Constructing Christmas Cheer for a Net-Zero Future [Promoted content]

The festive season means warmth and shelter in the cold, dark days of the year. Celebrating the best of the past and looking to a brighter future. As the EU prepares for new leaders to take up office next year, a new industry manifesto reflects on what one key sector needs to build a clean energy future. A sector that will be keeping homes warm all across Europe this Christmas.

Salvatore Fantoni is Communications Officer at Eurima – European Insulation Manufacturers Association.

With new faces to enter office in the European Commission and Parliament for 2024-29, a competitive net-zero industrial age will be shaped by European action over the next five years. A new Manifesto  from Eurima, representing the interests of all major mineral wool insulation producers throughout Europe, shows why achieving climate neutrality by 2050 is unattainable without tapping the potential of buildings, the built environment and the European construction sector as a whole.

The mineral wool insulation industry is an integral part of a European construction sector that is responsible for over 10% of Europe’s annual GDP, including over 3 million enterprises of all sizes and employing 12 million people. As they say in France, “Quand le bâtiment va, tout va!”.

In the next legislature, the EU must truly recognise the construction sector as a key enabler for the clean energy transition. This means Europe needs a forward-looking 2050 EU-level construction policy, perhaps coordinated by a Commissioner for Construction and at least firmly anchored in a tailor-made EU governance structure. This would promote a much-needed stable and transparent business environment promoting both climate neutrality and industrial competitiveness.  

This well-coordinated construction policy framework must be matched by ambitious business policy. Incentivising and encouraging clean industry in the EU is vital to effectively cut CO2 emissions. Only by combining EU signals with clear industrial decarbonisation policies, such as energy efficiency, fuel-transitioning, and circularity, will companies be able to find or stay on the path to absolute carbon neutrality by 2050 while trusting the EU as a reliable area for long-term investments.

The EU mineral wool insulation industry has almost halved its carbon intensity since 1990 (40% cut in CO2 emissions per unit manufactured). This is why we believe that European industries are well-positioned to help determine which policies are most effective in achieving absolute net zero. But not all of the solutions are in our own hands. Success will require close cooperation, and a coherent and consistent approach to emission cuts.

For instance, as Eurima’s decarbonisation roadmap shows, industry will only be able to decarbonise its production processes with steady access to affordable and abundant green energy. Europe’s distribution infrastructure is not yet ready for this. 

There are currently hundreds of renewable power projects stuck in grid connection queues throughout Europe. We can lead the way to net zero if this barrier to accessing green energy is dismantled. Reducing energy demand in buildings and putting Energy Efficiency First must be an immediate priority to alleviate this bottleneck. 

For buildings and building renovation, putting the energy efficiency of the “building envelope” first is also vital to cutting emissions. When the walls, doors and ceilings of a building are well-insulated and airtight, the demand for heating and cooling is minimised, allowing renewable energy to operate effectively while spending less on the costly investments needed to expand Europe’s energy grid. 

For an energy transition built on efficiency and renovation, we need to start thinking about the building envelope as a facilitator for renewable energy supply and demand-side flexibility. This will help to make the most of buildings and the built environment for Europe’s decarbonisation.

Another priority topic is the fact that Europe needs a waste policy that enables increased recycling of construction and demolition waste. This would end a situation in which, due to regulatory, economic and technological bottlenecks, recycling is more expensive than landfill.

‘Post-consumer’ waste generated during the renovation or demolition and deconstruction of buildings should be recovered. There should be no incentives to landfill valuable resources instead of using them as secondary raw materials.

At the same time, Europe needs a level playing field for products and product policy. This would ensure that, when it comes to the fight against climate change all products are assessed on their own merits, against harmonised standards and guidelines. Importantly, distinctions between construction products would always be based on harmonised data and sound science.

Safeguarding an attractive and enabling European business- and investment climate, including through easy access to abundant clean energy, will help industry build a decarbonised Europe. 

The mineral wool insulation industry will continue to be part of Europe’s sustainable transition and local industrialisation, through products that deliver essential energy savings in buildings. All while improving living comfort and safety at home, for this festive season and more.