Retrofitting: technology Solutions Business opportunities and Market barriers for Craft and SMEs from the construction sector EBC - EUROPEAN BUILDERS CONFEDERATION

Construction industry – Share of SMEs 2.3 million Enterprises 12 million Working people 1104 billion Euro Turnover (10% of EU GDP)

Business opportunities Market barriers Business opportunities -Retrofitting of millions of existing buildings For all construction trades: -Timber construction -Roofers -Energy equipment installers -Insulation specialists, etc - Pb: lack of technicians, not of techniques => Information campaigns and training programme targeting SMEs are needed Barriers / challenges

Bioclimatic design (taking advantage of the environment) Insulation / ventilation systems (external insulation, multifoil insulation products) Natural materials use (wood, stones, bricks, straw, hemp…) Renewable energies (wood, solar panels, geothermal power) Markets for sustainable construction means specialists in

Renewable energies contribution to primary energy consumption in the world in 1999

Market barriers and challenges Cost and financing: from 1 to 10 Specialists / generalists => need for consortium of SMEs from different trades + engineers. Information and training

Information campaigns and training targeting SMEs are needed Customers’ awareness is very important with EU-wide campaigns But first, let’s make sure that the Industry- meaning more than 2 million SMEs in the EU- is able to respond to the needs:  training programs targeting the supply side of the market  Information campaign to drive young people towards construction trades

Solutions to face the global warming challenge are available in the building sector Technologies and know-how do exist but must be generalised High Job creation potential Conclusion “A rough calculation based on the value of the energy saved from an energy-efficiency increase of 1 % per year for a 10-year period, shows that this could lead to over man-years of employment if these investments are undertaken, for example, under proper conditions in the buildings retrofitting Sector.” Save Study in Green Paper” doing more with less”

The Voice of Construction Crafts and SMEs in Europe Thank you for your attention