BPIE - Buildings Performance Institute Europe

📢NEW! Building Prosperity: 10 Policy priorities to achieve growth and social value through *Resilient*, *Healthy* and *Affordable* Zero-Emission Buildings. 🔗 https://loom.ly/QumVsXs In this think piece, we present *10 policy priorities* that we strongly encourage the new European Commission to build into its strategic work plan. The new policy cycle at the end of 2024 is a pivotal opportunity to ask ourselves: - Are we taking the right approach towards decarbonising the built environment? - Are we making the link between buildings and EU prosperity, resilience, and equity? - And are we effectively harnessing the abundance of opportunities that renovating buildings offers – for our societies, our security, and our environment? That fact is that better buildings can be the answer to so many of the challenges we are facing today, and can help us achieve our common goals. We just need the right strategic approach. 📌 Our 10 Policy Priorities: 1. Successful implementation of the EPBD – design policy with impact and goals. 2. Boost Europe's industrial competitiveness and innovation with sustainable construction. 3. Optimise the institutional setup to further improve coordination and better grasp new challenges and opportunities. 4. Accelerate financial flows towards future-proof buildings. 5. Improve data availability, transparency, and quality through digitalisation. 6. Enhance energy security and resilience by combining energy efficiency and renewables in a smart energy system. 7. Future-proof clean, circular, sustainable buildings and construction sector. 8. Design policies with and for people to strengthen Europe’s social fabric. 9. Confront reality: adapt the built environment to be climate-resilient. 10. Elevate the EU’s experience into a “green buildings diplomacy” for enhanced energy security. We encourage all of those in our community to read this short paper, to discuss and share it with your colleagues and within your networks! #EUGreenDeal #Buildings #Resilience #ClimateAdaptation #Circularity #Sustainability #EnergyEfficiency

We stand with Cool Heating Coalition and have signed their open letter calling for the Commission to prioritise a speedy decarbonisation of heating and cooling. Research shows Member States are not on track with this vital transition ❗ 🌍 🌡 Read the letter: 🔗https://shorturl.at/t6l32 Time for a #CoolHeatingRevolution #OpenLetter #EU #getbackontrack Ursula von der Leyen Maroš Šefčovič Thierry Breton

🌍 Check out the ComActivate Project’s work with One stop shops on Building Sufficiency 🏠 If you’re interested in #renovation, #retrofit, and transforming our #builtenvironment for the energy transition, check out the Comactivate project - aiming to make a difference to communities not just in Central and Eastern Europe, but to produce valuable lessons for the energy transition in multi-family buildings by leveraging a #sufficiency approach. 🏗 Targeted initiatives in pilot municipalities are addressing energy poverty and climate change. Our recent interview, BPIE talks to the Lithuanian Consumer Alliance about their aspirations for the ComActivate project. 🔗 Interview: https://lnkd.in/dN_6vu8h 💬 Interview Highlights: In Kaišiadorys, multi-family buildings from the 1970s-1980s face multiple challenges: deteriorating structures, leaky windows, outdated and sometimes dangerous heating and electrical systems. Renovation efforts are now underway, with 19 houses renovated and 7 in progress. Next Steps include: - Continuation of project activities in pilot municipalities. - Supporting the resource centre. - Utilizing project results to benefit local and national decision-makers. #EnergyPoverty #OneStopShop #Sufficiency #ComActivate #multifamilyapartmentbuildings Connect with ComActivate Project to hear more about current research and actions and how you can get involved!

Last week's workshop in Berlin, organized by BPIE’s Sibyl Steuwer and Lisa Graaf, in collaboration with Schwäbisch Hall Stiftung covered exciting new ground on databases for the energy performance of buildings, kicking off a new project. 🚀🏢💡 The focus group tackled critical questions on implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: Article 22 - “Databases for the energy performance of buildings” in Germany. 🏠🔋 Several questions remain: How can we align building data requirements with the EU taxonomy, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and other regulations? How do we integrate these elements to meet diverse user needs? It was a productive session with stakeholders inter alia from the finance and real estate sectors. We're eager for more fruitful discussions ahead! 🔍🍓 #SchwäbischHallStiftung #EnergyEfficiency #RealEstate #Finance #EPBD #Berlin #Taxonomy #CSRD #BuildingData #Collaboration #Stakeholders #Workshop

The health of a building has a far bigger impact on human health than most of us realize. 🗨️ Pawel Wargocki: ‘70% our lives we spend in homes. 90% of our lives we spend in buildings. This is where most of the exposures occur that can affect our health.’ Check out the report here 🔗 https://loom.ly/PehDzHo #HealthyBuildingsBarometer #HealthyBuildings #EPBD

