Brussels, 05/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - Although it gives a worrying picture of wasted energy due to the dilapidated state of real estate in new Member States, a recent report commissioned by the European Mineral Wool Manufacturers Association, Eurima, and conducted by the Ecofys institute reveals that there is still great but unexploited potential in these countries for energy efficiency of buildings. While the share of the residential sector in total energy consumption is the same in the new Member States as in the EU15 (nearly 40%), in the ten new Member States energy consumption per square metre in buildings is 25% more than in the EU15, the report points out, explaining that this is mainly due to the lower levels of insulation. Furthermore, before the 1990s, the new Member States had little or no incentive to save energy, as energy prices were low, often being subsidised by the State. The Ecofys report stresses that the renovation of buildings and simple energy efficiency measures (better insulation of roofs, walls, cellars and openings, and more effective heaters) would make it possible to avoid an “imminent social and environmental crisis” in the new Member States, which would save not only energy by 2010 (equivalent to 800,000 barrels of oil per day) but also money (EUR 370 million annually, one billion by 2015), and create nearly 230,000 jobs.
The report completes a recent study on the potential of energy efficiency still to be exploited in the EU15, and suggests new insulation measures be put into practice. Taken together, these two studies show that the EU25 could save over EUR 8 billion annually by 2010 while reducing dependency on energy imports as well as greenhouse gas emissions, and creating 530,000 jobs. Eurima therefore encourages the Union to save nearly 20% of its energy consumption in buildings and recommends that Structural and Cohesion Funds be geared to investment in energy efficiency of buildings. It suggests, moreover, that Directive 2002/91/EC on energy efficiency in buildings be revised to include all buildings of under 1,000 m2, set in place Community incentives to improve energy efficiency, reduce tax pressure (VAT) for effective energy products and promote better information for users. (The report is available at: http://www.eurima.org ).