As long as it is common practice to demolish buildings and construct replacement buildings, and there is no targeted promotion of preservation and conversion, a lot of important resources and gray energy will be lost. Although this has long been known—at least in specialist circles—far too few buildings are being converted. Many building owners still prefer to focus on new buildings that promise a higher return. In doing so, they are driving forward the problematic production of new building materials. Activists now want to put a stop to this throughout the EU. To this end, they have launched HouseEurope, a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) calling for the formulation of new EU laws that prioritize the renovation and transformation of existing buildings over demolition and new construction. At the same time, renovation projects should be easier, cheaper, and more socially acceptable to implement.

But how can this be achieved? The initiative is based on three pillars: Firstly, there needs to be tax relief for renovations and reused building materials; secondly, fair rules for assessing the risks and potential of existing buildings; and thirdly, recognition (and crediting) of the CO₂ that is tied up in existing buildings in the form of gray energy. Presented last October, the collection of signatures to continue the initiative began in February. Launched as an ECI, HouseEurope requires the votes of one million citizens from at least seven EU countries within one year. If this is achieved, the European Commission will be directly and democratically called upon to propose new legislation in areas where the EU has competence.

At the presentation of the initiative, Arno Brandlhuber, an architect and urban planner who is promoting the cause alongside Alina Kär, Olaf Grawert, and other like-minded people, explained that real political reforms at international level can only be achieved through a successful European Citizens' Initiative. Putting the protection of existing buildings on the EU's political agenda is long overdue, as the construction industry in particular releases large quantities of climate-damaging greenhouse gases and consumes many valuable resources. If HouseEurope achieves enough votes, a big step will have been taken. However, this would not be a guarantee of positive change: although the European Commission would be obliged to examine the proposals, it is up to the EC whether it then proposes new legislation, pursues the initiative in another form. or takes no action at all.

Anyone who would like to get involved will find on the ECI website the option for European citizens to sign, an interactive “Renovation Atlas” on the HouseEurope website featuring examples of best practices from past decades, and the half-hour documentary film “Power to Renovation: A Question of Values” on HouseEurope's YouTube channel. The last is also embedded here: