Op-ed: Building Renovation for a healthy, sustainable and socially just recovery
By Katarzyna Wardal, EU Public Affairs Manager at Knauf Insulation, EuroACE Member.
Recently, 17 Member States and more than 180 politicians and organisations (including EuroACE) called for making the Green Deal the core of the economic recovery. As billions of people self-isolate at home, the importance of well-performing and comfortable buildings has never been more acutely understood.
COVID-19 has revealed unacceptable housing inequalities. For vulnerable low-income Europeans confined to poor quality homes, the lockdown has meant more time exposed to cold and damp conditions. Add the almost 50 million Europeans who struggle to pay their energy bills, and renovation becomes an urgent moral responsibility.
An EU commitment to ambitious renovation programmes up to 2050 would be a clear signal to investors and the construction industry to unlock more money for renovation against a 30-year future of policy certainty, creating millions of new jobs and the GDP benefit every country will need after the crisis.
