The EU Digital Building Stock Model (DBSM) R2025 report presents a substantial update to the European Union’s Digital Building Stock Model, incorporating for the first time cadastral data from authoritative sources at the individual building level. Developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), this new version offers full coverage of all 27 Member States, including the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, and introduces key attributes such as building height, compactness, construction epoch, and usage.

Thanks to a more robust Python-based methodology, over 54 million erroneous or duplicate polygons have been removed, significantly improving the model’s accuracy. Validation against sources such as GHS-BUILT-S, Overture, and municipal data from Turin confirms a high level of agreement, particularly in dense urban areas.

Beyond its relevance for energy policies like the Renovation Wave and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, DBSM R2025 emerges as a strategic tool to address Europe’s affordable housing challenge. The integration of satellite-derived attributes enables detailed, building-level analyses, supporting evidence-based decision-making for local and national governments.

While limitations remain —such as source heterogeneity and limited temporal granularity in some cases— the model provides a solid foundation for future enhancements, including photovoltaic rooftop potential estimates and more precise classification of building use and roof types. DBSM R2025 is available as an open dataset and is expected to be integrated into a public API to broaden accessibility.