EU Aims for Minimum Energy Performance Standards for Buildings, Focus Shifts to Construction Materials' Environmental Impact
Buildings constitute approximately 40% of the EU's energy consumption and 36% of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In an effort to address this significant environmental impact, the EU is targeting the implementation of minimum energy performance standards for all buildings by 2035. This objective is part of the forthcoming revision to the EU's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), scheduled for release on 14 December. However, limited progress has been made in mitigating the environmental footprint of construction materials utilized in the building sector.
The #BuildingLife project, a coalition of stakeholders from the building industry, is advocating for a "Whole Life Carbon" (WLC) approach that tackles building emissions across the entire supply chain, including the construction and demolition sectors. The coalition highlights that embodied carbon accounts for 10-20% of the total emissions associated with buildings in the EU. However, it emphasizes the lack of consistent EU-level data to measure progress effectively. The European Commission (EC) has taken a cautious regulatory stance by prioritizing standardized measurements before considering the introduction of environmental targets at the EU level. A preliminary report released in conjunction with the EPBD underscores the challenges involved in addressing emissions from buildings over their entire lifecycle, including the production and transportation of materials, construction, refurbishment, and end-of-life considerations.
