The anti-stress formula: building renovation

On 16 October 2014, the European Commission published the results of the gas supply “stress tests”: a prolonged supply disruption would mean that many Member States would miss at least 60% of the gas they need, and “even private households could be left out in the cold”.

Eurima, Glass for Europe, EuroACE, PU Europe and the Renovate Europe Campaign regretted that the Commission’s recommendations were not accompanied by structural solutions, including the most important part of the EU’s energy infrastructure: its buildings, which according to the IEA hold 80% of untapped energy savings potential.

“Recent research has shown that 61% of EU’s gas imports are destined to our (largely inefficient) buildings. Ambitious building renovation policies would cut imports for the sector by almost two thirds in only 15 years, and reduce it to zero by 2050,” said Oliver Loebel, Secretary General of PU Europe.