Decarbonisation and electrification of the building stock according to the EPBD IV: from expense to investment

Climate change and progressive electrification is expected to gradually change buildings energy demand, sharpening peak electricity consumption, especially during summer. In parallel, the decarbonisation targets set for the coming years by the European Union, and in particular by the last EBPD, establish the transition to a zero-emission level for the building sector. Consequently, increasing the resilience of buildings to climate change and the implementation of the objectives of the EPBD IV impose some critical issues, one of the main ones being the costs to be incurred to renovate the building stock, both public and private. Thus, this paper examines the economic feasibility of buildings retrofitting, with particular reference to the Italian context. Obtained outcomes show how, thanks to an effective implementation of the EPBD IV, the systemisation of incentives, energy savings and public/private forms of financing can transform the required transition from an expense into an investment.