Discussione:3. Overview of the Starting Point of the Proposed Action
Current situation in the target countries/regions
Residential & commercial buildings account for 40 % of EU’s final energy use. The energy consumption is mostly in buildings where energy is predominantly used for buildings' space and water heating, cooling and cooking (i.e. 78% of total needs for service sector and 88% for residential in 2007). The rest of the energy consumption is to be attributed to the use of electric appliances and lighting.
Substantial progress has been achieved in these sectors bymoving forward with the implementation of key legislation, notably the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Services Directive (ESD). The Commission supported this process by creating Concerted Actions, BUILD UP initative and other fora (e.g. Bucharest Forum) helping Member States with their national implementation.
With the New Buildings Directive (recast EPBD)(2010) the EU suggested an holistic approach as regards energy use in new and existing buildings. All new buildings in the EU by 31 December 2020 will have to be nearly zero energy buildings (before that: cost optimal requirements) but public authorities have to be nearly zero by 31 December 2018. For existing buildings member state shall take measures towards nearly zero energy buildings.
Nevertheless the business-as-usual scenario projects that the final energy use in the residential sector will increase with 4.4% over 2008-2020 period and in the tertiary sector with 1%. The potential for cost-effective energy savings for the two sectors is currently estimated at 21%. Some of it (or 13.4%) will possibly be realized with the current policies but still the two sectors offer the biggest savings potential from the final energy sectors. In addition, most of energy efficiency and savings technologies are cost-effective and on the market but further innovation is still possible. Therefore, is an obvious first step for reaching the EU’s energy but also climate policy objectives. (European Commission, Commission staff working document Impact assessment, Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 , Brussels, 8.3.2011, SEC(2011) 277 final)
The EU Buildings sector is key to reach 20/20/20 targets and it is the sector where progress towards sustainability is cheapest to reach.
Energy efficiency strategies can reduce a building’s energy consumption by 50% to 70% and renewable energy technologies must be used to reach the goal of a net-zero energy building.
Figures set that annual construction rate of new buildings is in the order of 1 % of the building stock, demolition rate 0,5 %, and retrofit 1,8 % . Business as usual won’t be good enough to reach the EU’s climate & energy targets. The EU is not on track to fully realize these cost-effective energy savings.
A combined approach on both the demand and the supply side is needed on the road to “Nearly-zero energy buildings” that integrated different approaches (from legislation to technical solution to qualification of workforce to public awareness) (Christine Lins Secretary General of EREC, Key-note perspectives & the Intelligent Energy – European experience,IEE European Info Day Brussels, 18th January 2011)
Many innovative solutions are directed towards new buildings but only a few are optimised for the existing stock. Moreover, buildings, especially residential buildings, are never considered as a whole. Therefore, there are a lot of components (windows, insulation ma- terials, boilers, lighting, etc.) which are installed, serviced and maintained by different companies without a holistic approach to the overall building operation. The result is a lack of energy efficiency and in some cases functionality once the buildings are refurbished. R&D has to propose integrated solutions taking into account the various constraints of existing buildings. It is assumed that the developments of many innovative solutions (systems composed of insulation and thermal storage materials, renewables, etc.) are relevant for the countries all over Europe. (European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, Industrial Technologies Unit G2 'New generation of products', Energy-efficient buildings PPP Multi-annual roadmap and longer term strategy, Luxembourg, Publication Office of European Union, 2010)
Buildings have a long technical lifetime on the order of 100 years. Also, buildings in general have a 40 year renovation cycle, i.e. buildings on average are refurbished every 40 years. Energy refurbishment cycles on the other hand are much lower at present with around 1.4% of all buildings energetically refurbished every year. This means that it takes around 70 years to improve the energy consumption of all buildings. In order to achieve our long-term climate protection goals, this is much too slow. Building efficiency expert Paul Waide explains in his detailed contribution in the Annex: “If only 1.4% of the building stock is renovated each year and the efficiency improvements from each renovation are modest the building stock would use 86% of the 2010 energy use by 2050. If the renovation rate is increased to 3% the consumption in 2050 would be 62% of 2010 levels but would be rising again. However, if the renovation rate is increased to 3% per annum and current best practice renovation is applied the building stock would consume just 28% of the 2010 level. Were such a rate and depth of renovation to be coupled with a modest decarbonisation of the energy supply the overall emissions associated with the building sector would be reduced by over 80%. Thus the policy message is clear: the rate and depth of energy performance renovations of existing buildings is the largest single factor which will determine whether the EU reaches, or misses, its 2050 climate targets.” Refurbishment of existing buildings needs to be in the central focus of political action as on the one hand the requirements set in the EPBD for new construction are sufficiently strict, and as on the other hand existing buildings represent by far the largest share of the energy savings potential. In this regard, innovative solutions proposed by ESCOs such as the comprehensive refurbishment of buildings through an Energy Performance Contract or Integrated Energy Contracting appear to be effective and very cost efficient. (Directorate general for Internal policies Policy department A: Economic and scientific policy industry, research and energy, EU Energy Efficiency Policy – Achievements and Outlook, Brussels, European Parliament, 2010.)
In Europe by far the majority of energy used in buildings is consumed in the existing building stock. New buildings represent, on average, an annual increase of just 1% of the building stock and that the renovation cycle for existing buildings is not less than 25 years. Both new and existing buildings of all sizes. Existing buildings are critical for Europe if it is to achieve the ambitious target of reducing CO 2 emissions by 60–80% in 2050 compared to 1990 levels (source: OPEN LETTER TO THE 27 EU ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS, Brussels, 02 November 2009, Architects' Council of Europe (ACE), COGEN Europe, European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EuroAce), European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE), European Insulation Manufacturers Association (Eurima), International Union of Tenants (IUT) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS))
Link to relevant actions beyond the target countries/regions
There are a lot of interesting previous and ongoing initiatives at European level that are relevant for RINNOVATE proposal. However, an in-depht search of IEE database projects and documents, revealed that the renovation issue is mainly referring to promote and facilitate the use of new models of cooperation, inspired by integrated design, for the energy renovation of social housing (RESHAPE, EISAV/EIE/05/045/2005, SHELTER, IEE/09/707/SI2.558240), to promote renovation through quality supply chains and energy performance certification standards (REQUEST, IEE/09/870/SI2.558308) or related to Energy Saving Contracting project (EUROCONTRACT, EIE/04/211/S07.38673) and Performance contracting (FRESH) IEE/08/668/SI2.528421 ). Some projects are mainly oriented to training on renewable energy solutions and energy efficiency in retrofitting (REE_TROFIT, IEE/09/886/SI2.558310) or to provide information about good examples of energy efficient buildings in use, in order to reduce prejudices and lack of knowledge of many key actors of the building market (EULEB,: EIE-2003-172 EULEB) Other interesting initiatives are in general more concerned to provide both the knowledge and the necessary tools for the efficient management of buildings (ENERBUILDING, EISAS/EIE/06/196/2006 ) or for energy saving (POWER HOUSE EUROPE, IEE/07/779/SI2.500397) both in new and renovated buildings or focused on applying the EPBD to improve the energy performance requirements to existining buildings (ENPER EXIST, EISAV/EIE/04/096/2004)
