Op-ed: How to go faster and further on building renovation to sever ties with Russia (Euractiv)
Published by Euractiv on: 27 April 2022 | Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted the EU to start getting serious about its energy policy and cut its reliance on Russia. To do that, building renovation must be a priority in the EU’s REPowerEU Action Plan, due in May, writes Adrian Joyce.
Op-ed: Buildings Renovation: a European energy hero (FORESIGHT)
Published by FORESIGHT on: 27 April 2022 | The European Union wants to reduce reliance on Russian energy imports. For this to work, a pan-EU Taskforce with the sole purpose of improving energy efficiency in buildings must be established, says Adrian Joyce of Renovate Europe.
Giving a new home to the C4E Forum
Brussels, 27th of April 2022
It is a pleasure to announce that the Renovate Europe Campaign (REC) has given a new home to the C4E Forum (Central and Eastern European Energy Efficiency Forum).
Reducing the EU’s reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports has become an urgent energy security priority and most of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are at the frontline of this energy crisis. In this context, the C4E Forum will serve as a key platform that will support stakeholders in the region to boost energy renovation measures and cut energy waste in buildings.
The C4E Forum was first conceived between the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and Chance for Buildings (C4B), the REC national partner from Czechia. It is an event that takes place every two years in a country in the CEE region and, to date, it has been hosted in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. For each event, a local partner was identified to co-organise the C4E Forum supported by the ECF and C4B.
Since 2016, over the three occasions of the C4E Forum, it has proven to have a strong presence, credibility, and reputation in the CEE region. “It has provided a valuable platform where ministry officials, civil society, industry and all the energy efficiency community can exchange useful practical information, network in an informal setting and collaborate on energy efficiency initiatives,” commented Renée Bruel, European Climate Foundation. “What makes the C4E Forum unique is its focus on sharing best practices and practical examples, and fostering the creation of a vibrant energy efficient community in the CEE region,” said Ondřej Šrámek, Chance for Buildings.
“We are proud to bring the C4E Forum into the heart of Renovate Europe with its 49 EU and national partners. Giving a home to the C4E Forum is providing us with the opportunity to further build up and breath fresh life into this initiative,” said Adrian Joyce, Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign.
In this regard, Renovate Europe will identify synergies between the C4E Forum and the REC, and undertake communication and other actions between the main in-person events. By ensuring a continuous presence in-between the bi-annual events, the REC aims to maintain close engagement with the energy efficiency community, and raise the visibility and prominence of the C4E Forum.
In the coming weeks and months, the REC will announce the location of the next C4E Forum taking place in 2023 and provide information about further initiatives to engage with stakeholders from the CEE region.
You can follow the latest news on the activities of the C4E Forum by following its specific pages on Twitter and LinkedIn, and by visiting its website.
ENDS
REPowerEU: REC proposes immediate actions on energy renovation
The EU must rapidly reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and Europe’s leaky buildings are in the spotlight. With buildings accounting for the largest share of final energy consumption, at a high of 40% of energy demand, reducing the energy demand of the building stock in the EU has never been so important.
In this context, last March 8, the European Commission made public its communication “REPowerEU: Joint European action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy”.
So far, the communication misses the potential for energy savings in buildings. Demand-side measures are highly undervalued in favour of short-term supply driven actions which will lead to stranded assets and damage the overall EU Green Deal and Fit-for-55 ambition. This gap must be rectified by proposing concrete bold measures to stop energy waste in buildings in the REPowerEU Action Plan to be published in May.
For such reason the REC office has prepared a briefing the various opportunities that renovation offers to protect energy poor households and deliver real change to people’s lives by reducing energy demand and therefore citizen’s energy bills, while also keeping an eye on the longer-term objectives of lowering GHG emissions in line with EU Green Deal and climate neutrality goals.
