Zero carbon buildings 2050 - Background report

These emissions include not only the operational emissions due to energy use in the use phase of a building, but also the embedded GHG emissions associated with the materials and the construction processes used over the entire lifecycle of the building or energy infrastructure. [...] This holds for the physical characteristics and energy use of the building stock as well as for ownership, making it impossible to discuss the built environment of the EU as a whole. [...] 3.3 Timeline of investments The timing of decarbonisation measures affects the cost of the transition for society, as well as the ease with which the changes are made. [...] In this chapter we describe the EU policies currently in place and the areas they target, mapping them onto the matrix developed at the end of the last chapter to identify gaps in each of the target areas. [...] — Reviewing the Construction Products Regulation, to ensure that buildings are designed in line with the needs of the circular economy and leading to increased digitisation and climate-proofing of the building stock.