1. Carbon Prioritise deep renovation of existing buildings and eliminate both operational and embodied carbon emissions across the life cycle of all buildings. The EU’s built environment holds enormous potential for climate action since buildings are responsible for 36% of the EU’s CO 2 emissions. In addition, the fact that the EU’s buildings also contribute 40% of energy consumption (European Commission, 2021) illustrates the need to reduce this considerable demand through an energy efficiency first approach. Industry welcomes measures by EU and national policymakers to address both operational and embodied emissions resulting from the manufacturing, transportation, construction, and end-of-life phases of built assets – together known as Whole Life Carbon (WLC). 6 European Manifesto for a sustainable built environment
Download PDF file