BPIE: Europe's buildings under the microscope - PU Europe

C. Energy Performance
It is widely recognised that the building sector is one of the key consumers of energy in Europe.
Understanding energy consumption in buildings requires an insight into the energy levels consumed
over the years and the mix of fuels used. Figure 1C1 shows the historical final energy consumption in
buildings in EU27, Norway and Switzerland since the 1990s. The consumption is made up of two main
trends: a 50% increase in electricity and gas use and a decrease in use of oil and solid fuels by 27% and
75%, respectively.
Overall, the energy use in buildings is a rising trend with an increase from around 400 Mtoe to 450 Mtoe
over the last 20 years. This is likely to continue if insufficient action is taken to improve the performance
of buildings.
Figure 1C1– Historical final energy consumption in the building sector since 1990s for the EU27,
Switzerland and Norway
Source: Eurostat database
500
Mtoe
400
300
200
100
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Solid fuels Oil Gas Electricity RES Derived heat
In terms of CO 2
emissions, buildings are responsible for around 36% in Europe 14 . The average specific CO 2
emission 15 in Europe is 54 kgCO 2
/m 2 where the national values of kgCO 2
per floor space vary in the range
from 5-120 kgCO 2
/m 2 as shown in Figure 1C2. The building performance is a key component in this. In
addition, CO 2
emissions are linked to the particular energy mix used in buildings in a given country. For
example, the extent to which renewable energy is employed in the buildings, the use of district heating
and co-generation, the sources of electricity production in each country affect the CO 2
emissions related
to buildings. Variations in the energy supply mix highly influence the CO 2
performance of buildings
where, for instance, Norway and France are among the lowest in Europe as shown in Figure 1C2 due to
their dependence on hydroelectricity and nuclear energy, respectively.
14
Based on information published on the European Commission’s website on energy efficiency in buildings http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/
buildings/buildings_en.htm
15
The CO 2
emissions have been calculated using CO 2
emission factors for different energy products published by the Carbon Trust UK and CO 2
emission factors for electricity production published by the International Energy Agency.
Europe’s buildings under the microscope | 43