Das Bundesumweltministerium Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) hat einen Entwurf zur nationalen Kreislaufwirtschaftsstrategie (NKWS) vorgelegt.  Das Kapitel zum Bauen überzeugt mit seinem starken Fokus auf den Bestand - hier kommen Klima-, Ressourcenschutz und Soziales zusammen! 🌍 Wir haben einige Vorschläge in unserer Stellungnahme ergänzt: - Bestehende Suffizienzmaßnahmen unterstützen (finanziell und durch Vernetzung), Potenziale besser erforschen und Hemmnisse abbauen.   - Gebäude- und Wohnungsregister: richtig, die Datenlage über den Bestand sowie Leerstand muss verbessert werden; wichtig ist die Einrichtung eines solchen Registers mit anderen Initiativen (siehe EPBD, Art. 22) zusammen zu denken und Schnittstellen zu schaffen. - Ökobilanzierung für Neubauten rechtlich verankern, um Klimaschutz und zirkuläre Geschäftsmodelle zu fördern (wie in FR und DK). - Potenziale der erweiterten Herstellerverantwortung im Baubereich weiter erforschen und nutzen. Unsere ausführliche Stellungnahme gibt es hier (auf Deutsch) 📄👉: https://lnkd.in/etn5cgeZ Angelika Smuda Sibyl Steuwer Lisa Graaf

Our Berlin Office was glad to participate in the discussions and are happy to see an alliance of German stakeholders demand progressive WLC requirements!  The demands are:  📃 Mandatory disclosure for WLC assessment in the Building Energy Act (GEG) for new buildings and major renovations from 2026 (including socially staggered funding for low-income owners of single family homes or small Multi-family homes)  🏤 Role model for the public sector: WLC limit values for all new public buildings from March 2025  🌱 Initiation of a structured and comprehensive stakeholder process to develop the reduction roadmap introducing limit values for new buildings required by the EPBD (Article 7). ✨Go Germany! you had long been a pioneer in life cycle considerations, other frontrunner countries use your database – it’s time to take the next step!

The COVID crisis has brought out the importance of #health overall. And healthy buildings are crucial for people! 🗨️ Delia Villagrasa Villagrassa of the Cool Heating Coalition: 'If your building isn’t well, you within that building can’t be well either. Having buildings which ensure that people are comfortable is absolutely key for us, for our children, but also where we work.’ Read the Healthy Buildings Barometer here🔗 https://loom.ly/PehDzHo #HealthyBuildingsBarometer #HealthyBuildings #EPBD

🏘️Encouraging new dynamics of serial renovation in Germany! Our new report in collaboration with Agora Energiewende and ifok GmbH highlights the latest developments in serial renovation in Germany. While we see a lot of progress due to increasing interest of the construction sector in Germany and favourable financing conditions for residential buildings, there is still some work to be done. Key areas for action include: 🔑Continued reduction of legal barriers 🏗️Facilitation of extensions in combination with serial renovation 🚚Changing procurement procedures 🏢Extending support for serial renovation to non-residential buildings Download the full report (in German) here: https://lnkd.in/dH9ZmWua

📢 Have you heard? syn_ikiaEU has launched the groundbreaking hashtag #MBxTool, proudly developed by BPIE's very own Dr. Sheikh Zuhaib and Victoria Taranu. Check it out here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eJ6vFsCr ❓ Why the MBx is revolutionary: The MBx tool is a first of its kind – it helps policymakers and investors *quantify* and actually *monetize* the social welfare, micro-economic, and environmental benefits of projects, particularly focusing on the Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhood hashtag #SPEN approach. 🔍 What does the MBx tool do? Using the Social Cost-Benefits Analysis method, the MBx tool enables policymakers and investors to compare the benefit-cost ratio and return on investment of positive energy neighbourhoods against traditional methods. This can help identify hashtag #ESG investment opportunities and future proof real estate assets. 🏘️ What are Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPENs)? SPENs are designed to decarbonize the building stock while enhancing hashtag #wellbeing and community at both building and neighbourhood levels. They offer shared spaces, services, and facilities such as hashtag #heatpumps, hashtag #solarpv, hashtag #EV charging stations, bicycles, and green common areas, aiming for high hashtag #energyefficiency and a positive energy balance. 🌿 Why invest in Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods? Although SPENs require higher initial investments compared to business-as-usual projects, they offer significant social, economic, and environmental benefits: ✅ Societal: Reduced GHG emissions, lower mortality and morbidity rates, improved public and cycling infrastructure. ✅ Individual: Enhanced indoor environmental quality (IEQ), leading to better health and productivity. 🔧 The MBx tool is totally free to use and offers: 1️⃣ Consistent cost-benefit analysis across public and private sectors. 2️⃣ Long-term and broad view of societal impacts, costs, and benefits. 3️⃣ Rigorous assessment by monetizing and discounting impacts. 4️⃣ Transparency in assumptions and evidence base. The MBx tool aids in making informed decisions by combining its results with unmonetized impacts, evidence, and assumptions to provide comprehensive value for money advice, considering strategic alignment, financial constraints, and implementation risks. Bravo to our very own Dr. Sheikh Zuhaib for leading this enormous achievement, together with Victoria Taranu! IREC - Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya | ABUD - Advanced Building & Urban Design | Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)| SINTEF Energy Research | oPEN Lab