"Mobilising Private Financing for Affordable Building Renovation" - Event
“Mobilising Private Financing for Affordable Building Renovation”
Rue d’Arlon 63-67, 1040 Brussels, Belgium and online
May 4th 2026, 15:30 – 18:30 (CET)
The EU needs to renovate its buildings at scale but public funding alone will not be enough. Mobilising private capital will be essential to deliver the energy renovation of buildings and to expand affordable housing.
The European Commission and the European Investment Bank are advancing initiatives to address the housing crisis and improve housing affordability. This includes plans for a Pan-European Investment Platform for Affordable and Sustainable Housing and closer cooperation between EU institutions, financial actors and housing providers.
This event will explore how EU financial reforms can help create a stronger pipeline of renovation and housing investments that can attract private capital. It will also look at what is needed on the ground as financing tools alone are not enough. Scaling up renovation requires reliable data, clear standards and well-structured project pipelines.
The discussion will also feature insights from a new report by Climate Strategy & Partners. The report outlines ways to improve transparency, standardisation and alignment with the EU’s decarbonisation pathway across the real estate sector. It explores how a system-wide carbon data pipeline could link loan origination to investors and ensure consistent, verifiable information across the financial chain. The EU is currently reviewing its securitisation framework as part of efforts to strengthen its capital markets and attract long-term investment. If designed well, securitisation could help connect pools of renovation loans and housing finance with institutional investors. This could increase the availability of capital for banks and help expand financing for renovation and housing projects.
This event is co-organised by the Renovate Europe Campaign, Climate Strategy (CS) and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC).
EVENT DRAFT AGENDA:
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Registration and coffee |
| 15:30 – 15:35 | Welcome and introduction |
| Adrian Joyce, Director, Renovate Europe Campaign and Peter Sweatman, CEO of Climate Strategy | |
| 15:35 – 16:10 | Panel 1 – Scaling investment in energy renovation and affordable housing |
| Annachiara Torciano, Head of ESG, Slättö
Jaime Luque, director of the ESCP Institute of Real Estate Finance and Management and member of the European Commission’s Housing Advisory Board Hans Biemans, Managing Director of Sustainable Markets, ING Hans Vermeulen, Chief Executive Officer, Onesto Moderated by: Afroditi Psatha, Head of Operations and Projects, Renovate Europe Campaign 3-minute panel conclusions by Rémi Collombet, Secretary General, Efficient Buildings Europe |
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| 16:10 – 16:15 | Q&A |
| 16:15 – 16:35 | Keynote – EU securitisation reform: opportunities for sustainable housing and renovation finance |
| Joshua Brady, Securitisation Expert and Report’s Author | |
| 16:35 – 17:10 | Panel 2 – Better data to drive affordable and efficient mortgage securitisation |
| Marco Angheben, Head of Business Development and Regulatory Affairs, European DataWarehouse and ENGAGE Project Coordinator
Dr. Daniel Mahayni, Director Portfoliocontrolling Retail Mortgages/Home Loans/Real Estate Brokerage, Deutsche Bank Françoise Refabert, President, Filao Labs Moderated by: Piet Hein Schram, Co-founder and Spokesperson, Energy Efficient Mortgages NL |
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| 17:10 – 17:15 | Q&A |
| 17:15 – 17:30 | Final words and summary |
| Adrian Joyce, Director at the Renovate Europe Campaign and Peter Sweatman, CEO of Climate Strategy | |
| 17:30 – 18:30 | Networking and drinks |
| An opportunity to connect with speakers and attendees |
“Empowering Citizens to Renovate: Examples of One-Stop Shops” Webinar
“Empowering Citizens to Renovate: Examples of One-Stop Shops” Webinar
Microsoft Teams
April 22nd, 10:00 – 11:30 (CET)
Co-organised by Renovate Europe and its partner FEDARENE, this episode showcased concrete examples of one-stop shops from across the EU and examined the lessons they offer for accelerating renovation across different national and local contexts.
In the current context of geopolitical tensions, rising energy prices, and increasing climate challenges, accelerating the renovation of residential buildings has become more important than ever. Renovation is a key tool not only to reduce energy consumption and emissions, but also to improve living conditions for citizens and strengthen Europe’s energy security.
Despite the growing policy focus and the availability of financial and regulatory instruments to support renovation, many citizens still face significant barriers when trying to improve their homes. Navigating technical solutions, financing options, and administrative procedures can be complex if citizens are not guided and supported.
In this context, one-stop shops are an essential service to bridge the gap between citizens and the financial, technical, and policy instruments that already exist. By providing integrated guidance and support, they can make renovation simpler, more accessible, and more effective.
Through practical case studies from France, Slovenia, Italy, Bulgaria and regional initiatives, speakers shared insights on financing solutions, service models, and implementation strategies. The webinar also provided guidance on setting up and managing one-stop shops, followed by interactive Q&A sessions, offering valuable lessons for accelerating renovation efforts in diverse national and local contexts.
