European Commission builds up energy efficiency
The European Commission has launched the BUILD UP web portal as a tool for sharing information on reducing energy
use in buildings.
It says that the content of the site will be regularly updated by users themselves to cover a wide range of good practice in energy reduction and information about legislation.
“The BUILD UP web portal will enable anyone from home owners to builders to look up and share best practice and information. At the same time, it will inform and update the market about the legislative framework," said the EC's Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
He pointed out that buildings are responsible "for about 40 per cent of total energy consumption in Europe and, therefore, improvements in building performance are crucial to achieving EU energy saving targets and combating climate change, whilst also contributing to energy security".
The Commission added that there is still considerable potential for cost-efficient energy savings "that is not being exploited", which is why it has proposed a revision of the Energy Peformance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) that could "generate additional energy savings of the equivalent of 60 to 80 million tonnes of oil per year by 2020 – equivalent to a further reduction by 5 to 6 per cent of total EU energy consumption over that achievable by full implementation of the current Directive".
The European Parliament has called for even more ambitious and demanding legislation that goes beyond the targets set by the EPBD and is waiting for a response from the Council of the European Union.