Op-ed: Engineering (today) the Renovation Wave for Recovery (tomorrow)

By Thomas Leenders, EuroACE Vice-President.

There is no doubt that the impact of the current health crisis will affect all sectors of the economy and of society, and last far longer than we would like. This will certainly be the case in the buildings sector, where much activity has slowed down or ground to a halt.

During the health crisis, we are hearing calls asking that the pursuit of the European Green Deal be paused. No, we should, on the contrary, place the European Green Deal at the heart of the recovery and ensure that the stimulus measures put us firmly on the path to climate neutrality.

Before the COVID-19 measures, we were spending around 90% of our time in buildings, and that percentage has undoubtedly increased. Having affordable decent homes, working in a bright, warm workplace and learning in a safe environment are qualities that we all deserve. This is why a key pillar of the economic and societal recovery that we must engineer today will be the Renovation Wave.