Agenda
Introduction
Adrian Joyce, Campaign Director, Renovate Europe Campaign
Guidelines on setting up and managing one-stop shops
Adrien Bullier, Senior Project Advisor on Energy Efficiency Finance, CINEA
Q&A
From Concept to Practice: One-Stop Shop Renovation Models across Europe
- Regional one-stop shops in action
Mariangela Luceri, Project Manager, FEDARENE - Home renovation services and third-party financing in France
Sébastien Descours, co-fondateur of FIDEO – Banque de la Rénovation, project ORFEE - Renov-AID one-stop shop experience in Slovenia
Ana Tisov, field expert in building environment, IRI UL (University of Ljubljana), Slovenia - The Renoss model in Italy
Marco Costa, Agency for Energy and Sustainable Development (AESS), Italy - SHEERenov+ one-stop shop project in Bulgaria
Tzveta Naniova, Executive Director of BACC JSC, Renovate Bulgaria
Q&A and Conclusions
Private Financing for Energy Renovation - Event
2025 a Key Year for Europe
“Synchronising EU policies and innovative energy efficiency finance is a unique opportunity for Europe to materialise its climate goals and to tackle energy poverty.”
Schuman roundabout 6, 1040 Brussels, Belgium / hybrid event
May 19th 2025, 10:00 – 12:00 (CET)
2025 is a key year for Europe to decarbonise its buildings in order to become energy independent, meet its decarbonisation objectives and to tackle energy poverty. On May 20th, the EC will relaunch the Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition (EEFC), tasked with supporting Member States to implement them at a national level, and is developing an Affordable Housing Plan. These will provide a new framework for financial institutions and investors to deploy capital alongside a transition to net-zero for real estate and buildings in Europe.
In this event, the Renovate Europe Campaign, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), and Climate Strategy (CS) will discuss the current state of play of energy efficiency finance for real estate in light of the latest EU regulatory developments, and the findings of the latest CS report on how to fill the EU climate investment gap more efficiently.
There is momentum to synchronise the EU policies with innovative private energy efficiency finance to materialise its climate goals and to tackle energy poverty.
This event will bring together EU policy makers and financing and building stakeholders to address how private financing can boost energy renovation and how to facilitate the financing of the just decarbonisation of European buildings!
EVENT AGENDA:
| 9:30 – 10:00 | Registration and coffee |
| 10:00 – 10:05 | Welcome and introduction |
| Rémi Collombet, Renovate Europe Campaign | |
| 10:05 – 10:45 | Panel 1 – EU Directives, intersecting indicators for real estate assets, and the response of financial institutions |
| Dominic Keyzer, Senior Consultant, Global Sustainability, ING
Murray Birt, Senior ESG Strategist, DWS Laurent Lavergne, Global Head of Sustainability, AXA Moderated by: Marion Santini, Team Lead at The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) |
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| 10:45 – 10:55 | Q&A |
| 10:55 – 11:05 | Keynote – “Offering the EU Renovation Loan (ERL) as a service for Member States” |
| Peter Sweatman, CEO, Climate Strategy & Partners | |
| 11:05 – 11:45 | Panel 2 – The European Affordable Housing Plan and the enabling role of financial institutions |
| Ralf Goldmann, Head of Division, Energy Efficiency & Energy Advisory, EIB
Zofia Wetmańska, Co-founder of the Reform Insitute and Taxonomy Manager at the Climate Bonds Initiative Stella Kaltsouni, Member of Commissioner Jorgensen Cabinet Ines Scacchi, Head of Regulatory Affairs, the European Savings and Retail Banking Group Moderated by: Adrian Hiel, Head of Campaigns and Media, Energy Cities |
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| 11:45 – 11:55 | Q&A |
| 11:55 – 12:00 | Final words and summary |
| Hugh Garnett, Senior Specialist — Real Assets, IIGCC |
Engaging Retail Lenders in Home Renovations
Join us online or in-person in Brussels at Rondpoint Robert Schuman 6!
Europe is in a race to achieve independence from foreign energy sources, alleviate its citizens from rising energy prices, and to meet its ambitious climate targets. Consuming 42% of energy and being responsible for over one third of energy-related GHG emissions, the decarbonisation of the buildings in the EU is essential to achieve this.
How can we identify which buildings to renovate? How can we provide access to low cost, long-term financing for deep renovations across Europe?
Having business relationships with more than 25 million EU customers, mortgage lenders are the single most connected stakeholder group to Europe’s buildings. As of 2022, mortgages accounted for about 80% of the lending to households. Evidently, the mortgage is the most appropriate and widely used financing tool to provide homeowners investment capital and the opportunity simultaneously to upgrade their buildings to make them resilient against energy shocks, more affordable to run and more comfortable and healthy to live in.
In this event, the Renovate Europe Campaign and Climate Strategy (CS) will present the current state of EU buildings’ renovation efforts and the findings of the latest CS report “Engaging Retail Lenders in Home Renovation”, calling for EU mortgage lenders to play a more proactive role in unlocking the trillions of home equity stored in the buildings owned by their clients through the voluntary uptake of the innovative instrument Mortgage Portfolio Standards (MPS). EU policymakers, buildings experts and finance sector stakeholders will then exchange views on these subjects.
