The need to promote sustainability in construction

Numerous data support the important contribution that the building sector can make to achieving the decarbonisation targets set out in the 2030 and 2050 Agenda.

According to European Union (EU) data, buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions. For its part, the IDAE quantifies that, in Spain, more than 80% of buildings and homes receive an energy rating of E, F or G due to their great constructive inefficiency as they were built before 1980, prior to energy efficiency regulations.

Long-term strategy

The long-term strategy for energy refurbishment in the building sector in Spain (ERESEE, 2020) estimates that the volume of refurbishment should increase fivefold to reach an average of 120,000 refurbished dwellings per year and meet the decarbonisation targets set for 2050.

Moreover, according to recent data from Andimac, the association representing the professional distribution of building and refurbishment materials, 1.8 million homes will be refurbished in 2024, only 1% more than in 2023, resulting in a drop in refurbishment approvals of 8.5%.

There are several levers that help the sector’s evolution towards sustainability. On the one hand, increasingly demanding regulations, such as the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) (approved by the EU in March 2024), which foresees that all buildings will receive an A or B energy rating from 2040. In addition, the sector is receiving impulses such as the EU’s Next Generation funds, which are partly earmarked for the energy renovation of buildings. Finally, and very importantly, the role of an increasingly aware society, which has the need to evolve and will demand ever more sustainable buildings.

Sustainability in construction: a commitment to ESG criteria

The adoption of these ESG criteria at Molins is an essential pillar of our business mission and vision. These criteria are integrated transversally in our day-to-day operations and in our medium and long-term strategies, with a Roadmap 2030 and the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.