6 September 2010: Business and NGOs Unite to Urge Energy Ministers to Triple Efforts on Energy Savings and Efficiency (06.09.2010)Benefits highlighted as key to success for ‘Europe2020’ strategy. Europe’s energy ministers must lead the charge towards a three-fold increase in the impact of Europe’s efforts to stop wasting energy. Huge benefits from energy savings and energy efficiency are still being denied to the EU’s citizens and businesses - even when they strongly support it. This is the message that a novel coalition of 19 environmental and social NGOS, business and professional associations today delivered at a meeting with Paul Magnette, Belgian Minister for Climate and Energy Policy and the current President of the EU Energy Council. More details here 30 June 2010: PU Europe presents study on life cycle performance of insulation products (30.06.2010)Polyurethane insulation shows the lowest life cycle costs in all applications covered by a recent research on life cycle performance of insulation materials. Background: Building products are increasingly subject to European product-related sustainability requirements through initiatives such as green public procurement, eco-design, energy labelling and eco-labelling. However, the construction products industry claims that performance assessments can only take place at the level of the building. Amid this discussion, PU Europe asked the UK-based Building Research Establishment to develop a methodology for the assessment of insulation materials at the building level. Speaking at the Central European Sustainable Building Conference (30 June – 2 July 2010, Prague), Shpresa Kotaji (Huntsman Polyurethanes and PU Europe Life Cycle Assessment expert) commented, “The study findings clearly confirm that comparisons between insulation materials without taking into account the end-use application do not lead to usable results. It is essential to know how much of a specific material is required to meet the building design requirements and what are the knock-on effects of material choices on the building in terms of component thickness and weight, ancillary materials and building footprint.” The study confirms that the most common insulation materials show a comparable overall life cycle performance. Statistically significant differences are only identified for flat roofs where high mechanical performance requirements play in favour of polyurethane. The life cycle cost analysis concludes that polyurethane insulation systems are most cost-effective in all applications covered. “The study should allow refocusing the discussion on the essentials: the necessity to design low or zero energy buildings and the capacity of insulation materials to maintain their declared thermal performance over their entire life time,” Kotaji concluded. The PU Europe presentation is available here. 29 June 2010: Energy Action Plan: No energy policy without energy efficiency (29.06.2010)PU Europe today called on the European Commission to include comprehensive energy savings actions in the review of the EU’s Energy Strategy 2011-2020. Background: The Commission sees the overall goal of the EU’s energy policy in ensuring that consumers and enterprises obtain safe, secure, sustainable and low-carbon energy at affordable and competitive prices while ensuring supply security, combating climate change and stimulating growth and jobs. PU Europe welcomed the Commission’s intention to develop a far-reaching energy policy framework for the period 2011-2020. However, PU Europe believes that these goals will not be achieved without a comprehensive and ambitious policy towards saving energy. Investments in energy savings, especially in buildings which account for 40% of the EU’s primary energy use, tackle all of the issues identified by the Commission at a negative cost, i.e. they save money. Most supply side measures will not show the same level of cost-effectiveness. Oliver Loebel, the PU Europe secretary general commented: “In spite of all these positive side effects, Member States are unlikely to make full use of the energy savings potential as long as all related targets remain indicative. The June European Council clearly confirmed this assumption.” With this in mind, PU Europe calls for the following actions to be included in the Energy Action Plan:
“All the figures are at the table. It is now the responsibility of the European Commission to present an ambitious 2020 vision making full use of cost-effective energy savings potentials. It is good to know that the European Parliament would fully support this approach”, Loebel concluded. The letter is available here. 22 June 2010: EU Energy Saving Target Key to Achieving the New Europe 2020 Objectives (22.06.2010)A wide stakeholder coalition calls on the European heads of state for the inclusion of energy efficiency in the EU’s strategy towards a sustainable future. Background: In the wake of the June European Council, representatives of a range of business and professional associations and civil society interests expressed their disappointment as Member States did not pay more attention to energy saving when they endorsed the Europe 2020 strategy for steering the EU towards a smart, sustainable and inclusive economic future. However, improving energy efficiency to help meet the EU’s target of lowering energy use by 20% by 2020 is a win-win-win solution by generating a million new, local jobs, reducing imported energy dependency and helping Europe and its businesses take the lead in the global race for innovative and sustainable products. This perfectly responds to the objectives of the new 2020 objectives. On behalf of PU Europe, one of the signatories, Oliver Loebel commented, “Member States are increasingly reluctant to incentivise energy efficiency measures while struggling to reduce their public deficits. On the other hand, there is increasing evidence that public money spent on support schemes for end-users has a positive return on investment even for governments”. The stakeholder coalition is concerned that, at current rates, only half of the indicative 20% savings target will be achieved. The consequence of this failure will be an unnecessary