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On 5 March, a broad coalition of stakeholders representing key materials and components of the building envelope wrote to the European Commission to highlight the potential of high-energy-performance building envelopes in the context of the upcoming Heating & Cooling Strategy and Electrification Action Plan.

The Heating & Cooling Strategy and Electrification Action Plan, which are expected to be adopted on 19 May, are intended to accelerate the decarbonisation of the H&C sector, improve its efficiency and system integration, and speed up the cost-effective and system-friendly electrification of the EU’s energy consumption in transport, industry, and buildings. These initiatives should therefore directly acknowledge the essential role that high-performance buildings can play, as heating and cooling is first and foremost a matter of minimising energy demand. In this regard, high-performance glazing is key.

The co-signatories therefore called on the European Commission to emphasise in the upcoming initiatives that:

• Sequencing matters. Improving the building envelope first – including glazing and windows – first enables heating and cooling systems to be correctly sized, reducing costs and energy demand;
• Comfort and affordability matter. Passive solutions ensure stable indoor temperatures all year long, improved thermal comfort and healthier living conditions;
• Energy security matters. Better envelopes increase resilience in homes, hospitals, and other critical buildings during gas or electricity supply disruptions;
• European industry and jobs matter. The products enabling high-performance envelopes are manufactured in Europe and installed by local construction companies, the majority of which are SMEs.