It’s time to build, but greener: Decarbonizing the European Built Environment 🚧

With 360’s expertise in the Construction stack (Mela Work), at Home Solar Pannels (Beem Energy), site maintenance (Siteflow) and now our PropTech companies (Casavo, Beanstock) increasingly integrating Energy Retrofit strategies, we leveraged our expertise from the Energy and Proptech sector to map what we think the future of decarbonizing the European built environment is.

Increasing pressure on dwellings

Europe is increasingly recognizing its dependence on Russian gas and is striving for energy independence at both the national and household levels, reflected in new regulations and an emphasis on self-consumption (from EPDs in 2002 to RePowerEU in 2022).

Meanwhile, quality of living concerns include a significant percentage of citizens experiencing cold homes and millions residing in poorly insulated homes, with rising electricity and energy prices adding strain to housing affordability.

The growing environmental focus is driven by regulatory pressure and shifting energy preferences, with renewables like solar and wind energy becoming more cost-effective. Notably, 75% of EU buildings are considered energy-inefficient.

The built environment is responsible for a third of energy related emissions

Energy consumption in buildings, driven primarily by heating, cooling, lighting, and appliances, is a major concern, with factors like the energy mix, climate, building types, and efficiency standards influencing carbon emissions variations. Over 50% of EU buildings are over 40 years old, and 55% of EU dwellings suffer from poor insulation, particularly in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, leading to significant energy loss. In the EU, it accounts for 35% of energy-related emissions and 32% of natural gas consumption. These statistics emphasize the urgent need to address energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of buildings for a more sustainable future. To decrease Europe’s carbon footprint, we need to decrease emissions from its building stock.

A growing startup ecosystem

In this evolving landscape, a burgeoning wave of building improvement startups is on the horizon, with a notable list of companies having raised substantial funding, such as 1KOMMA5 or Enpal in Germany, all contributing to the drive for greener and more energy-efficient building solutions.

If you’re building 😉 something in this exciting space, we’d love to know more about it!