As Europe accelerates its push towards a decarbonised building sector, data remains a critical pillar in designing policies and strategies that are both ambitious and effective. The EU Building Stock Observatory (BSO), established in 2016 as part of the EU’s Clean energy for all Europeans package, provides transparent and reliable information and data on the EU’s building stock.  

BPIE is currently working with Guidehouse, Eurac Research, the Danish Energy Agency and Technische Universität Wien to upgrade the BSO in close cooperation with the European Commission and CINEA. This data platform supports the monitoring of current EU energy policies and measures, a key part of a broader policy strategy to support the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Numerous categories of buildings-related data are available: building stock, energy consumption, building elements and technical building systems installed, energy performance certificates, nearly zero-energy buildings and renovation rates, in addition to energy poverty and financing.  

So, what does all this mean for the people who use the BSO? How is this tool used in practice for research, policymaking and driving innovation in the buildings sector?  

We asked experts and practitioners across the EU about how they’re using the BSO to inform and improve their work: 

Supporting evidence-based policy design 

Iska Brunzema, Research Associate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in Germany, stresses the value of the BSO in crafting targeted energy and building policies.

“The reliable and comparable data across EU countries … helps us to improve our policy recommendations. I would not be able to receive a result of a similar quality, transparency and comparability by only using national data and it would take a lot more time and effort,” she explains.

The BSO is helping researchers make links across borders to identify trends, measure progress, and thus design recommendations that stand on firm ground. 

Enabling research on embodied emissions 

Meta Thurid Lotz, also of Fraunhofer ISI, uses the BSO to investigate the embodied carbon of buildings — a crucial focus as the sector looks beyond operational emissions.

“[The BSO interface] makes data easily and readily available – a broad range of users can benefit from this.” 

A user-friendly tool that makes information easy to find is crucial for conducting detailed assessments, which can be used to inform predictive models and pathways to achieve our climate targets.   

Benchmarking for municipal action 

In Portugal, Pedro Pacheco Machado, Head of Facilities and Logistics at the European Southern University, sees the BSO as a unique benchmarking tool. He uses it to understand how his region compares to others across the EU. 

“Without the information that the BSO gives us, it is more difficult to understand how we position ourselves against others and to issue regulations that could improve the life of our citizens” he says. 

This comparative perspective helps local authorities understand where they stand — and where they need to go — when planning energy efficiency upgrades or shaping building regulations. 

A resource for academic insight 

Meanwhile, at KU Leuven in Belgium, Delphine Ramon, a Postdoctoral Researcher, highlights the platform’s diverse datasets, interactivity and reliability.

“The BSO … makes it easier to analyse and interpret the data, saving time and effort in data processing and visualisation. The consistency and reliability of the dataset also mean that I can trust the information and focus on deriving insights, rather than verifying data accuracy.”  

By allowing researchers to go deeper into understanding the energy and social characteristics of Europe’s building stock, the BSO is a practical tool that simplifies data interpretation and reduces time-consuming data verification. 

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These testimonials illustrate the growing importance of centralised, transparent, and harmonised building data in Europe.

As the BSO continues to evolve, its impact will only grow — empowering professionals across sectors to make smarter, faster, and fairer decisions on the path to climate neutrality.

 

_{This project has received funding from the European Union’s LIFE 2020-2024 research and innovation programme under grant agreement ref. LIFE22-CET CINEA/2022/OP/0010?SI1.884084}