The idea of stimulating the economy through energy-efficient renovation of buildings is a long-standing one. But the crisis and the European Union’s recent announcements provide a unique opportunity to boost the economy of Brussels and Belgium.
In Brussels, buildings – both residential and tertiary – and their construction are the main emitters of greenhouse gases, far ahead of mobility, electricity production and industry. This is a real opportunity, because we know that the money and energy saved by better insulation and the use of less polluting energies will pay off over time, well beyond the investment required to put them in place. Experience also shows that it is this time lag and the fact that not all building owners or tenants are motivated that make investment difficult. But the current economic and health crisis, and the European Commission’s recent announcements, are changing all that. Let’s seize this opportunity.
A wave of renovation
Against the backdrop of the current health crisis, the European Commission proposed in October to launch a “renovation wave” of buildings that are not only more efficient, but also more aesthetically pleasing. The aim is to bring 35 million buildings up to the highest energy standards over the next 10 years. EU support will come from part of the €672.5 billion of its huge Covid-19 economic stimulus fund. Other funds could come from revenues generated by the carbon market. This support for building owners will be conditional on meeting the prescribed standards.
The initiative starts now with the funding and legislative process. In 2022, five “Bauhaus” projects will be launched in the EU Member States using a participatory co-creation process, covering aspects such as natural building materials, energy efficiency, future-oriented mobility and digital innovation to make buildings more resource-efficient. Brussels is the capital of Europe and home to the institutions that are designing this new Green Deal: let’s be one of the first places to roll out this ambitious programme.
Health crisis, building crisis
The building sector in Belgium is set to decline by 10% in 2020. Intensive building renovation offers immediate benefits in the face of the economic crisis in terms of local job creation. It is also an opportunity to combat energy poverty, and to create the conditions for a better environmental impact for the construction sector (reversibility of buildings, low carbon impact, production of renewable energy) and a better quality of life for residents (healthy materials, quality of air and light, terraces, shared facilities, sociability, biodiversity, home automation, recharging points for electric mobility, etc.).
Brussels has already made significant progress in sustainable construction over the last fifteen years. Here, as elsewhere in Europe, however, there is still considerable room for improvement. On average, 74% of buildings in the EU are energy inefficient. The independent Buildings Performance Institute Europe has calculated that investing €1 million in this sector creates up to 19 new jobs, mainly in SMEs. And increasing renovations to the level needed to reduce energy waste by 80% could create an additional 1.3 to 1.4 million direct local jobs.
The renovation rate in the EU remains at 1%, with deep energy renovation accounting for around 5%. While a standard renovation generally yields energy savings of between 20% and 30%, an in-depth renovation can reduce a building’s energy consumption by more than 75%. To achieve the 2050 vision, the renovation rate needs to increase to around 3%, while deep renovation should become the norm.
Constructive proposals
We are ready to meet this challenge. BECI’s City Climate Challenge 303030 has initiated several collaborative projects to renovate and replace boilers in condominiums, for example. The member companies of 303030 are ready to participate in the reinforcement of staff training, to mobilise their expertise to identify suitable buildings, to contribute to the development of projects according to the best energy standards for in-depth renovations, to design ‘zero-energy’ neighbourhoods, to share the data collected, combining physical and digital solutions, bridging the gap between artists, urban planners and architects to ensure that this wave of renovation is also an embellishment initiative, combining design and sustainability, and considering the implementation of an ambitious plan for the redevelopment of existing housing, an essential link in the 2050 vision.
We are also ready to support the regional and federal authorities in making the renovation of buildings a central part of their recovery strategy, including in the recovery and resilience plan that Belgium must submit to the Commission in order to access the dedicated funds. We recommend that public buildings (administrations, hospitals, schools, etc.) set an example. The Confédération Construction has made a number of constructive proposals to feed into the recovery plans for federal and regional governments. It is also insisting that the three regions and the federal government reach rapid agreement on an ambitious Belgian contribution to the “recovery and resilience plan” launched at European level. Regional and federal government intervention, in the form of subsidies or tax reductions to stimulate renovation and influence the choice between demolition, reconstruction and renovation, is urgently needed.
Let’s make Brussels the European capital of energy-efficient building renovation!
Originally published in the newspaper L’Echo
Authors: Stephen Boucher [Dreamocracy], Wim Geuens [VINCI Facilities], David Roulin [Art & Build], Jean-Christophe Vanderhaegen [Confédération Construction Bruxelles Capitale], Olivier Willocx [BECI].
