenoZEB welcomes the Renovation Wave Strategy and embraces its three areas of priority:
- decarbonisation of heating and cooling;
- tackling energy poverty and worst-performing buildings;
- renovation of public buildings (such as schools, hospitals, and administrative buildings).
Furthermore, the Renovation Wave Strategy has been complemented by the New European Bauhaus, a second initiative connecting the European Green Deal to our buildings and living spaces. The ambition of the New European Bauhaus is to create a ‘bridge between the world of science and technology and the world of art and culture’ and promoting itself as a multidisciplinary movement. To know more about the NEB, read the statement written by our partner Architects’ Council of Europe, which has also organised a conference on the topic.
The RenoZEB team thinks that a paradigm shift is required to promote nZEBs into mainstream practice, and such European initiatives are key for making this happen in the near future. If you would like to take part in this conversation, the European Commission recently ran a two-day conference on the New European Bauhaus. Watch the recordings here.
More information at https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/index_en