National building renovation strategies: a ‘tick-the-box’ exercise on paper will not deliver jobs and growth!

In March 2016, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre published its analysis of the national long-term building renovation strategies drawn up under Article 4 of the Energy Efficiency Directive. Even though the report pointed out important gaps, a too generous rating scale left the wrong impression that Member States were on track to deliver.

Buildings represent 40% of EU energy consumption and 36% of its CO2 emissions, and building renovation could create up to 2 million jobs by 2020. EuroACE called for a more realistic and in-depth assessment of the national strategies to improve them, not only on paper but also in their implementation on the ground.

“What matters most is that strategies help closing the gap between the huge savings and comfort potential in our buildings, and the reality of low energy renovation rates. Their role should be transformational,” said Céline Carré, Vice-President of EuroACE.