How to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in Central and Eastern Europe?

Buildings, due to their significant energy usage, particularly in natural gas, have become a primary focus for the EU’s reduction efforts. This issue is especially pertinent for Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, which have a history of poor energy efficiency, both overall and within the buildings sector specifically. Therefore, we undertook an analysis of existing academic research to explore possibilities for reducing energy consumption in the building sector. Our findings have been published in an open-access article titled Energy Efficiency of Buildings in Central and Eastern Europe: Room for Improvement in the journal Energy Efficiency.

However, recent years have seen a particularly intense focus on the building sector. Buildings are a crucial sector, accounting for approximately 36% of energy consumption and emissions in the EU. A significant milestone was reached in 2002 with the approval of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive no. 2002/91/EC, which aimed to facilitate the cost-effective modernization of existing buildings to decrease their energy consumption. Despite two decades since the Directive’s implementation, a substantial challenge persists.

Buildings with high energy efficiency not only contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also aid in decreasing reliance on (Russian) natural gas in the energy mix. Given that gas serves as a vital heating source in many EU member countries, its scarcity would pose a security risk for households and other consumers. However, European Commission data reveals that approximately 75% of buildings in the EU lack sufficient energy efficiency, with renovation rates remaining extremely low, ranging from 0.4% to 1.2% annually across individual member states.

Our primary objective was to analyze existing research on reducing energy consumption in buildings, with a specific focus on Central and Eastern Europe due to significant energy savings gaps in the region. Besides geographical proximity, these countries share a communist heritage, with much of the housing stock constructed during the Communist era before 1989, particularly during the construction boom of the 1970s and 1980s. Despite this common background, there are substantial climatic and geomorphological differences among the countries, allowing for the possibility of generalizing results to other regions.

Our core dataset comprised 280 articles indexed in the Web of Science and published between 2004 and 2019, spanning from the region’s accession to the EU to the introduction of the European Green Deal, the EU’s flagship climate and energy policy initiative aimed at achieving the 2050 decarbonization goal. These articles, from various scientific disciplines, examined existing buildings and proposed measures to reduce their energy consumption, enabling a comprehensive exploration of the key challenges faced by Central and Eastern Europe in this area.

Our Research 

The issue of reducing energy consumption has been extensively debated both in policy circles and academia, with the goal of decreasing carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, in accordance with existing EU policies and strategic documents. Enhancing energy efficiency by reducing energy consumption encompasses various sectors of public policy, including energy, industry, transport, and agriculture. However, recent years have seen a particularly intense focus on the building sector. Buildings are a crucial sector, accounting for approximately 36% of energy consumption and emissions in the EU.

A significant milestone was reached in 2002 with the approval of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive no. 2002/91/EC, which aimed to facilitate the cost-effective modernization of existing buildings to decrease their energy consumption. Despite two decades since the Directive’s implementation, a substantial challenge persists.

Buildings with high energy efficiency not only contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also aid in decreasing reliance on (Russian) natural gas in the energy mix. Given that gas serves as a vital heating source in many EU member countries, its scarcity would pose a security risk for households and other consumers. However, European Commission data reveals that approximately 75% of buildings in the EU lack sufficient energy efficiency, with renovation rates remaining extremely low, ranging from 0.4% to 1.2% annually across individual member states.

Our primary objective was to analyze existing research on reducing energy consumption in buildings, with a specific focus on Central and Eastern Europe due to significant energy savings gaps in the region. Besides geographical proximity, these countries share a communist heritage, with much of the housing stock constructed during the Communist era before 1989, particularly during the construction boom of the 1970s and 1980s. Despite this common background, there are substantial climatic and geomorphological differences among the countries, allowing for the possibility of generalizing results to other regions.

Our core dataset comprised 280 articles indexed in the Web of Science and published between 2004 and 2019, spanning from the region’s accession to the EU to the introduction of the European Green Deal, the EU’s flagship climate and energy policy initiative aimed at achieving the 2050 decarbonization goal. These articles, from various scientific disciplines, examined existing buildings and proposed measures to reduce their energy consumption, enabling a comprehensive exploration of the key challenges faced by Central and Eastern Europe in this area.

Key findings

We identified three core cross-cutting themes relevant for potential improvements in reducing energy consumption in the building sector: deep renovation (insulation), heating source replacement, and policies encouraging energy savings.

