In his welcome address, EAE President Jacek W. Kulig (Poland) emphasized that the dependency on energy imports and the path to a climate-neutral economy can only succeed with a massive reduction in the energy consumption of buildings. ETICS play an important role and the industry is ready to deliver. At the same time, he warned his members that, in addition to the technical, ecological and economic arguments, they had to do even more to address customers emotionally. Alluding to the EAE slogan “ETICS are amazing”, he called out to the participants: “Let’s make ETICS sexy!”
Market overview ETICS in Europe
Ralf Pasker, EAE Managing Director, reported on the latest developments in the European ETICS market. The political impulses, flanked by funding programs in the EU member states, are showing their first effects. These vary from state to state. An increasing demand for ETICS could be observed in almost all countries in 2021. This was particularly evident in France and Spain (both +29%), but especially in Italy, where a doubling of demand was observed. According to Pasker, the various funding programs, which were reported on as examples in the further course of the conference, boost sales, and the EAE is also working on identifying further success factors. The exchange among the EAE members makes a significant contribution to this. “When looking at the per capita sales of ETICS, it is striking that these are significantly higher in EU countries with a lower gross domestic product (GDP). Slovakia was again the leader. Apparently, heating costs have so far made up a significantly higher proportion of households’ disposable income,” explained Pasker, “therefore savings through insulation are moving into focus. The product availability and the availability of skilled labor force in all countries currently remain a challenge.”
Circular economy is becoming increasingly important
According to EAE findings, the market shares of ETICS with different insulating materials have hardly changed recently. Shifts tend to be project-related, depending on product availability. There is a tendency towards products made from renewable raw materials, however starting from a low level. Mineral wool is gaining importance in some countries due to the adaptation of building regulations (fire protection requirements). After all, circular economy plays an increasingly important role, as it does for the entire construction sector. According to Ralf Pasker, the EAE and its members will remain active in this regard.
Triple renovation rate needed
Along with other top-class speakers from all over Europe, Adrian Joyce, Director of the “Renovate Europe” campaign, which is also supported by the EAE, emphasized that the forthcoming revisions of important European directives must put energy efficiency first. This is the only way to quickly replace the remaining much lower energy demand by renewable energy sources. The technologies, especially in the area of insulating the building envelope, are available. They just have to be implemented much more consistently. To do this, the renovation rate would have to be almost tripled to 3% per year.
At the end, EAE Vice President Prof. Zuzana Sternova thanked all speakers for their informative contributions (including the newly introduced podium discussions at the end of each session) and in particular the Czech member association CZB for the successful co-organization of the event. The 7th European ETICS Forum is planned for 2024. After the great success of the previous year, the celebration of the EAE Awards for extraordinary ETICS objects is planned for 2023.
Pictures (© EAE):
- ETICS Forum 2022_audience_1 2022-05-19: Around 120 participants followed EAE’s 6th European ETICS Forum 2022 in Prague
- ETICS Forum 2022_Pasker_1 2022-05-19: EAE Managing Director Ralf Pasker presented latest developments in the European ETICS market
- ETICS Forum 2022_Svoboda+Pasker 2022-05-19: EAE Managing Director Ralf Pasker (right) thanked Pavel Svoboda, President of the Czech ETICS Association CZB for the successful co-organisation of the event
About EAE
The EAE is the European umbrella organization of ETICS associations from 12 European countries, the five important European associations of the supplier indus-try and 17 leading manufacturers and research institutes. The EAE represents more than 80 percent of the European market for ETICS and ETICS components. The EAE is a member of Construction Products Europe, the European Association of Building Materials Manufacturers, and of ECCREDI – The European Council for Construction Research, Development and Innovation. In addition, the EAE repre-sents the European ETICS industry in the standardization committees of CEN, at EOTA and in relation to the European Commission and other institutions. The EAE is also a partner of the Renovate Europe initiative.
EAE members
