Glass for Europe answers the public consultation on a future roadmap to reduce whole life carbon emissions of buildings

Today Glass for Europe has submitted its answers to a Commission’s consultation on the decarbonisation of the EU building stock. As part of the Renovation Wave strategy, the Commission had committed to develop a roadmap for reducing whole life cycle carbon in the building sector. The glass industry is supportive of a life cycle approach to address building emissions from cradle to grave. This implies notably that both embodied and operational emissions are balanced with each other to deliver optimum carbon footprint to buildings.

Glass for Europe recalled that high energy-efficient glazing plays an essential role in cutting down buildings’ CO2 emissions during the use phase of buildings by minimizing both heating and cooling needs. To reduce whole life cycle carbon of buildings, further supporting low-carbon glass production in the EU and closed-loop recycling of flat glass products are also essential and addressed in Glass for Europe’s recommendations. For instance, Glass for Europe highlights the need to:

• Develop a harmonized life cycle analysis at the European level which focused on the overall building,
• Maximize the energy efficiency of buildings during the use phase and phase out inefficient building components,
• Support recovery and recycling of construction materials more thoroughly.

In its answer, Glass for Europe points out that initiatives from several Member States could be used as inspiration to develop an EU-wide roadmap for the reduction of whole life cycle emissions.