Op-ed: What will it take to start – and sustain – a renovation wave?

By Susanne Dyrbøl, EuroACE Board Member and Vice-Chair of the Renovate Europe Campaign. First published in FORESIGHT.

With the European Commission planning to announce details of a building “renovation wave” in autumn 2020, what should the EU executive consider to make its vision reality? A bottom-up approach to renovation will not be enough to meet climate action targets; it needs to be matched with state-level initiatives.

Data from the European Commission show that the greatest need for investment in energy renovation is, by far, in the residential sector. With EU-wide deep energy renovation estimated to cost €300 billion a year for the next 30 years, the question of how to finance it quickly, and with the biggest possible impact, comes to the fore.

Strong policy sets the stage, and strategic financing will play the leading role: from the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund at regional and local level, to the European Investment Bank’s new Energy Lending Policy, which recognises that energy efficiency investment in residential buildings needs to double by 2030.