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Old buildings have potential to be heroes

Old buildings have potential to be heroes

Written By Mikael Olofsson•Date Published 2025-02-05

Energy efficiency is a hot topic in Europe. To save energy and to be able to achieve the EU’s target of zero-emission building stock by 2050, upgrading the energy efficiency of existing buildings is a must. The solution is to make energy renovations both easy and profitable, writes Mikael Olofsson, OC Paroc Product Manager.

There is no point in wasting energy. And still that is what happens in Europe every single day. Let’s begin with a few facts:

In Europe, we have a lot of buildings that were built in the 1960s and 1970s. In Sweden alone, there are approximately 2 million detached houses of which 800,000 are in the three worst energy classes E, F and G.

In fact, 85% of the buildings in the EU were built before the year 2000 and according to the European Commission, 75% of the existing building stock has a poor energy performance. That means they are not energy efficient.

This is a huge portion of the building stock, especially because buildings in the EU are responsible for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions.

It feels safe to say that without increasing the energy efficiency of old and existing buildings, the EU’s target of climate neutral Europe by 2050 cannot be reached.


Insulation reduces energy use

So why are we not seeing a huge wave of energy renovations? There are two answers: lack of information and lack of incentives.

People can spend a lot of money on kitchen renovations, for example, because it is something you can witness with your eyes and show your friends. Fixing the house’s insulation is not as alluring, as it is not something you can see – until the electricity bill arrives.

It has been pointed out by Swedisol, the Swedish industry organization of mineral wool suppliers and distributors, that an increase from an energy class of G to an E in a house improves the indoor climate and reduces the home’s energy use by two-thirds.

That is an amount that translates into savings very quickly, especially with the energy prices of the past few years. Still, home and building owners should be offered more incentives to prioritize energy renovation projects. Governments could – and one could say should – offer building owners tax deductions and benefits if the renovation increases energy efficiency.


Easiness is key

To upgrade the energy efficiency of a house, the fastest, easiest and also the cheapest way is to add insulation to the attic. The more comprehensive solution is renewing the insulation of the walls, which is often done at the same time as the facade is being renovated. At OC Paroc, we have also developed solutions where additional insulation is installed on top of the existing facade construction.

We want to provide solutions that fit different kinds of buildings and are, above all, easy to install. Insulation stands out because it is not only simple to install but also significantly enhances the energy efficiency of buildings compared to other methods like renewable energy technologies. As a result, insulation is often the most cost-effective way to boost energy efficiency and lower energy bills.

With the help of added insulation, old buildings could easily be the heroes of the future.


Mikael Olofsson

Product Manager
OC Paroc

Paroc Mikael Olofsson
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