Closing the gap on EU building stock emissions

The EU building stock is in urgent need of energy-efficient renovation interventions to reduce its operational carbon. Ramboll have assisted the European Environment Agency (EEA) in increasing their understanding of the behavioral factors influencing energy efficiency decisions in the renovation of buildings and from this help close the gap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European building stock.
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The EU building stock, which is responsible for 36% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU, must find energy-efficient renovation interventions to reduce its operational carbon.
Despite existing initiatives and legislation, the current policy framework falls short in accelerating the necessary emission reductions, especially in the adoption of energy efficiency measures to renovate the existing building stock.
Knowledge gap on the behavioural factors
One of the reasons behind the insufficient delivery of energy efficiency in buildings policies may be the knowledge gap and limited consideration of the behavioural factors affecting the investment decisions in energy efficiency renovation.
For this reason, the European Environment Agency (EEA) commissioned Ramboll to increase their understanding of the behavioural factors influencing energy efficiency decisions in the renovation of buildings. Specifically, the EEA requested Ramboll’s assistance in mapping key behavioural factors and mechanisms that can increase the uptake of energy efficiency measures in renovations.
Ramboll’s work followed an iterative process and included the following key steps:
  1. Analysing the broad variety of factors affecting decisions in renovation, and the role of behavioural factors in influencing the uptake of energy efficiency measures and energy consumption levels after the renovation
  2. Identifying and characterising relevant key stakeholders and their decision process of investing in energy efficiency in buildings
  3. Mapping options for measures that address the identified behavioural mechanisms in the pre- and post-renovation phases
  4. Analysing gaps and collecting completed and ongoing good practices
  5. Deriving recommendations to European, national, and local policy makers on how to include behavioural factors to improve energy efficiency investments in buildings policies.
Through this approach, Ramboll was able to gain valuable insights and provide recommendations that support the development of an effective European energy efficiency renovation framework.
The study will help raise awareness among practitioners and policy makers on the importance of designing policy instruments to address the multitude of behavioural barriers that have so far limited the uptake of energy efficiency renovation measures in residential buildings in Europe.
“There is no doubt that It is now more essential than ever to accelerate the energy renovation rate for buildings by supporting homeowners’ investment in deep renovations to avoid lock-in into less efficient renovations,” Matteo Caspani, Project Lead at Ramboll Management Consulting says.
As a result of the collaboration with European Environment Agency, Ramboll delivered the EEA a report detailing a multitude of behavioural factors that influence the diverse stakeholders involved in energy efficiency renovations.
Additionally, Ramboll provided the EEA with comprehensive policy recommendations. These recommendations will assist the authority in incorporating behavioural components into existing policies, regulations, and standards, all with the aim of fostering greater adoption of energy-efficient renovations.
Download the report and recommendations here

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