About: building renovation
OpinionPromoted content
Energy efficient renovation: the way to get ‘Fit for 55’
After months of talks and intense negotiations between Member States and the European Parliament, the European Union has agreed to cut its carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Vincent Briard is Group Sustainability Director...
Expert: Limit living space to shrink building carbon footprint
Energy efficient building renovation is not enough to lessen the climate impact of residential buildings, according to one sustainability expert who is calling for a limit on the living space allocated per person in residential homes.
Consumers will only renovate their homes if it’s easy and affordable
Consumers are willing and ready to play their part in the green housing transition, but they will need guidance and support along the way, writes Monique Goyens.
Pipe dream: alleviating energy poverty with hydrogen
Europe must not allow the push to tackle energy poverty to be derailed by the mirage of heating homes with hydrogen. Instead, the EU should focus on energy efficiency and financial support for poor households to switch to clean energy, write Jan Rosenow and Louise Sunderland.
The female face of energy poverty is still invisible
Women are more likely to live in energy poverty, something that needs to be reflected in EU policy as it rolls out its renovation wave, writes Michaela Kauer.
Italy’s celebrated building renovation scheme hits a snag
Last year, Italy launched an unprecedented plan allowing homeowners to finance 110% of energy efficiency renovation works through tax deductions. Almost one year on, the widely celebrated scheme is hitting snags related to mounting costs and bureaucracy.
Green Homes Grant scheme to officially close this week, UK Government confirms
The UK Government has confirmed that it will axe its Green Homes Grant Scheme, which had £1.5bn of its £2bn funding pot withdrawn, on Wednesday (31 March).
UK government’s green homes grant in urgent need of rescue, MPs say
The UK government’s flagship home insulation scheme, intended to kickstart a green recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, has been botched, disastrous in administration, devastating in some of its impacts, and stands in urgent need of rescue, an influential committee of MPs has said. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.
How carbon pricing is driving the renovation of Czech homes
Like other European countries, the Czech Republic’s buildings are in need of renovation. Unlike others, it partly funds renovation programmes with revenues generated from the emission trading scheme (ETS), an experiment that could be replicated across the EU.
Abolition of energy-saving incentives worries French building sector
The €2 billion of financial aid to boost energy renovation in France's COVID recovery plan may not be enough to compensate for the abolition of financial assistance provided to households under the so-called “energy saving incentives” – or what the French ministry has branded "coups de pouce isolation". EURACTIV France reports.OpinionPromoted content
One Year After EPBD: It’s time to accelerate smart building solutions
One year after the deadline for implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), we are far from being on track for more efficient and smarter building stock. Torben Pedersen is Divisional President Residential Heating in Danfoss. Marie Ziegler is...
Eco-homes become hot property in UK’s zero-carbon ‘paradigm shift’
Smart, low-carbon homes were once the preserve of one-off grand designs – now there are up to 30,000 projects in the pipeline, writes EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian Environment.
National renovation plans falling short of EU’s 2050 climate goal: study
The long-term renovations strategies that EU countries submitted last year to the European Commission are not in line with the bloc's objective of reaching climate-neutrality by 2050, according to fresh analysis due to be published this week.
EU countries back green building renovations, but quiet on binding standards
European Union countries will rally behind the bloc's plan to massively expand building renovations to cut emissions, according to a draft document, but it did not explicitly endorse using legally-binding energy performance standards to do it.
EU regions’ advisory body to step up cooperation with Commission
Renovations, sustainable mobility, urban greening. These are just some areas in which the Committee of the Regions' (CoR) wants to work more closely with the European Commission. EURACTIV France reports.OpinionPromoted content
How to keep a renovation promise? Quality and quantity
When the European Commission announced its new strategy to renovate 35 million buildings by 2030 as part of a multi-billion-euro green recovery programme it felt like a genuinely historic opportunity. David Ducarme is the Group Chief Operating Officer at Knauf...
30 million Europeans were in energy poverty in 2019
Thirty million Europeans – the equivalent of Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic's populations combined – were unable to adequately heat their homes in 2019, according to a new report from the Jacques Delors Institute.
Why the EU has a big role to play in tackling the housing crisis
Since housing is a fundamental right guaranteed at EU level, the bloc has to play its part and support cities and countries in tackling the housing crisis, providing affordable, adequate and sustainable housing, writes Kim van Sparrentak. Kim van Sparrentak...
French citizens want better homes. Why are politicians standing in their way?
If it enshrines into its upcoming climate bill mandatory building renovation, France will answer the Citizens’ Convention on Climate’s call for better homes and contribute significantly to the EU’s 55% emission reduction target by 2030, writes Etienne Charbit.
Planet-warming emissions from buildings put climate goals at risk
Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from buildings and construction are jeopardising global goals to keep devastating climate change at bay, a UN-backed coalition warned on Wednesday (16 December), after data showed they hit an all-time high in 2019.
‘Complete overhaul’ of buildings needed to meet EU’s 2030 climate goal
Europe needs a “complete overhaul” of its buildings to meet a higher 2030 emissions reduction target, according to new research published today (3 December).
This is the moment to renovate your buildings, EU tells member states
Now is the time for member states to renovate buildings and make them energy efficient, the EU's climate chief Frans Timmermans said today (27 October), despite a lack of clarity on minimum requirements at EU level, which won’t be introduced until next year.
EU launches ‘renovation wave’ for greener, more stylish buildings
The European Commission launched a renovation wave and a “new European Bauhaus” on Wednesday (14 October), aiming to rally popular support behind plans to cut emissions from buildings and reduce energy bills.