In The Guardian‘s website, an article titled “EU agrees deal to cut emissions from homes and buildings” focuses on the agreement between MEPs and member states that sets targets to decrease emissions from buildings, citing Boeri Studio’s Bosco Verticale as a virtuous solution.
Under the agreement, new buildings in the EU will be required to have no emissions from fossil fuels by 2030, and boilers using such sources will be banned by 2040, under a new Energy and Housing Agreement.
Under the agreement, member states will have to reduce the average primary energy used in homes by at least 16 percent by 2030 and at least 20 percent by 2035.
More than a third of the EU’s pollution and emissions, in fact, come from its buildings: the big challenge is to regenerate the millions of old buildings, as well as, when necessary, to build according to eco-sustainability criteria.
The Bosco Verticale in Milan is cited as an example of this approach, a new way of thinking about architecture by integrating living nature within it, not as a mere ornamental element, but as a primary and fundamental part of architectural design.
And the benefits brought by trees are needed more than ever in European cities, now subject to worryingly high temperatures and pollution levels. First, they convert CO2 into oxygen; they are also much needed to provide shade, to counteract the heat island effect, to clean the air by filtering out fine particulate pollutants, to increase biodiversity, and to create an overall beneficial microclimate, thus reducing the need for energy consumption related to cooling – it has been calculated that the temperature difference on the surface of facades, thanks to the shelter of trees, is about 30 degrees less, while inside apartments 3-4 degrees.
To read the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/08/eu-agrees-deal-to-cut-emissions-in-homes-and-buildings