European ETICS Forum 2025

The program was split into two parts. The morning session addressed the political framework conditions for energy-efficiency renovations and new construction. It marked the Italian partner event of the Renovate Europe Day which took place the week before in Copenhagen/Denmark. The afternoon was dedicated to specific ETICS topics.

In his presentation EAE Managing Director Ralf Pasker presented key figures about Europe’s building stock and highlighted that the sector plays an important role to achieve the European Union’s political objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal – the block’s plan for competitiveness and decarbonization by 2050. With only 25 years left to achieve the decarbonization of Europe’s huge and aging building stock comprising 112 million buildings (in 2020). 75% of those are assumed energy inefficient, being responsible for 36% of Europe’s CO2 emissions and 40% of the energy demand, around 2/3 of it used for space heating and cooling alone. 90% of these buildings will still exist in 2050 and most of them are still in need of energy-efficiency renovation. With arrears on utility bills of 6,9% and with 10,6% of households not being able to keep their homes adequately warm because of energy poverty, both the social and economic dimensions of the challenges emerge. Ralf Pasker complemented his presentation with latest figures about the development of the European ETICS market, mentioning quite positive examples like Poland, Romania and Czechia where thanks to predictable framework conditions stable (at high level) or constantly growing renovation rates involving ETICS could be observed over recent years. Despite recent downturns in Italy due to the sharp reduction of financial support the Superbonus 110% led to awareness rising and to a significantly higher level of renovations compared to the period before. In contrast, the situation in Germany was presented as an example of significant negative impacts in case of stop-and-go policy-making. The key message, repeated by various speakers throughout the day: the construction sector needs predictable framework conditions and requests a bold implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

Cortexa president Stefano Deri unveiled the key findings of a recent study among more than 300 designers in Italy about their attitudes to energy-efficient construction. ETICS is seen as the most relevant and effective system to contribute to the EPBD objective to decarbonize Europe’s building stock. One amazing outcome: with around 30% designers stated that increasing living comfort marks to most relevant reason for choosing ETICS – even more important than the energy savings. ETICS can achieve both in parallel. To achieve the promised results, designers identified two main aspects: the use of ETICS kit as certified and placed on the market by one manufacturer and the installation by skilled installers. Two aspects that were later supported in presentations of EAE’s Chairman Federico Tedeschi explaining why system loyalty is important, and by Dr. Clemens Hecht who presented the training and certification system for installers as established by EAE’s Austrian member association QG Wärmedämmsysteme.

The first part of the discussions about the EPBD implementation moderated by Moderated by Giuseppe Latour, journalist at Il Sole 24 Ore, was started by interventions of Stefano Cera (Renovate Italy) and Christoph M. Stolz (EAE board member, Germany). Both clearly pointed out the urgency of increasing efforts to make the building stock more energy efficient. This will not only support those who cannot afford keeping their homes adequately warm and healthy but also strengthens Europe’s and Italy’s dependency on energy imports as today the majority of buildings is still heated via fossil fuels. Serena Pontoglio (European Commission, DG Energy) underpinned the messages. Moreover, she explained the various and inter-connected political initiatives of the European Union to achieve a decarbonized building stock by 2050, to support affordable housing and to strengthen Europe’s energy security. This requires holistic approaches that finally also improve Europe’s competitiveness as the construction sector is one of the biggest sectors in the EU with predominantly local, regional and truly European value chains. She explained in depth how the European Commission supports member states in the EPBD implementation. The following round table discussion involved Gianluca Comazzi (Region of Lombardia, Italy), Emanuele Ferraloro (President of Federcostruzioni, Italy) and Filippo Colonna (responsible of Working Group Advocacy at Cortexa). They all requested a bold EPBD implementation in Italy and demonstrated that the value chain stands ready, willing to contribute to economic growth.

The following session was moderated by Céline Carré (Head of Public Affairs at Saint-Gobain group, France). After listening to a recorded keynote by EU Commissioner Dan Jorgensen providing some insights on latest discussions at European level, Adrian Joyce (Campaign Director at Renovate Europe) inspired and encouraged the audience presenting numerous examples of the opportunities building renovations offer, which measures turned out to be successful in selected member states to stimulate deep renovations. Key elements identified: predictability, one-stop-shops to guide building owners through the renovation journey and leveraging financing through both grants and loans provided through both public and private institutions. The following round table discussions involving Juri Franzosi (Director General at Lombardini 22, design company), Adrian Joyce, Christoph M. Stolz and Ralf Pasker also addressed the social aspects of affordable housing and how building contributions can support this.