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The New European Bauhaus initiative aims to use the creativity of Europe to meet the European Green Deal targets. It encourages us to think outside of the box for a better Europe, write Mariya Gabriel and Domènec Ruiz Devesa.

The European Commission must ensure that plans to price carbon emissions in the building sector does not lead to growing rates of homelessness, campaigners said on Wednesday (17 March).

Rapid emission cuts need one carbon price for all sectors, including transport and buildings. But to move quickly enough, we should allow some differentiation for a limited time, writes Georg Zachmann. 

As European leaders meet today to discuss the share of emissions reductions across Europe, they must focus on how to do this effectively and avoid the possible repercussions of expanding the emissions trading scheme, writes Marcin Korolec.

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) has proven to be an effective tool in driving emissions reductions. Installations covered by the ETS reduced emissions by about 35% between 2005 and 2019.

Challenges to ecological and social sustainability require us to integrate limits to resource consumption into all areas, including residential space, write Doris Fuchs, Sylvia Lorek, Pia Mamut and Nils Blossey.

The make-or-break decade for deep cuts in energy consumption and carbon emissions has already begun, writes Oliver Rapf. Now it’s time to radically revise our legislation, in particular the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), he argues.

Looking for provocative opinions and dynamic new approaches to energy efficiency in Central and Eastern Europe? Searching for an interactive way to share innovative ideas that could inspire real future change in the region? Ondrej Sramek is the Corporate Affairs...

In times of climate crisis, it is no longer acceptable that our buildings swallow up so much of the limited energy resources and leave our citizens so vulnerable to energy price hikes, writes Adrian Joyce. 

A draft EU directive, due for publication on 14 December, introduces minimum energy performance standards for existing buildings undergoing major renovation works as part of a renewed push to achieve a zero-emission building stock by 2050.

The long-term renovations strategies that EU countries submitted last year to the European Commission are not in line with the bloc's objective of reaching climate-neutrality by 2050, according to fresh analysis due to be published this week.

Member states continue to underplay the role of the building sector in reaching net zero by 2050, despite the fact that European buildings account for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, writes Oliver Rapf.

The European Commission's upcoming June package of energy and climate laws will “propose the extension of the emission trading scheme to sectors such as building and road transport,” the EU's energy commissioner Kadri Simson said on Thursday (25 March).

The European commissioner for energy, Kadri Simson, on Tuesday (20 April) underlined the importance of the 'Renovation Wave' strategy in combating energy poverty in the European Union, saying that sustainable, energy-efficient buildings should be "the new normal".

How can we expect people to invest in heat pumps if we deliberately make electricity more expensive than fossil gas, oil and coal? That’s like taxing water and subsidising sugary drinks, argues Samuel Thomas.

An EU-wide emissions trading system for the transport and building sectors would secure the financing of low carbon solutions and support lower-income households and member states through the redistribution of carbon pricing revenues, argue Matthias Buck and Andreas Graf.

EU environment ministers expressed "quite a lot of reservations" about European Commission plans to set up a second emissions trading scheme for road transport and buildings at their first meeting since Brussels tabled the proposal last week.

I’ve been involved with the renovation of buildings for more than a decade. I’ve campaigned for policies to put renovation at the top of public agendas and I’ve worked on hundreds of retrofit sites across Europe. Barry Lynham is Managing...

Effiecient, technological and smarter buildings should be the cornerstone of Europe's decarbonisation, but more effort needs to go towards renovating the bloc's current building stock, writes Seán Kelly.

The impact of climate change is already felt, COP26 must take decisive action to deliver on the 1.5-degree scenario.

Decarbonising Europe’s building stock requires robust Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), not a piecemeal approach that fails to regulate buildings that are ripe for renovation projects, writes Adrian Joyce.