EU Practice
European Insulation Manufactures Association (EURIMA) advocates that from an investment standpoint, nothing competes with insulation.
Eurima_insulation in a nutshell.pdf
Insulation is what Europe needs whether to stop global warming or to protect economies from rising energy costs. The existing evidence is compelling, investments made to insulate Europe's buildings today can lead to huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for years to come.
What we know is this:
- 40 per cent of Europe's energy is used in buildings. This is more than any other sector including industry and transport.
- 370 million tonnes of CO2 emissions could be reduced per year, if insulation levels were brought-up to scratch across Europe - this is equivalent to taking all 6 million cars off the roads of London for 15 years and is only marginally less than Europe's total Kyoto commitment.
Major emission reductions can be made everywhere although, interestingly, the areas of Europe where the greatest potential lies, are in hot and moderate climates. For the vast majority of circumstances, improving insulation in buildings is simply a good investment for individuals and the wider economy.
During May 2004, the EU grew by 10 new Member States catapulting the EU into the largest single economic market globally. In order to enable this, the new Member States had to adapt their policy and legislation to the general legal framework of the EU’.
As part of this, the following report compared the building stock of the ten new EU states with the building stock of the long standing EU-15. The average of the building stock in the new Member States can be characterized by a lack of maintenance resulting in an urgent need for refurbishment.
Cost effective climate protection.pdf
What makes this report so compelling is the parallel to Australian conditions with around 40 percent of Australian homes uninsulated, many of which are older homes not designed with energy efficiency in mind.