additional cost to consumers of 78 billion Euros annually. New research shows that a three-fold increase in policy impact will be needed to achieve the 20% target. The next months therefore represent a narrow window of opportunity: the forthcoming Energy Action Plan and review of the 2006 Energy Efficiency Action Plan must set out the framework and new legislation to ensure that the savings gap is closed. “Making the 20% target mandatory, as again called for by the European Parliament last week, would be a first crucial step”, Loebel concluded. The letter is available here. 20 May 2010: PU Europe publishes Environmental Product Declaration (20.05.2010)PU Europe presented today a generic Environmental Product Declaration for PU insulation boards to increase the transparency of construction products markets. Background: An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a communication tool that provides quantified information on the potential environmental impacts of a product or process based on information from a life cycle assessment (LCA) over its entire lifetime or a part of it. An important advantage of using EPDs is the possibility to add LCA-based information in the supply chain. This feature makes EPDs particularly valuable for the building sector where the final building is based on a large number of materials, construction products, semi-manufactured products and processes. The EPD for PU was established through a third-party verified system based on the future CEN standard prEN 15804 and covers the cradle-to-gate phase of the product. On behalf of PU Europe, Shpresa Kotaji (Huntsman Polyurethanes and PU Europe Life Cycle Assessment expert) commented, “With the publication of our EPD, we do not only respond to an increasing market need, we also want to pro-actively increase market transparency and facilitate sustainable material choices at the building level.” It is indeed important to know that EPDs for construction products cannot simply be compared on the basis of a weight unit. Comparisons can only be performed at the level of the building so as to establish how much of a product is needed to meet certain design requirements and how material choices affect the overall building design in terms of ancillary materials, component weight and thickness, building footprint etc. The PU industry will further step up its efforts to optimise production technologies and processes. “We can expect these efforts to lead to significant improvements in the overall environmental balance of PU insulation products over the next few years”, Kotaji concluded. The environmental product declaration is available here. 22 April 2010: Energy Efficiency: Stakeholder coalition calls for financial framework (22.04.2010)A wide coalition of industry organisations and NGOs called on President Barroso to direct financial assistance towards energy efficiency. Background: It is estimated that at least €115m of the „Community financial assistance to projects in the field of energy‟, adopted in support of the European Economic Recovery Plan early 2009, might remain unused. The coalition calls on the European Commission to use these funds to support the more aggressive use of existing technologies to achieve greater energy efficiency across Europe. Significant energy savings will be required if the EU is to meet its challenging 20/20/20 and climate policy targets. According to recent analysis, achieving 20% energy savings by 2020 would result in net savings of €107 billion per year by 2020, meaning over €600 per household. This would also reduce Europe’s dependency on energy imports by 20% and provide a unique opportunity to create at least one million new jobs. On behalf of PU Europe, one of the signatories, Oliver Loebel commented, “If the 20% energy savings target is not met by 2020, although it is generally considered as the absolute minimum, the 2050 emission reduction targets will become completely out of reach. However, the political and financial measures in place today are insufficient if the EU wants to achieve its 20% savings target.” The signatories of the call recommend that the European Commission allocates these unspent funds to support the diffusion of energy efficiency under a financial framework set up by the European Investment Bank. These financial schemes could play a critical role in triggering investments in energy efficiency whilst being an effective way to ensure that European taxpayers’ money is wisely spent. The letter is available here. 23 MARCH 2010: PU Europe calls for ambitious EPBD implementation at EUSEW (24.03.2010)Speaking at DG Energy's Buildings Conference at EUSEW on 23rd March 2010, PU Europe stressed the need for real ambition in the EPBD implementation. Background: The conference “From recast to reality - Public authorities leading the way to more energy efficient buildings” brought together key stakeholders from the building sector and national authorities to discuss the opportunities and challenges relating to the implementation of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. On behalf of PU Europe, Oliver Loebel stated, “The success of the EPBD implementation largely depends on the commitment of Member States to achieve maximum energy savings. If there is a lack of will, the directive provides sufficient loopholes to avoid realising the full cost-effective savings potential”. To make the recast EPBD a success, Member States should start immediately with its implementation. Transitional targets for new buildings need to be set and cost-optimal levels determined. A permanent dialogue with the construction supply chain and building owners and users is of the utmost importance with a view to avoiding skills gaps and explain the benefits of the directive. Last but not least, appropriate incentive measures need to be established to overcome the problem of upfront financing. “The real challenge however is refurbishment. The current renovation rate of 1.2% means that it will take 90 years before the EU building stock is completely upgraded – a period of time that is too long if the European Union is to reach its long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.” Loebel concluded.
