News

Albania’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy has launched a programme for the installation of solar thermal collectors for households, which will cover up to 70% of the expenses. The programme is aimed at reducing electricity consumption, improving the supply of hot sanitary water and lowering CO2 emissions.

Southern Europe countries, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, are struggling to take advantage and implement the EU Covid´s funds for rail schemes, electricity grid modernisation and retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency due to a lack of skilled workforce.

A growing workforce crisis has been affecting the construction industry in all Europe. Construction has an image problem that is holding back recruitment when it is most needed. Mike Hayes, editor of the construction industry magazine Construction Europe, looks at possible solutions to the growing workforce crisis.

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) aims at transforming the construction industry and has set some new priorities which comprise net zero, building safety and skills. Indeed it has been highlighted how skilled workers are important to deliver economic growth.

France has established a specific energy efficiency plan to save energy in the approaching winter season. In particular, to reduce energy consumption by 10% in two years, the government has slated 15 key measures which go from use of appliances, to carpooling, etc. However, the government has not set binding targets.

Within the Open Thor Living Lab, two new infrastructure projects have been inaugurated: CollecThor and THOREAQ. Their goal is to explore the maximum potential of intelligent district heating networks and to test and validate innovations in renovation techniques, improvement of indoor air quality and integration of energy systems in real conditions.

Bruxelles et la Wallonie vont-elles bientôt interdire l'indexation des loyers des logements mal isolés? La mesure est à l'étude dans les deux régions. En Flandre, c'est une réalité depuis ce samedi soir. Seuls les propriétaires de logements performants pourront répercuter la totalité de l'indexation dans leurs loyers.

As part of the EcoQuartier label, Cerema traveled to Japan to validate the final stage of labeling an eco-district on the outskirts of Tokyo. A visit and exchanges that showed the importance given to collective life.

Call for papers for the CISBAT 2023 in Lausanne (Switzerland) is now open! The conference will be in hybrid form and will take place from 13-15 September 2023. The three main topics for papers are: operation, well-being and circularity. Deadline for the submission is 15 January 2023!

The Construction 2050 Alliance has shared some key messages regarding Sustainable Finance and the impact of the EU taxonomy on the construction sector. They highlight, for example, how the EU Taxonomy can be a huge potential for the construction sector to achieve the EU Green Deal goals.