REC Newsletter – December 2021
Welcome to the Renovate Europe Campaign’s newsletter which looks back on a quite busy year! Highlights include the publication of the Renovate2Recover Study, which was undertaken by E3G with input from the Campaign’s National Partners. In addition, we celebrated this year the 10th anniversary of the Campaign during a social event together with friends and colleagues and organised on the same day the Renovate Europe Day 2021. REDay2021 was supported by 4 National Partner Events and one EU Supporting Partner Event. We have also issued a letter to the EU Energy…
Better data needed to manage our buildings
Originally published on EURACTIV on Monday 6th December 2021. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) have immense, as-yet untapped potential to help Europe decarbonise. But the methodology that underpins them must be revamped first, argues Adrian Joyce, who is calling for reform as part of the upcoming revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Adrian Joyce is the director of the Renovate Europe Campaign. The European Green Deal has achievable, necessary goals that aim to curb greenhouse gases, boost the number of green jobs and preserve…
A piecemeal approach on energy standards for buildings won’t work
Originally published on EURACTIV on Thursday 25th November 2021. Decarbonising Europe’s building stock requires robust Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), not a piecemeal approach that fails to regulate buildings that are ripe for renovation projects, writes Adrian Joyce. Adrian Joyce is director of the Renovate Europe Campaign. The European Union has an immense superpower that its officials sometimes forget to use: industries, sectors, and stakeholders more often than not respond effectively to the issued regulations, rules, and directives.…
No more time for half-measures on renovation
Originally published on EURACTIV on Wednesday 10th November 2021. In times of climate crisis, it is no longer acceptable that our buildings swallow up so much of the limited energy resources and leave our citizens so vulnerable to energy price hikes, writes Adrian Joyce. Adrian Joyce is director of the Renovate Europe Campaign. Building renovations can slash greenhouse gas emissions and massively improve human health. But if renovations are cosmetic fixes only, we risk undermining climate policies at a time when we really cannot afford to. A ‘deep renovation’…
Open Letter to EU Energy Ministers on ‘Energy Price Rises: Renovate Buildings to Protect Consumers’
Open Letter to Energy Ministers of the EU Member States Subject: Energy Price Rises: Renovate Buildings to Protect Consumers Dear Minister, In the context of your meeting on the 26th of October, you will be debating the “toolbox” of measures tabled by the European Commission to address the rising energy prices. We call on you to prioritise building energy renovation to protect consumers. The increased price per unit puts the spotlight once again on our vulnerability to high rates, and costs, of energy imports. In 2015, the EU imported 53% of…
Europe fails to act on energy waste in Recovery and Resilience Plans
Press Release on Study Launch:Renovate2Recover: How Transformational are the National Recovery Plans for Buildings Renovation?A major Study by E3G for the Renovate Europe Campaign (REC) analysed the share devoted to energy renovation of the building stock in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs), showing that ambition remains low and that Member States lack foresight for planning beyond 2026. In a moment when increasing energy efficiency is made more urgent than ever because of skyrocketing energy prices, the Plans represent a huge, missed…