9 February 2010: Wide Stakeholder Coalition calls for focus on Energy Efficiency (10.02.2010)Ahead of the European Summit, businesses organisations, NGO's and MEP’s call on EU Heads of State to put the spotlight on energy efficiency. Background Ahead of the European Summit on 11 February, an unprecedented coalition of European businesses organisations, NGOs and parliamentarians are calling on EU Heads of State to make energy efficiency the first order priority for the EU’s economic recovery and new ‘EU2020’ strategy.
‘Sexy’ insulation a hit at Bright Green in Copenhagen (21.12.2009)Brussels, 18 December 2009: Obama has praised insulation as ‘sexy’, for its win-win capacity of saving money on energy bills, while tackling change. Background Brussels, 18 December 2009 – President Obama has recently praised insulation as ‘sexy’, in terms of its win-win capacity of saving money on energy bills for consumers, while at the same time tackling change. With that in mind, it is no wonder that the topic of energy efficiency in buildings is proving to be so popular for delegates in Copenhagen. The Polyurethanes industry, which produces the most efficient insulating materials on the market, participated as an exhibitor at the Bright Green Expo in Forum Copenhagen from 12 to 13 December. Their large and interactive stand attracted over a thousand visitors over the two-day period. The exhibition, sponsored by ISOPA, the European polyurethane raw material producers, and PU Europe representing the European polyurethane insulation industry, took place in parallel to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15). The Polyurethanes exhibit attracted a large number of visitors, as it highlighted the critical role of insulation in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrated the environmental and economic performance of polyurethane insulation products for low energy buildings. The stand also showcased some of the other environmental benefits of polyurethanes such as its energy efficient use in refrigerators which have models that are now 60% more efficient than refrigerators were 15 years ago. “There are still many who don’t realise that building insulation offers the largest CO2 savings potential of all energy efficiency improvement measures” said Wolfram Frank, Secretary General of ISOPA. “Having talked to so many policymakers over the last two days, we are getting the sense that politicians from around the world are waking up to this and that they are starting to realise that insulation is not only integral to fighting climate change but that it will save people money as well.” Oliver Loebel, Secretary General of PU Europe, commented: “We need to create awareness around presently available solutions that will make a big difference and that can already be introduced now. Insulating buildings to optimal standards is really the low hanging fruit in the whole fight against climate change and could reduce global CO2 emissions by 20%.” Now that policymakers are waking up to this sexy appeal, it is up to them and the industry as a whole to incentivise the public into seeing the attraction. More information on PU insulation can be found on www.excellence-in-insulation.eu More information on Bright Green: www.brightgreen.dk The last PU Europe Newsletter of 2009 is now available on the Extranet (15.12.2009)Polyurethanes industry participates in Bright Green Copenhagen (09.12.2009)Brussels, 9th December 2009 – The Polyurethanes industry will participate as an exhibitor at the Bright Green Expo in Copenhagen from 12 to 13 December, with a stand sponsored by ISOPA and PU Europe.
