A view from within: advocating for EU citizens right to act collectively at community scale

Panel: 2. Policy innovations to ensure, scale and sustain action

Author:
Nelson Silva Brito, University of Coimbra - Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Portugal

Abstract

Although collective problems are seldom solved individually, European Union (EU) building decarbonization strategies favor individual approaches: from diverse transpositions of Directives all the way to Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), improvement measures, advice, financing schemes and local aid, everything is proposed and measured individually. Although exceptions are acceptable to encompass national and personal preferences, bureaucratic individualism imposes added costs and burdens. EU citizens are required to become “instant specialists” with wise(?) decisions, or a simple “paying sp€ctators”. For the other EU citizens, those trusting community wisdom to filter and explain adequate choices, leverage negotiation power and reduce costs, economic and environmental, there is no alternative nor Critical Path.(Fuller, 1982).

This monologue proposes that community scale fosters applied innovation, cost reduction, problem-solving diversity, versatility, resilience, replicability, favoring high added value products, services and solutions for worldwide diplomacy. Europe has the motivation, resources, capacity, and diversity to foster a paradigm change, yet the current processes are hindered by 1970’s approaches to 2050 goals.

In their almost 20 years EPCs evolved from individually comparing historic buildings to new ones with the same rules—comparing apples to oranges—to a 1970’s “closed-boundary” scientific argument to wrap “apples” with “orange’s peel and pith” to better “protect” them. Although assuming that “At the current pace, the decarbonisation of the building sector would require centuries.” (Revision of the EPBD, 2021), this document proposes “phased introduction of mandatory minimum energy performance standards (…), and to extend progressively the requirements to other buildings” (idem, p.2). In short this "shadow" standard proposes that making all apples look like oranges will decarbonize the building sector without demonstrating results. Are these mostly imported fossil-energy based solutions (insulation plastics, leaky greenhouse gas emissions heat pumps, rare earth renewable energy sources, new periphery “green” concrete Nearly Zero Energy Buildings and high embodied energy electric cars) the only way forward? Will displacing our emissions solve our collective problem?

This monologue proposes that accepting buildings and their users within their physical/virtual communities lowers economic and environmental costs—contextual, assessment, design, licensing, contracting, construction/renovation, operational, maintenance, dismantling,… —while tackling key issues: “Addressing resource efficiency and circularity principles in order to reduce whole lifecycle emissions, digitalisation, climate resilience and health and environmental standards also requires consideration (idem, p3). Communities, physical or virtual, are the perfect “sandbox” for applied innovation, versatility, and replicability, but have no legal framework. What effect would EU-wide replicable solutions (with designs, contracts, metrics and the rest) have in EU market synergies and scale?

Assuming that collective problems are best solved together, this monologue addresses a 2015 eceee Summer Study neighborhood awarded strategy (“Common Efficacy”, 4mn video at https://www.uc.pt/en/efs/destaques/2016/vinci) to illustrate these current legal barriers, and to propose multiple dialogues:

1) Do EU citizens have the right to act collectively at community scale? If so, should this be advocated using a “citizens' initiative” (Lisbon Treaty, 2012, p. 58), existing provisions like “the establishment and development of trans-European networks in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures.” (idem, p.124), or other approaches like scientific papers?

2) Should community scale initiatives have EU-wide streamlined pathways to achieve 2050 decarbonization goals?

3) How can we make it happen soon? Is there a new action role for eceee?

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