European climate resilience and risk management: EBE’s response to the call for evidence

An efficient, comfortable, and healthy building stock is the first step towards climate resilience. Buildings offer protection from extreme events when adequately designed, constructed, renovated, and maintained. However, most are ill-adapted to a changing climate.

• Up to 1 in 5 households cannot afford the cost of summer cooling.
• 75% of the EU’s building stock is energy-inefficient and about 80-95% of the buildings will still be standing in 2050.

As Europeans spend 80% to 90% of their time indoors and many buildings are not fit to withstand extreme events, the building sector must be a core focus of the upcoming European climate resilience and risk management initiative.

Protecting Europeans from climate change consequences

Maintaining safe indoor temperatures and air quality is essential to protecting the health and well-being of Europeans. Energy efficiency products and equipment help deliver on these two key dimensions of indoor environmental quality and must be included.

In a recent study, the ADEME (French energy agency) shows that insulation is critical to protect building occupants from heatwaves. Well-insulated buildings paired with appropriate adaptation strategies (solar control glazing, complemented by solar shading, and sufficient natural or mechanical ventilation) ensure that buildings remain comfortable and resilient even in increasingly hot weather. To address this, multiple EU countries (BE, DK, FR) introduced Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) requirements to limit overheating risks by considering climate data on heat waves. As part of the ongoing implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), Member States have a chance to streamline IEQ requirements.

Water-efficiency technologies in buildings, such as efficient taps and showers, rain and greywater harvesting, and nature-based solutions, alleviate system pressures in the case of droughts. The European Commission should support the roll-out of these solutions, technologies, and innovations in this sector to unlock its full potential.

Effective data management and the strategic use of technology deliver significant energy and water efficiency in buildings. Digital technologies in buildings increase affordability, health, and comfort for building occupants.

Protection from climate-related disruptions

Efficient buildings can maintain comfortable indoor environments with less energy input, even during climate-related disruptions. This resilience reduces the need for emergency energy imports or over-reliance on a single energy source, particularly during extreme weather events like heatwaves or cold snaps, which are exacerbated by climate change.

Cooling is the fastest-growing end-use for energy in buildings, growing by 6% per year since 2000. While 75% of heating and cooling needs are met using fossil fuel sources, decarbonised heating and coolingsolutions are key to Europe’s resilience to supply disruptions in case of extreme climate events, as well as smart building design, cooling buildings thanks to interior and exterior solar shading, and natural night ventilation.

Efficient buildings can also better integrate on-site renewable energy systems. They will reduce our vulnerability to international and regional energy market fluctuations and climate-related disruptions in energy supply.  Additionally, efficient buildings also strengthen Europe’s energy system by reducing energy demand during peak hours and lowering the costs of the energy system.