The Drive 0 team organised a full-day in-person field trip, which brought together 15 Greek members of various important EU umbrella associations (Architects’ Council of Europe, International Union of Property Owners, Housing Europe) and other construction stakeholders to discuss the state and future of the Greek circular renovation market. The event took place in Athens (and its surroundings) on 29 September from 9:00-17:00 EET, and was part of the EUSEW (EU Sustainable Energy Week) as a Sustainable Energy Day activity.
The day programme featured two site visits to the demonstration projects sites of the H2020 ProGETonE and Drive 0 project whilst also visiting a construction and demolition waste recycle company. There we had the opportunity for open discussion to exchange perspectives on potential of circular solutions in Greek construction sector, identify good practices and brainstorm on solutions to overcome common challenges and harness untapped potentials.
Background: While the built environment is responsible for 40% of final energy consumption in the EU where our buildings in EU are emitting more CO2 than any other sector. Within the EU more than 50% of all extracted materials are attributed to buildings. 25%-30% of waste streams generated in the EU derives from construction and demolition. Construction and demolition waste is one of the heaviest and most voluminous waste streams generated in the EU – more than three times as much as all the household waste. What does this tell us? That we need to change and rethink the current way of the way we do renovations and instead ‘’take, use & dispose’, rather apply: ‘’reduce, reuse and recycle’’. Innovative EU-funded projects such as Drive 0 play an important role in catalysing efforts to future-proof and decarbonize Europe’s building stock.
Find the Drive 0 event on the EUSEW website here.