Press announcement
The Bright Green exhibition takes place in parallel to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) and is an event that will give participants the opportunity to showcase the business response to the climate challenge, in particular to present the solutions and technologies developed by different sectors to tackle climate change. The Polyurethanes exhibit will highlight the critical role of insulation in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrate the environmental and economic performance of polyurethane insulation products for low energy buildings. The stand will also showcase some of the other environmental benefits of polyurethanes such as its energy efficient use in refrigerators. “We wanted to be in Copenhagen at Bright Green to show our ongoing commitment to engaging with policymakers and to contribute to the climate debate,” said Wolfram Frank, Secretary General of ISOPA. “There are still many who don’t realise that building insulation offers the largest CO2 savings potential of all energy efficiency improvement measures.” Oliver Loebel, Secretary General of PU Europe, commented: “We need to create awareness around presently available solutions that will make a big difference and that can already be introduced now. Our goal is to make important little-known facts well known; for instance, that insulating buildings to optimal standards could reduce global CO2 emissions by 20%.” A cocktail reception “The fundamental importance of conserving energy in buildings“ will be hosted at the stand on Sunday 13 December 2009, from 12.00 to 13.00, offering an opportunity to discuss the key role of buildings in tackling climate change and in particular how this sector could help in reaching the new reduction targets that will be discussed in Copenhagen. There will also be a short demonstration of passive housing. The Polyurethanes stand can be visited at the Bright Green exhibition, stand number 44, on 12-13 December 2010.
More information on polyurethane insulation can be found on www.excellence-in-insulation.eu More information on Bright Green: www.brightgreen.dk
For more information, please contact:
PU Europe was originally founded in 1981 as BING to become the European voice for the National trade associations representing the rigid urethane insulation industry. Today PU Europe represents foam producers, raw material suppliers and component manufacturers from eleven EU Member States. The involvement of the entire value chain means that PU Europe is able to access and disseminate solid scientific data and life cycle information on polyurethane insulation products. ISOPA is the European Diisocyanate and Polyol Producers Trade Association. Diisocyanates and Polyols are the main building blocks for polyurethanes. ISOPA promotes the highest standards of best practice in the distribution and use of these raw materials, ensures that all stakeholders can easily access accurate and up-to-date information on diisocyanates and polyols, and shows how polyurethanes help fulfil society's present and future needs. ISOPA’s eight members are Bayer Material Science, BorsodChem, Dow, Elastogran, Huntsman, Perstorp, Repsol, and Shell Chemicals. PU Europe welcomes agreement on Buildings directive (18.11.2009)PU Europe applauds Trilogue agreement on the recast Energy Performance of Buildings directive. The Trilogue agreement of 17th November on the recast Energy Performance of Buildings directive is good news for the energy efficiency of Europe’s buildings and a strong message to the COP 15 negotiations starting on 7th December in Copenhagen. PU Europe applauds the strong will of all those involved in the negotiations to reach an ambitious compromise on a complex matter within a short period of time. In particular the European Parliament, led by rapporteur Silvia-Adriana Ticau, has shown real determination throughout the process. PU Europe welcomes in particular the following elements of the recast directive:
In addition, PU Europe strongly supports the agreed provision on the display of the Energy Performance Certificates in commercial and public buildings, the leading role of public authorities in implementing the recommendations on the Energy Performance Certificate and the obligation to inform buyers and tenants about the efficiency rating and proposed improvement measures. National governments must now take the necessary steps to ensure full and timely implementation of the directive. Commission proposal for the CPR (17.11.2009)PU Europe welcomes revised Commission proposal for the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). The revised CPR proposal clarifies a number of important issues and can be supported by PU Europe in most of the points. More specifically, PU Europe cannot accept CE marking without a declaration of performance being drawn up. With a view to avoiding an empty declaration in Member States without product requirements, a small number of essential characteristics could be defined per product group. These characteristics would have to be declared wherever the product is put on the market. Manufacturers should be allowed but not obliged to declare the performance regarding characteristics which are not mandatory. PU Europe supports the Commission position according to which no information on dangerous substances should be added to the declaration of performance. This is already covered by REACH and the Basic Works Requirement 3. PU Europe also believes that marks in addition to the CE mark cannot be made mandatory. Finally, PU Europe welcomes the Commission’s decision to accept the Parliament amendment according to which the use of ETAs is limited to construction products not covered or not fully covered by a harmonised standard. More details here. Energy Efficiency Industry call (04.11.2009)Energy Efficiency Industry calls on Commission to adopt ambitious Energy Efficiency Action Plan. The European Energy Efficiency Industry Forum has expressed its regrets that the presentation by the Commission of the third EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan had been postponed. In a letter addressed to Commission President Barroso, the Forum calls on the EU executive to use the delay to develop a truly ambitious and deliverable final proposal, with clear implementation and timetable details. The letter is available here. Eco-label for buildings (13.10.2009)The eco-label for buildings is on the wrong track and will not be accepted by the market, says PU Europe. PU Europe, the European poluyrethane insulation association, has called on the European Commission to press for a fundamental review of the draft eco-label criteria for buildings. The label development should be based on a scientifically sound method, respect binding eco-label procedures and include a true dialogue with construction supply chain members. PU Europe strongly recommends that the work should start with the most relevant ecological indicator which is resource consumption during the building’s use phase. Environmental requirements ought to be based on existing ISO or the future CEN/TC350 indicators and health aspects should refer to the standards developed by CEN/TC351. Read more. PU Europe newsletter (12.10.2009)PU Europe newsletter 6-09 is now available on the PU Europe extranet. Energy performance of buildings directive (17.09.2009)PU Europe: Recast must include at least three key elements if the EU really means business when it comes to climate change.
