Concept Note - Partnership of European Regions on Sustainable Buildings
This Concept Note gathers the main aspects of the proposal for the creation of a Partnership of European Regions on Sustainable Buildings, in reference to the scope and objective of the Partnership, as well as the key elements and approach to be considered in its development, after incorporating all the contributions received after the referral of the document and its presentation in Brussels, with special emphasis on a specific proposal to be developed, based on the expectations of Andalusia, which will serve as a starting point to attract the interest of other European regions.
Abstract
The building sector is the largest energy consumer in Europe, representing 40% of the total EU consumption (in terms of final energy) and 36% of CO2 emissions, according to statistical information from the European Commission. In addition, as is the case in many EU countries, many of these buildings have been built before energy standards were enforced and, therefore, have no criteria relating to energy saving and efficiency, and in these cases over 70% of energy savings could be achieved. Also, many of these houses belong to low-income citizens, who have great difficulties to energetically improve their homes.
Despite the efforts made to improve the energy efficiency of the sector, embodied in a wide range of European directives that affect energy use in buildings, such as Directive 2010/31/EU, on the energy performance of buildings, Directive 2012/27/EU, on energy efficiency, or Directive 2010/30/EU, on the indication of energy consumption (...) and other resources by energy-related products, it is still necessary to continue to take decisive steps in the same direction.
In this line, the European Commission launches in 2015 the European Platform for Smart Energy Specialisation (S3Penergy) with the aim of supporting regions in the optimal uptake of the Cohesion Policy funds for Energy and support energy innovation at all levels and their alignment with EU priorities.
Within the framework of this Platform, the EC is promoting the creation of various partnerships at European level as a basis for promoting interregional collaboration on issues of special interest in energy matters that favour the development of innovative projects, such as the energy efficiency of buildings. The implementation of these partnerships will undoubtedly help to fulfill the main objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy, and in particular those related to energy.
This Concept Note gathers the main aspects of the proposal for the creation of a Partnership of European Regions on Sustainable Buildings, in reference to the scope and objective of the Partnership, as well as the key elements and approach to be considered in its development, after incorporating all the contributions received after the referral of the document and its presentation in Brussels, with special emphasis on a specific proposal to be developed, based on the expectations of Andalusia, which will serve as a starting point to attract the interest of other European regions.
