European floor space, the size of Belgium

It is estimated that there are 25 billion m₂ of useful floor space in the EU27, Switzerland and Norway. The gross floor space could be concentrated in a land area equivalent to that of Belgium (30,528 km₂). Half of the total estimated floor space is located in the North & West region of Europe while the remaining 36% and 14% are contained in the South and Central & East regions. Annual growth rates in the residential sector are around 1% while most countries encountered a decrease in the rate of new build in the recent years, reflecting the impact of the current financial crisis on the construction sector.

In comparison to China and the US, Europe has the highest ‘building density’ (building floor space over land area) followed by China and then US. Floor space trends can be linked to a number of factors such as wealth conditions, culture and land availability. These factors can explain the significant differences between Europe, US and China where floor space per capita are around 48, 81 and 26 m₂, respectively. Within Europe, differences also exist from country to country. The general tendency is to seek larger floor spaces over time, especially under favorable economic conditions. With increasing trends in floor space, the energy demand associated with our buildings is also increasing, which in turn highlights the need for improving the energy efficiency of our current stock, especially that of older stock.

Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings not only reduces energy consumption and subsequently energy bills but also improves the aesthetics of a building, increases the value of the asset and provides healthier conditions for the occupants.