Armacell supports the Renovate Europe Campaign

Enormous energy-saving potential in European building stock; insulation provides high return on investment

Münster, 15 January 2016. – The key to the ‘energy revolution’ agreed in Paris lies in the energy-efficient renovation of existing buildings. To unlock the enormous energy-saving potential in this sector, EuroACE (European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings) launched the Renovate Europe Campaign in 2011. As a founding member of EuroACE, Armacell supports this initiative which focuses exclusively on implementing ambitious renovation strategies for the building stock in the EU.

The greatest potential lies in the building sector

The signing of the global climate agreement in Paris by the international commu­nity of states marks the beginning of a global ‘energy revolution’. For the first time, all 195 member states of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) committed themselves to protecting the climate and unanimously agreed to limit global warming to below 2 °C. In order to build a low-carbon economy, by 2050 the European Union aims to progressively reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % compared to 1990 levels. This ambitious target can only be achieved if the European directives on increasing energy efficiency are implemented more thoroughly at a national level. The greatest potential for savings is to be found in the building sector: in the industrial nations a huge amount of energy is used in transport and industry, but the building sector accounts for the majority – around 40 % of European energy consumption! As new buildings are only constructed at a rate of around 1 % a year, much greater energy-saving potential lies in the energy-efficient renovation of the building stock. However, up to now less than 1 % of existing buildings in Europe are modernized annually.  

Exerting political pressure

This is why the Renovate Europe Campaign (REC) calls for the annual renovation rate to be tripled from 1 % to 3 % in order to reduce energy consumption in buildings by 80 %. Renovate Europe is the driving force for the renovation of the European building stock. The campaign calls on policy­makers to transpose European legislation – particularly the EU Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) – into national law. Unlocking the energy-saving potential in existing buildings does not only have economic and ecological benefits, with every kilowatt hour saved, the dependency on gas imports decreases. An ambitious energy-efficient renovation of the building stock is by far the best engine for creating economic growth, new jobs, higher security of supply and greater prosperity in Europe.

Insulation provides high return on investment

Armacell is a founding member of EuroACE (European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings) and the company’s support for the Renovate Europe Campaign is a logical consequence of its years of commit­ment to the environment. As a member of the steering committee, Dr Mika Meller, Armacell Global R&D Manager (Knowledge Management & IP) will bring his expertise to Renovate Europe. He explains the company’s involve­ment as follows: ‘COP21 in Paris marked a turning point in global climate and energy policy. The agreement will bring new impetus to faltering national climate protection initiatives. To meet growing energy demand and protect the climate it is vital that we improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings. Effective instruments are already available at a European level, but they are not implemented properly at a national level. In addition, the focus of the European legal framework needs to be shifted to the existing building stock with its enormous energy-saving potential and we need to gather pace signifi­cantly in order to achieve the European climate protection targets.’ The key technology for raising energy efficiency is insulation. No other investment in climate protection has comparable potential and such short payback period. Optimal technical insulation is one of the simplest, most cost-effective measures of energy-efficient building renovation and it can be realized very quickly.

About Renovate Europe

The Renovate Europe Campaign (REC) was initiated by the European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EuroACE). Its objec­tive is to reduce energy consumption in the building stock in the EU by 80 % compared to 2005 levels by 2050. The REC promotes the implementation of ambitious renovation strategies throughout Europe to triple the annual renovation rate for existing buildings in the EU from 1 % to 3 % by 2020. It funds only deep or staged deep renovations. The campaign is supported by leading European companies in the field of energy-saving products and services. Partner companies include Knauf Insulation, Philips, Rockwool, Saint Gobain and Velux, for example. For the fifth consecutive year, EuroACE will stage the Renovate Europe Day (REDay) in Brussels in October 2016, a high-profile conference which is sponsored by the member companies.

Further information on Renovate Europe and EuroACE can be found at www.renovate-europe.eu  and www.euroace.org.

About Armacell

Armacell is a world leader in flexible insulation foams for the equipment insula­tion market and also a leading provider of engineered foams. In the year 2014, the company with currently 2,600 employees generated net sales of EUR 452.2 million. With its 23 manufacturing plants in 16 countries on four continents, Armacell follows a strategy of internationalization. The com­pany operates within two main businesses: the Advanced Insulation busi­ness develops flexible insu­lation foam products for the insulation of mechanical equipment. The Engineered Foams business develops and mar­kets light foams for use in a broad range of end-markets.

In addition to ARMAFLEX, the world’s leading brand for flexible technical insu­lation, Armacell offers thermoplastic insulation materi­als, covering sys­tems, fire protection and noise control solu­tions as well as special foams for a multitude of industrial applications. In recent years, Armacell has devel­oped new insulation systems for the oil and gas market, core foams for com­posite materials, and low-smoke products that have set new standards in the industry.

Further information on Armacell can be found at www.armacell.com or www.armacell.de.

 

Captions:

1)     Armacell supports the Renovate Europe Campaign (Illustration: Armacell)

2)     Enormous energy-saving potential is lying dormant in European cellars (Photo: Armacell)

3)     Retrofitting insulation to accessible heating and hot-water pipes alone greatly improves the energy efficiency of buildings (Photo: Armacell)

 

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