PU Europe calls on Member States to pave the way for a truly ambitious EPBD recast and accept at least these three key aspects in the final text. This would provide the EU with a powerful tool to combat climate change and bring much-needed new impetus to the COP 15 negotiations starting on 7th December 2009. The Union’s credibility would indeed suffer if new building legislation was adopted in a halfhearted manner on the day of the conference start. Moreover, it would be in contradiction to daily statements hinting at buildings as the largest energy using sector and the one with the highest cost efficient savings potential. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates at 70-75% the long-term energy savings potential for new build and this without additional costs or with very limited additional costs for owners. The total feasible potential for energy savings by renovation and refurbishment is estimated at 55-80% depending on the building type and region. More details here. European polyurethane insulation industry adopts new name (31.08.2009)PU Europe replaces BING as the name of the European polyurethane insulation association. PU Europe is the new name of the European association of polyurethane insulation – formerly known as BING. “With this move, we want to establish a closer link between the products we represent and the name of our organisation”, the association’s secretary general Oliver Loebel said. “With the new European Parliament and Commission coming in, this change in name was very timely”. There are indeed numerous challenges waiting for strong input from the polyurethane insulation industry. The revised energy performance of buildings directive is in the legislative process and a number of parallel sustainability initiatives such as eco-design, energy labelling, eco-labelling, green public procurement and a new basic works requirement of the future construction product regulation offer both risks and opportunities. Other current priorities include the implementation of REACH, the development of new EU rules for ozone depleting substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases and the European waste policy. “With polyurethane, we have a fantastic thermal insulation product to meet the requirements of low energy buildings”, says Loebel. “On the other hand, we see that a lot of awareness raising still needs to be done to show that with polyurethane, low energy buildings do not require major design adjustments. This is an important competitive advantage for our products.” PU Europe has therefore launched a communication campaign and will have a joint exhibition stand with ISOPA at the world climate summit in Copenhagen (13-14 December 2009). The organisation has its head office in Brussels and represents nine national trade associations and 20 supplier members. This makes PU Europe a unique platform which brings together the whole supply chain and allows for significant synergies in areas such as research and interest representation. To mark the event, PU Europe has developed new websites for the association (www.pu-europe.eu) and for polyurethane insulation in general (www.excellence-in-insulation.eu). PU Europe newsletter (04.08.2009)PU Europe newsletter 5-09 is now available on the PU Europe extranet. Green Public Procurement (04.08.2009)The draft Green Public Procurement criteria for insulation are not acceptable!, says BING. More details here. Energy Efficiency Action Plan (17.07.2009)PU Europe supports an ambitious revision of the EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan. More details here. PU Europe newsletter (16.06.2009)PU Europe newsletter 4-09 is now available on the PU Europe extranet. Construction Products Regulation (11.06.2009)BING calls on the Council to reject the Parliament amendments 49 and 101. Read more. PU Europe newsletter (29.04.2009)PU Europe newsletter 3-09 is available on the PU Europe extranet. |
6 September 2010: Business and NGOs Unite to Urge Energy Ministers to Triple Efforts on Energy Savings and Efficiency
Benefits highlighted as key to success for ‘Europe2020’ strategy.
30 June 2010: PU Europe presents study on life cycle performance of insulation products
Polyurethane insulation shows the lowest life cycle costs in all applications covered by a recent research on life cycle performance of insulation materials.
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