Europe is a global leader in sustainability legislation and initiatives, and commercial buildings play an essential role in meeting ambitious targets set for 2020.
Western European countries are exhibiting significant commitment to energy- and emissions-related goals, including through legislation such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which play a leading role in helping the EU to realize deeper building efficiency while retaining gains. Meanwhile, energy efficiency priorities in Eastern Europe often lie in the more unreliable and inefficient energy infrastructure versus in buildings. However, interest in developing more robust mechanisms to facilitate building efficiency in the region is building.
A new report from Navigant Research states that advancements in intelligent building technologies are evolving toward an integrated ecosystem of components and sensors that work together as a platform for optimizing facility operations. Making use of these advancements will be key for Europe to maintain efficiencies already gained, while discovering deeper efficiencies necessary to meet lofty future goals.
Energy Efficiency in Europe
“Europe has been a global leader in sustainability legislation and initiatives, with commercial buildings playing an essential role in meeting ambitious targets set for 2020,” says Tom Machinchick, principal research analyst at Navigant Research. “Intelligent digital building technologies will be necessary for Europe to continue toward its long-term goals of significantly increasing efficiency while reducing overall carbon emissions. A certain level of efficiency can be attained with relative ease, but as future efficiency targets get deeper, so must the building efficiency projects and the technologies that support those efforts.”
Western European countries have exhibited significant commitment to energy- and emissions-related goals, including through legislation such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which will play a leading role in helping the EU to realize deeper building efficiency while retaining gains. Meanwhile, energy efficiency priorities in Eastern Europe often lie in the more unreliable and inefficient energy infrastructure versus in buildings, yet interest in developing more robust mechanisms to facilitate building efficiency in the region is building.
The report, “Market Data: Energy Efficient Buildings — Europe,” states that spending on energy efficient building technologies will near $112 billion by 2026.
The report comes on the heels of the European Parliament’s Industry and Energy Committee agreeing on October 11 to new measures that ensure all new buildings in the EU are as energy-efficient as possible by 2050.
According to neweurope.eu, the members propose introducing energy reduction benchmarks for 2030 and 2040, as well as measurable progress indicators, to evaluate how new buildings contribute to the EU’s overall energy-efficiency goals.
Buildings consume the majority of energy in Europe, absorbing 40% of final energy. About 75% of buildings are energy-inefficient and, depending on the Member State, only 0.4-1.2% of them are renovated each year.