The European building stock and energy system are at the initial stages of a journey towards becoming smart: moving from a centralised, fossil fuel-based and highly-energy-consuming system towards one that is more efficient, decentralised, consumer-focused and powered by renewable energy. The international law to limit global warming to below 2°C following the Paris Agreement puts...

Buildings can balance the grid through proactive energy demand management and can play a leading role in transforming the EU energy market, shifting from centralised, fossil-fuel-based systems towards a decentralised, renewable, interconnected and variable system. Many actors agree that buildings have a role in shaping the Energy Market Design Initiative.

The European Union is facing a double challenge: increasing building renovation rates while aiming at achieving “deep renovations”. Increasing the current EU renovation rate from 1.2% per annum to 2-3% is essential to meet both the EU 2020 targets and the commitment undertaken in Paris in December 2015. About 75% of the EU's 210 million...

This research report draws on interviews with stakeholders from 12 EU Member States with a view to gaining a perspective on what has been achieved so far since 2014 in implementing building renovation strategies, and to get an idea of what can be expected for the second version of the strategies.

A new analysis sets out a long-term roadmap for further development of the Bulgarian renovation programme for multi-family buildings. Following the implementation of the programme’s first phase, the analysis argues for a shift in focus towards achieving higher energy classes, reducing at the same time the level of public subsidy in a measured and manageable...