Firstly, the low level of insulation in buildings, characteristic of Central and Eastern Europe, signifies an important energy consumption problem. However, it also represents a substantial potential for savings. Existing research in the region primarily focuses on two key issues: external wall insulation and window replacement.

Roof insulation has received substantially less attention, despite its importance for a building’s energy efficiency, particularly in cooling during summer months. Nevertheless, such renovations in Central and Eastern Europe still require state support (through grants and loans) due to the high initial investment required and slow repayment, discouraging many property owners from undertaking renovations.

Secondly, changing the heating source (including fuel switching) not only brings economic benefits but also environmental advantages. This is a crucial aspect of clean air policies and the EU’s climate goals as it opens up potential for renewable sources such as solar or geothermal energy, which are both cost-efficient and energy-efficient. Interest in biomass as a fossil fuel alternative is less common, despite air pollution in the CEE region often being connected to improper and widespread use of biomass, mainly firewood.

Similarly, other renewable resources like solar, geothermal energy, and heat pumps also have significant potential to contribute to climate goals, not only in individual houses but also in larger building complexes. Academic research also extensively covers the use of solar energy in colder climates (such as the Baltic States), which can serve as inspiration for colder regions in other countries. Furthermore, existing research has mainly focused on the use of solar energy, shown to be economically competitive compared to fossil fuels, while comparatively less attention has been given to integrating biogas into heating systems, where refurbishing old district heating pipe networks is crucial for improving energy efficiency.

Finally, research on policies aimed at energy savings underscores the high energy consumption in Central and Eastern Europe, alongside the lack of viable and effective solutions and efficient management of financial resources. The absence of data and evidence-based political decisions is a significant weakness in many of these countries and their energy policies. Consequently, such non-systematic policies struggle to effectively identify the most vulnerable groups at the highest risk of energy poverty, thus failing to provide efficient and targeted support.

Energy poverty is a core issue for the Central and Eastern Europe, exacerbated by the specific nature of the post-Communist context and economic transitions, contributing to systematic social injustice. This was also evident during recent energy crises, where several governments opted for blanket subsidies on increased energy prices rather than providing targeted support to vulnerable groups. Moreover, legacies such as old, energy-inefficient housing stock from the Communist era, and policy settings encompassing technical, legal, economic, and institutional constraints, influence the readiness, willingness, or ability of CEE countries to implement policy changes to enhance building energy efficiency and optimize energy consumption.

It is crucial to highlight that all measures (deep renovation, heating source change, and implementation of policies supporting energy savings) are equally important in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs. They are also key to improving energy security, particularly for CEE countries due to their dependence on imported natural gas. Therefore, systematic support for building renovations will be a vital step for the EU to achieve medium-term reduction of natural gas consumption and eliminate dependence on Russian supplies, not only in private but also in public building stock.

Policy recommendations

Based on our research findings, we have formulated the following recommendations for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe:

1. Prioritize thermal insulation of roofs alongside external walls and window replacements during building renovation processes. This approach can substantially reduce energy consumption and associated heating and cooling costs, particularly during summer months.

1. Exploit the significant potential for renewable energy utilization in heating systems. Transitioning to alternative heating sources, such as solar thermal collectors and geothermal energy, not only leads to energy savings but also aligns with EU climate and energy objectives, environmental protection, and energy security.
2. Provide essential state financial support for building renovation projects to overcome the high initial investment costs. Grant schemes and preferential loans with low interest rates are crucial to incentivize property owners in the CEE region to undertake renovation efforts.
3. Enhance data collection efforts to inform evidence-based policy decisions, emphasizing the principle of ‘value for money’. Improved data availability is essential for effective policymaking in energy efficiency initiatives.
4. Ensure accurate identification of vulnerable groups and those at risk of energy poverty to enable targeted support in reducing energy consumption.
5. Implement systematic support for building renewal across both private and public sectors, emphasizing the importance of government intervention in fostering energy-efficient infrastructure.
6. Gradually phase out biomass in heating systems to reduce air pollution and promote cleaner energy alternatives.
7. Introduce additional forms of renewable energy resources with the potential to replace biomass, such as solar, geothermal energy, and heat pumps, despite their current limited usability.
8. Recognize the significant potential of heat pumps for both individual household heating and large-scale applications in buildings like hospitals, schools, and shopping centers.
9. Explore the considerable potential of solar energy utilization, even in colder regions worldwide, for contributing to sustainable energy solutions.

This research was funded by the Slovak Research and Development Agency grant no. APVV-20-0012

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