C 184/18
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
25.5.2023
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Wooden construction for CO2 reduction in the building sector’ (exploratory opinion requested by the Swedish Presidency) (2023/C 184/04)
Rapporteur: Rudolf KOLBE Co-rapporteur: Sam HÄGGLUND
Referral
Swedish Presidency, 14.11.2022
Legal basis
Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Plenary Assembly decision
14.12.2022
Section responsible
Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society
Adopted in section
7.3.2023
Adopted at plenary
22.3.2023
Plenary session No
577
Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions)
153/2/4
1.
Conclusions and recommendations 1.1.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) sees bio-based building materials as an important lever to drive the green transition.
An increase in the share of wood in construction to reduce carbon emissions must be promoted through active and sustainable forest management in the EU and should be not hampered by policy constraints.
1.2.
Given the public sector’s capacity to lead by example, the EESC calls on the Member States to increase the use of wood in public buildings, which is below the overall average.
1.3.
The EESC also considers that easily accessible support measures to help SMEs research, develop and innovate on alternative building materials are an important means of exploiting the potential of timber construction.
1.4.
The EESC suggests that barriers to timber construction arising from formal, legal and technical requirements should be scrutinised as to their necessity with respect to planning quality, and notes that innovations must be able to comply with the state of the art not only by meeting standards, but also through the use of ‘equivalent alternative solutions’.
1.5.
As different building regulations also create barriers to the use of renewable building materials, the EESC calls for harmonisation measures and sees the New European Bauhaus (NEB) as an important driver in this connection.
1.6.
The EESC recommends the consistent use of life cycle assessments for expert sustainability assessments over the whole life cycle of buildings and when comparing environmental impacts.
1.7.
The EESC stresses the importance of minimum standards for life-cycle carbon emissions from buildings and for the corresponding carbon reporting requirement across the construction sector.
1.8.
The EESC sees the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) as the main policy tool for setting requirements to reduce carbon emissions over the full life-cycle of buildings.
The EESC calls on the European Commission to develop a carbon certification scheme that takes full account of the role that wood products play in offsetting emissions.