There is growing momentum for Mortgage Portfolio Standards as over a third of the top-30 banks in Europe already have in place a form of voluntary MPS, or equivalent. We look forward to a lively discussion on its potential, design and place within Europe’s decarbonisation efforts. Included in the final version of the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD) adopted by the EU Parliament in March 12th of this year, Mortgage Portfolio Standards were defined as:
“Mechanisms incentivising mortgage lenders to establish a path to increase the median energy performance of the portfolio of buildings covered by their mortgages towards 2030 and 2050, and to encourage potential clients to make their property more energy-performant along the Union’s decarbonisation ambition and relevant energy targets in the area of energy consumption in buildings, relying on the definition of sustainable economic activities in the EU Taxonomy.”
Agenda
9:30 AM – 9:40 AM Welcome and Introduction
Adrian Joyce, Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign
9:40 AM – 9:45 AM Ministerial Perspectives on EPBD transposition – Short video
Petr Hladík, Minister of the Environment of Czechia
9:45 AM – 10:10 AM Keynote “The Role of Retail Lenders in Buildings Renovation” and Q&A
Peter Sweatman, CEO Climate Strategy & Partners
10:10 AM – 11:15 AM Panel 1 “Frameworks and financial mechanisms to renovate buildings” and Q&A
Moderated by Sean Carroll, Cities & Buildings Editor, FORESIGHT
- Carlos Sanchez Rivero, DG ENER
- Madeline Schneider, PCAF
- Céline Carré, Saint-Gobain
- Murray Birt, DWS
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM Coffee Break
11:30 AM – 12:45 PM Panel 2 “Climate Risks and Mortgage Portfolios”
Moderated by Vanesa Osuna, Secretariat, Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA)
- Ali Erbilgiç, European Banking Authority
- Dominic Keyzer, ING
- Imène Ben Rejeb-Mzah, BNP Paribas
- Tobias Horn, Deutsche Bank
12:35 PM – 12:45 PM Analysis and key takeaways of Panels 1 and 2
Peter Sweatman, CEO Climate Strategy & Partners
12:50 PM – 1:00 PM Concluding remarks
Adrian Joyce, Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign
A New Era for the European Renovation Wave: Sharing Perspectives
We are excited to join C40 Cities, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), and the Covenant of Mayors Europe in organising this event, A New Era for the European Renovation Wave: Sharing Perspectives, on the 20th of March in Brussels.
Building renovations are key to improving energy efficiency and energy security, lowering energy bills, creating local green jobs, and improving quality of life. Cities play a key role in delivering the benefits of fossil-free and energy-efficient buildings.
Ahead of the European elections, this event will bring together mayors, deputy mayors, business associations, EU policy makers and key stakeholders to take stock of the progress so far and discuss challenges and opportunities for the future regarding building renovations, following also the update of the European climate and energy legislation.
Agenda
13.30 – 14.00 Registration and coffee
14.00 – 14.10 Welcoming remarks
Benjamin Jance, Head of Research and Innovation at Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM)
14.10 – 14.25 Opening remarks by a keynote speaker
Brian Motherway, Head of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions, IEA (online)
14.25 – 15.20 What comes next for building renovations in Europe and the role of the cities
Moderator: Marnie McGregor, GCoM
- Nina Neumann, Team leader, Legislative Development and Enforcement, DG ENER, European Commission
- Peter Dermol, Mayor of Velenje, Slovenia
- Ralf Goldmann, Head of Division, Energy Efficiency and Energy Advisory, European Investment Bank
15.20 – 15.45 COFFEE BREAK
15.45 – 16.45 Enhancing cooperation between cities and stakeholders to boost local action on buildings
Moderator: Oliver Rapf, Executive Director, Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE)
- Andrea Tobia Zevi, Deputy Mayor of Rome for Heritage and Housing, Italy
- Britt Berghs, project coordinator ‘Linkeroever (Left Bank)’ Climate Neutral 2030 for the city of Antwerp, Belgium
- Julien Dijol, Director of Policy, Housing Europe
- Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO Solar Power Europe
- David Ducarme, COO and Deputy CEO Knauf Insulation, Partner of the Renovate Europe Campaign
16.45 – 17.00 Concluding remarks
Adrian Joyce, Renovate Europe Campaign
17.00 Cocktail reception
Renovate Europe Day 2023 in Madrid, Spain
Mark your calendar and join us on the 3rd of October in Madrid where the Renovate Europe Day conference will take place this year.
This high-level conference will be the moment to take stock of progress in the Spanish context, take inspiration from good examples on the ground and better understand why an ambitious Buildings Directive is crucial for energy security, climate action, citizens and the industrial competitiveness of Europe.
- Date: Tuesday 3rd October 2023
- Location: Commission Representation in Madrid (Paseo de la Castellana, 46)
- Co-organisers: Renovate España (Green Building Council España GBCe, Confederación Nacional de la Construcción CNC), Ecodes and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe
- Translation: English/ Spanish translation will be provided throughout