Glass for Europe: EU ETS for buildings needs careful design

The European association of the flat glass value chain is not convinced of the expected effectiveness of an ETS system for buildings and believes that such a mechanism needs very careful design.

In the recent years, progress has been made to increase the energy and CO2 performance of new buildings in compliance with the Energy Performance of Building Directive, yet current trends in terms of building renovation clearly indicate that less than 1% of buildings are renovated in Europe every year. Renovation is not happening in sufficient quantity and when it does take place, sub-optimal products are often used due to a lack of legal or financial incentive and/or information to consumers.

As highlighted in the ETS impact assessment (SWD(2021) 601) “even at very high price levels, it is very unlikely that [the price signal] will have an effect in accelerating renovation”. In order to boost energy renovation and to deliver a zero-emissions building stock by 2050, Glass for Europe believes that short term efforts are needed on a major upgrade of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive.

Read the position paper An EU ETS mechanism for buildings and transport