The following is an interview with Robert H. Donkers, Counselor for Environmental Affairs at the European Commission Delegation in Washington DC. It represents solely the opinion of the interviewee and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Commission.
bridges: What is the current number of
"green buildings" in Europe? Are there specific goals that the European
Union has set in terms of the increase in sustainable construction?
Rob Donkers: "At this stage, no comprehensive statistics are
available at the EU level concerning the number of "green buildings" in
Europe, due to the fact that there is as yet no common "green building"
definition in the European Union. The concept of "green buildings"
seems to differ slightly between the EU and the US. In the US, the
focus seems to be exclusively on energy efficiency. In Europe the
concept is closer to that of sustainable buildings and sustainable
construction and, apart from energy efficiency, also includes aspects
such as the reduction of CO2 emissions to meet the Kyoto targets and
recyclability of materials.
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