Page 55 - European Energy Innovation - winter 2019 publication

Winter 2019 European Energy Innovation 55
an installer on 2nd January for a
one-to-one replacement. The bad
news is that you probably missed
on the great innovation available on
the market, which needs a bit of
planning ahead.
Let me try with another question:
what alternatives to your current
heater would you install in your
house? If you don’t know… that’s
quite common, because a heating
appliance is not a TV which you buy
online and just plug in: you need a
specialized technician, an installer
to check your home, recommend
the suitable option and install it for target effectively any of
you. A final one: how much are you
prepared to spend to save energy
and CO2 at home today: €200, €2,000
or €20,000?
You should know that with €200
you will probably repair a small
malfunctioning in your boiler; with
€2,000 you may get a new energy-
efficient, state of the art heating
appliance. Do you want to go for even
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu
BUILDING EFFICIENCY
more efficient and renewable? The
bill may get closer to €20,000, and
you may need system adaptations in
your home.
Low consumer awareness; high
upfront investments; shortage
of installers, scarcity of upskilled
professionals to match innovation;
asymmetry of technical information;
replacements required in an urgency
situation: these are some of the real
issues affecting the replacement rate
of inefficient heaters and hence the
decarbonization of buildings. Today’s
European policy framework doesn’t
these aspects.
In recent years, EU policies have
focused on improving the efficiency
standards of new products sold in
the EU market (so called Ecodesign
policy, affecting about 5 million new
heating products sold every year in
Europe) and setting standards for
new buildings (Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive), currently
1% of the building stock. This is
good, because it ensures that new
appliances and our new homes are
sustainable.
But these policies are only “greening” our homes. We need to adapt
the tip of the iceberg: 5 million new
appliances over 130 million old
appliances; only 1% of European
newly built dwellings versus the
large majority of old and historical
European buildings. And the rate
of replacement across Europe is
too slow: at the current speed of
4% a year, it will take over 20 years
to replace the 72 million inefficient
heaters installed in European homes.
It’s high time that European
policymakers showed ambition in
the renovation field.
The potential for energy saving from
buildings is huge and would allow
Europe to meet the increasing CO2
emissions cut targets. A 2016 Ecofys
study shows how accelerating the
modernisation rate of old heating
systems from today’s slow rate of 4%
a year to 5% – which is a whopping
25% increase in the rate - can bring
almost 40% CO2 savings by 2030,
compared to 1990 levels.
But new, ambitious policies are
needed. For starters, policies to
inform and empower consumers
such as Europe-wide communication
campaigns on the benefits of energy
efficiency; launch the energy label for
installed appliances in every European
country; require regular inspections
of heaters, because inspections are
a moment where end-users and
experts meet and can plan ahead.
Second, policies to accelerate the
dismissal of older systems, such as
national scrapping schemes for old
appliances below a certain efficiency
level or above a certain age. And
financial instruments to support the
upfront investment in energy efficient
appliances, renewable-based ones
and renovation.
Third, don’t look at the energy
transition only with product policy
glasses. Think education and training
initiatives: we need to attract and
upskill many more installers and
technicians to put innovation in
the curricula to match the energy
transition and to provide lifelong
training, because technologies evolve
and industry innovates to keep
competitive.
Finally, don’t think that you can
avoid all of this with a single, silver-
bullet solution, i.e. imposing only one
technology or heating solution for the
whole of Europe. It won’t work.
The energy transition in the building
sector, with its large supply chain
could create European jobs while
bringing the energy transition in every
home, in every school, in every city.
It’s high time that we prioritize the
modernization of the heating stock.
This is a not-so-veiled tip to the new
Commission Executive Vice President
Frans Timmermans for his European
Green Deal. l