With building renovation being key to mitigating climate change, addressing energy poverty and the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, long-term renovation strategies (LTRS) are more than ever an essential planning tool. The Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) has produced a recent analysis of the strategies currently available.
Six months after the deadline of 10 March 2020, more than half of EU countries have still not submitted their strategies to the European Commission.
The assessment of the available LTRS (published on the European Commission’s website) concludes that the strategies are largely non-compliant with the provisions of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), in particular Article 2a. With the exception of one strategy (Spain), they are deficient in a number of areas, including a lack of assessment of the wider benefits of building renovation, a lack of details on the implementation of the 2017 renovation strategies, and a lack of consultation with the public on the strategy and its implementation.
The analysis shows that Member States should immediately step up efforts to decarbonise buildings rapidly. It appears that many Member States still do not give priority to renovating buildings, which could play a central role in mitigating climate change and improving the living conditions of Europeans. On the positive side, the report highlights a number of strategies that have generally performed well and could be presented as examples to follow. These include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Spain. Spain is a particularly good example, being the only country that fully meets the requirements.
Hungary has not yet submitted its long-term renovation strategy.
The analysis is available in English on the BPIE website.
