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How energy-intensive are the buildings in Greece

Her Eleni Botas

Old and energy-intensive is almost the entire building stock of our country, as the largest was built before 1980, ie these are buildings without thermal insulation

According to an analysis by E-Real Estate – Panhellenic Network of Real Estate Agents, the EU strategy for biodiversity with a horizon of 2030, states that the building sector is one of the largest consumers of energy in Europe and is responsible for more than one third of gas emissions of the EU greenhouse.

Every year, only 1% of buildings in Europe are renovated to reduce energy consumption. Promoting renovations has a key role to play in the decarbonisation of the building sector, in the recovery of the economy and in tackling energy poverty.

Buildings consume 40% of energy in the EU and emit 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU

Two-thirds of European buildings are not energy efficient – many of them are inhabited by low-income families.

Also 85-95% of the existing buildings in the EU will still exist in 2050
In this context, the “Wave of Renovations for Europe” initiative aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by 60% by 2030.

At the same time, the European Central Bank is increasing its claims on financial institutions for the correct pricing of climate risk, whether it is debt or bonds.

Therefore, the green direction is now a one-way street for the real estate sector in our country. Already in our country, both institutional investors – funds and real estate investment companies are now targeting properties with a low environmental footprint. According to research, these properties are gaining a significant lead both in terms of value and income, while they are also more marketable. Regarding the value of these properties, Arbitrage notes that for every euro saved from reduced energy consumption, the fair value of the building increases accordingly.

The real estate sector is very important for ESG, as it paves the way for the constructions that will contribute to the reduction of the global temperature, with investments of 180 billion euros by 2050. In 2019, 63% of the institutions had adopted the principles ESG, while in 2021, just two years later, this percentage has reached 72%. At the same time, the environmentally aware investments in 2014 were only 15 billion Euros, while in 2024 they are expected to exceed 53 trillion. Euro, marking an increase of 60%.

Ms. Aleksandra Njagulj, head of ESG for the German investment group DWS Group, which has assets of more than 1 trillion. “We will reach a point in the near future where properties that do not meet the ESG (Environment, Society, Corporate Governance) criteria can neither be sold nor rented,” he said at a recent Prodexpo conference. According to Ms. Njagulj, older properties will not be able to secure financing to buy, and large companies will avoid renting them, as they will not be in line with the ESG policies already in place. A trend that is already beginning to take shape abroad. Given the above, do not be surprised if we see that properties with less climatic impact will be rewarded through better loan terms.

The building capacity in Greece amounts to 6,371,901, according to the 2011 census (ELSTAT), while the number of houses amounts to 4,122,088. Based on the construction period of the buildings, it appears that most of the buildings in the country (homes, schools, offices, etc.) were built before 1980, ie they are buildings without thermal insulation.

Statistics from RIS

In 2019, 315,804 Certificates of Energy Performance of Buildings were issued, of which 57.37% were for rent, 13.84% for sale and 11.38% for the financial program “home savings”. At the same time, 86% of the total number of PEAs for the year 2019 concerned residential buildings.

Regarding the energy category of residential buildings, it is observed that the largest percentage (66.83%) of them is classified in E-H, 26.81% in G-D and only 6.36% in A-B.

It is worth mentioning that the most energy-intensive residential buildings for the year 2019 were detached houses (average annual primary energy consumption equal to 486.66 KWh / m2), while for apartments and apartment buildings the average annual primary energy consumption was estimated at 297.28 KWh / m2. 304.63 KWh / m2 respectively. In residential buildings, the largest percentage of energy is consumed to meet heating needs (average annual consumption of primary energy in heating equal to 239.60 KWh / m2).

Energy category of buildings by type of construction (2011-2019)

Energy category of buildings

Old

Newly built / Radically Renovated

E-H

62.02%

0.00%

Γ-Δ

34.49%

0.02%

Α-Β

2.90%

0.28%

Source: Capital

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