This week, on 23 May, EBC was invited to a policy lunch on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) organised by Vonovia, one of Europe’s largest private housing companies, with MEP Seán Kelly, EPP shadow rapporteur for the EPBD, Stefan Moser, Head of Unit Buildings and Products at DG Energy, Nina Neumann, Team leader at DG Energy, and the Bavaria representation to the EU, among others.
Gathering together policymakers and stakeholders from business, academia and civil society, the meeting focused mostly on the potential of the neighbourhood approach for an energy-efficient renovation of existing buildings, with a consideration for affordable housing. Particularly the potential benefits of central coordination of energy use in renovation strategies and the modernization of buildings, two objectives stated in the EPBD.
The relevance of the neighbourhood approach was underlined by Jan Üblacker, Professor of Neighbourhood Development at the EBZ Business School Bochum, who share a perspective whereby innovative neighbourhood approaches could act as potential ways to create synergies for the renovation of buildings and the upgrade of infrastructures, a most efficient use of resources and more energy-efficient buildings, fight against energy poverty, and help legislators build compromises.
With the EPBD trilogues soon beginning, the discussions on the introduction and implementation of future energy performance standards for buildings in the EU intensifies. Crucial exchanges on how to achieve the ambitious energy performance targets foreseen in the EPBD are taking place at all levels, with EBC making for a pivotal interlocutor in the context of the current legislative process and the ongoing debate on decarbonising the building sector.
To read the latest EBC press release on the revision of the EPBD, click here.
