I was delighted to hear, last week in Paris, that Vice-President Maros Sefcovic of the European Commission confirmed Europe’s call for “an Airbus for batteries”. Delighted because just like for batteries, we need an Airbus model to renovate Europe and unleash the 4th industrial revolution in the construction sector.
My initial research question, for the International Refurbishment Symposium, was about an ex-ante evaluation of the impacts on the renovation market of the European Commission's proposed Smart Finance for Smart Buildings (SFSB) initiative.
The Symposium is a one day event, co-located with the AECB's National Conference at Eco Connect London. This high brow symposium is focussed on productivity, resilience and sustainability in the domestic refurbishment sector. It is about re-thinking assumptions and systems in a time of change.
Energy poverty, described as the inability to afford an adequate heating regime in the household, is increasingly acknowledged as a pressing issue across Europe. The European Commission states that over 54 million people, or 11% of the European population, currently suffer from the consequences of energy poverty, the causes of which are multiple. Despite falling wholesale prices for gas and electricity, consumer costs have gradually increased. When combined with poor energy efficiency in many buildings and a squeeze in living standards, Europe’s citizenry has been left in the dark.
The event is an initiative of Housing Europe as part of the PROF TRAC project which targets technical experts, architects and managers involved in nZEB design and construction.
I am not sure if this is good news – or scary news! Here we have two Directives related to buildings under revision in the EU, and their messages are confusing at best. Let's take a closer look at them.
Energy Efficiency Finance Market Place is an initiative launched by the European Commission to support ongoing initiatives in energy renovation. The event was organised by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (EASME) in the frame of the Sustainable Energy Investment Forums.