More specifically we have come up with a set of immediate actions to stop energy waste in buildings needed for the REPowerEU Action Plan to be published in May:
- 1. Make Energy Efficiency an energy security priority
- Establish a Delivery Taskforce for Energy Savings
- Increase the ambition and fast-track key measures from the Fit-for-55 legislative package
- 2. Help Member States go faster and further on energy renovation with EU-level financial and technical support:
- Launch an Energy Savings Facility to accelerate MFF investment in renovation
- Front-load and maximise RRF investments on energy renovation to their full potential
- Open a specific DG REFORM Technical Support Call for energy renovation
- Ensure the new EU Fiscal Framework supports energy renovation
- Facilitate private sector mobilisation via higher Taxonomy Requirements for buildings
- 3. Ensure concerted action on Capacity & Delivery by launching an EU-level ‘Renovation Sector Compact’
- Map existing and potential capacity to address bottlenecks in the renovation market, workforce, and supply chains
- Help to modernise the construction sector and upskill its workforce by coordinating a 2022 Renovation Summer School
Read our full briefing here.
Launch of Renovate Bulgaria
On April the 1st during the Architectural Building Week 2022 in Sofia it was officially signed the memorandum for Renovate Bulgaria. The eight founding signatories were the following:
- Bulgarian association for construction insulation and waterproofing
- Center for energy efficiency “EnEffect”
- Bulgarian facility management association
- Bulgarian construction chamber
- Bulgarian association of architects and engineers consultants
- Bulgarian-Austrian consulting company
- Shelter for humanity foundation, part of Habitat for humanity international
- Municipal network for energy efficiency – EcoEnergy
From the REC office we are very pleased for such an event and we hope that establishing Renovate Bulgaria will help to achieve the main goal of REC to reduce the energy demand of the EU building stock by 80% by 2050 through legislation and ambitious renovation programmes.
Watch the entire ceremony (in Bulgarian) here.
Visit the new Renovate Bulgaria profile here.
One-Stop-Shops: Maximising their potential to accelerate energy renovation
21th March 2022 (11:30-12:50 CET)
The Renovate Europe Campaign hosted the webinar “One-Stop-Shops: Maximising their potential to accelerate energy renovation” on Monday 21 March 2022 (11:30-12:50 CET) via GoToWebinar.
In a context of rising energy prices and a spiralling climate crisis, reducing the energy demand of Europe’s leaky buildings is a priority. Technical assistance provided by One-Stop-Shops (OSS) has long been advocated as part of the solution to accelerating building energy renovation in the EU. Maximising their potential will be crucial if we are to boost the deep renovation of the EU building stock in order to increase our energy security and cut households’ energy bills.
One-stop-shops also have an important role to play in supporting the introduction of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in the Buildings Directive (EPBD) and in driving the take-up of renovation measures implemented through the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, Cohesion and other EU funding as well as public programmes.
In this webinar, the Hungarian, Irish, Latvian and Polish National Partners of the Renovate Europe Campaign together with a representative from the City of Warsaw presented their experience with one-stop-shops in their country. At the same time, Adrien Bullier from the Commission’s CINEA provided insight into why and how we need to upscale OSS with the aim of boosting the rate and depth of energy renovation in the EU.
Agenda
11:30 | Introduction and Moderation
Julie Kjestrup, Vice-Chair of the Renovate Europe Campaign
11:40 | Towards large-scale roll out of “integrated home renovation services” in Europe
Adrien Bullier, Senior Project Adviser, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA)
11:50 | Learnings from the RenoPont Energy Home Renovation Centres in Budapest
Zsuzsanna Koritár, Hungarian Energy Efficiency Institute (MEHI) (REC National Partner in Hungary)
12:00 | EUROPA Network: the establishment of the Latvian One-Stop-Shop
Eloise Stancioff, Ekubirojs (REC National Partner in Latvia)
12:10 | The Irish One-Stop-Shop experience through the Solutions4Renovation platform
Johanna Varghese, Irish Green Building Council (REC National Partner in Ireland)
12:20 | Challenges to boosting the renovation of single and multi-family homes in Poland: the role of One-Stop-Shops
– Justyna Glusman, Fala Renowacji (REC National Partner in Poland)
– Jacek Kisiel (Deputy Director, Air Protection and Climate Policy Department, City of Warsaw)
12:30 | Q&A with speakers
12:45 | Wrap-up
12:50 | End of the webinar