Solar shading crucial for achieving EU renovation targets
Umbrella organization ES-SO publishes new position paper on EU strategy
If the European Commission wants to achieve its goal of drastically reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling in buildings over the next ten years, automated solar shading should be an integral part of the EU's strategy for the renovation wave. The ES-SO, the European Solar Shading Organization, explains why in a new position paper and makes four recommendations.
The challenge is huge: 75% of buildings in the EU are not energy efficient. The aim of the EU Renovation Wave Strategy, launched in October 2020, is to renovate 35 million buildings towards improved energy efficiency by 2030. As heating and cooling account for 80% of the energy consumption of residential buildings in Europe, the EU's renovation strategy focuses on reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling by 18% over the next ten years.
However, according to ES-SO, important opportunities will be missed if renovation plans and strategies are advanced without the integration of modern and automatic solar shading. If solar shading is installed on 75% of windows in renovated buildings, energy savings and carbon emission reductions can be as high as 19% per year. In addition, the savings can add up to 22% if the cooling effort were to take on the same importance as the heating effort.
Automated solar shading is a highly cost-effective and sustainable technology, as the products produce significantly less carbon emissions during their manufacture and over their 20-year lifespan, the energy savings are around 60 times theircarbon footprint. In summer, the energy required for cooling by air conditioning is reduced. In winter, solar gain reduces the need for heating energy.
"The ES-SO welcomes the EU's goal of doubling renovation rates over the next ten years," says Anders Hall, President of the ES-SO. "Shading has always protected people and buildings from the sun. But for some reason it seems that we need to re-emphasize this obvious method in modern buildings. It is simply common sense that automatic solar shading is a key technology for achieving the EU's climate targets."
For this reason, the ES-SO has made four key recommendations for the EU and national policy makers when it comes to driving forward the Renovation Wave strategy. These four recommendations are set out in a new position paper:
ES-SO position paper on the EU Renovation Wave Strategy
-Preventing overheating gets a place in the EU's building renovation requirements
in the EU's building renovation requirements.
- Minimum energy performance standards for existing buildings based on the
principle of "energy efficiency first" must include solar shading.
include solar shading.
- Investments and targeted promotion of renovations must include solar shading
.
- Solar radiation through windows is recognized as a natural energy source
.
ABOUT the ES-SO:
The ES-SO is a non-profit organization based in Brussels. The aim of the ES-SO is to focus on the positive effects of solar shading solutions on the indoor climate and thus support the EU's ambitious energy efficiency targets. The ES-SO serves as an umbrella organization for sun shading associations within the EU. The European sun shading industry employs more than 450,000 people in the 27 member states and generates an annual turnover of over 22 billion euros. Based in Brussels, the ES-SO is ideally placed to ensure that the industry's voice is heard and that it can make a positive contribution to the EU's energy targets. The ES-SO is also involved in various EU projects and acts in both an advisory and contributory capacity.
This news item was published in German by ROMA on behalf of ES-SO, the European Solar Shading Organization.
