Sustainable cooling is a path to recovery

BELGIUM: EPEE has welcomed the recently announced EU Recovery Plan, seeing it as an opportunity to prioritise clean air and promote investment in sustainable heating and cooling solutions.

EPEE – the European Partnership for Energy and Environment – says the EU Recovery Plan flags an urgent need to boost residential and public building renovations to kick-start the EU economy and reduce emissions, therefore, setting the right direction to prioritise clean air.

Andrea Voigt, EPEE’s Director General said: “Heat pumps, district heating and cooling, waste heat recovery – these are all solutions to use energy more efficiently, taking an integrated approach to heating and cooling and supporting the phase out of fossil fuels. They also come with an important additional, and often underestimated positive side-effect: the significant improvement of the air that we breathe. This is true for our outdoor environment but even more so indoors where Europeans spend on average 90% of their time, working, learning, shopping, and socialising.

“Investing into sustainable heating and cooling is a true win-win solution in the broader context of Europe’s green recovery. It will ensure improved health, productivity and well-being of citizens while boosting the economy and delivering on energy and climate goals.”