Build Better Lives is a pan-European campaign centered in Brussels that unites over 90 civil society organizations focused on social justice, housing, climate, and youth issues. It pushes for policy changes to deliver decent, affordable, energy-efficient homes, targeting energy poverty through renovations and decarbonization of buildings.
Launched to influence EU legislation like the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the campaign highlights real-world examples across Europe. In Hoeselt, Belgium, the Sociale EnergieSprong project renovates social housing rapidly using industrial methods for affordability and low emissions. Nearby in Schaerbeek, Brussels, Foyer Schaerbeekois manages the Colonel Bourg project, applying passive building standards to create energy-efficient units for vulnerable residents.
Other cases include Salzburg's Wir inHAUSer initiative against energy poverty, Italy's Fiorita Passive House—the country's first multi-apartment building certified by Germany's Passive House Institute—and Spain's Vilawatt in Viladecans, which finances community energy upgrades. France's Grand Parc Bordeaux refurbished 530 social housing units from the 1960s, while projects in Poland, Greece, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Basque Country demonstrate neighbourhood-level efforts combining efficiency with social equity.
The campaign maps these stories to press governments for inclusive implementation of building and heating laws, emphasizing collective action over individual efforts.