Carsten Glenting is a Partner and Head of Economics and Finance at Viegand Maagøe, where he leads strategic, economic and financial advisory on sustainability and the green transition. With more than 30 years of experience across management consultancy, energy, finance and emerging market fund management, he has held senior roles including Project & Market Director at COWI, CFO at DENERCO OIL, and Chairman of the Board at Scandinavian Highlands Holding A/S. His work spans strategy development, economic modelling, risk management and large scale infrastructure planning.

He also heads the secretariat of the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG) and led the development of the EU’s De-risking Energy Efficiency Platform (DEEP), contributing to Europe’s sustainable finance agenda. Carsten holds an MSc in Mathematics and Finance from Aarhus University, a foundation that underpins his strong analytical approach to complex energy and financial systems. His career reflects a long standing commitment to advancing energy efficiency, renewable energy and evidence based policymaking across Europe.

In this Expert Talk, Mr Glenting discusses the investment and policy conditions needed to support affordable and sustainable housing in Europe. The conversation considers whether affordable housing is becoming a major investment challenge and examines the Danish non-profit housing sector, including which elements could inform approaches to combining social housing objectives with energy upgrades driven by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). It also explores the conditions required to attract long-term private capital into affordable and sustainable housing, drawing on his experience with investors and sustainable finance.

Looking ahead to 2035, the interview further examines what a successful European affordable housing system could look like and the investment and policy decisions that would be needed to support this objective while meeting EPBD requirements. The discussion brings together questions of affordability, energy performance, financing and long-term investment within the wider context of Europe’s building transition.

The BUILD UP Expert Talks series is an initiative of the BUILD UP portal and features face-to-face interviews with experts from across Europe, offering diverse perspectives on key topics related to energy efficiency and renewable energy in buildings. These interviews align with the Topic of the Month and explore it in depth, providing valuable insights, experiences, and expertise to the BUILD UP audience.