Energy buildings, challenges, perspectives

The example of a radical, “sustainable” renovation of the historical building of EYATH in Egnatia St. was presented by the company’s president, Agis Papadopoulos, at the international conference “Energy Efficiency in Buildings 2023”, organized a few days ago in Athens.

In the section on “Energy modernization of buildings in the tertiary sector: perspectives and challenges”, Mr. Papadopoulos presented the reconstruction of the Egnatia St. 117 building as an example of a public building that is being renovated from the ground up, in order to meet the requirements of the next decades in terms of energy and environmental issues performance, anti-seismicity, functionality and of course architectural perception.

As Mr. Papadopoulos said from the stage of the conference, the energy efficiency of the majority of buildings in the tertiary sector in Greece is not satisfactory. Among other things, according to him, the delay in establishing regulations, the lack of control mechanisms, the very low cost of energy in the past and the operating model of the construction industry contributed to this.

“The positive reading is that the scope for savings is very large. The technological solutions exist, but there are difficulties and barriers. For example, energy savings are not measurable, not easily financed and not politically attractive. However, it is good to remember that the real benefit of saving is the cost of avoiding not only the value of conventional fuel, but also its subsidy – visible or invisible”, said the president of EYATH.

The public sector and large companies must set – and in many cases already do – a good example, proceeding with the comprehensive, ground-up renovation of their buildings, so that they can meet the multiple demands of the next decades, Mr. Papadopoulos concluded.