Sustainable Construction & Climate-resilient Homes

Buildings account for roughly a third of EU emissions — split between the carbon locked into materials and construction (embodied carbon) and the carbon emitted during operation (heating, cooling, electricity). This topic brings together two related fields: sustainable construction (how new and renovated buildings minimise embodied carbon through circular materials, biobased construction, and design-for-disassembly) and climate-resilient operation (how the existing stock is retrofitted for energy efficiency, fossil-free heating, and resilience to a warming European climate). Resources here cover material innovation, retrofit techniques, energy-poverty interventions, and the EU Renovation Wave policy framework.