On 12 May 2026, BPIE convened Voices of Change – Success Stories Shaping Europe’s Buildings at the Charlemagne Building in Brussels. The event brought together European Commission officials, national policymakers, researchers, and citizen changemakers to mark a pivotal moment in EU buildings policy: the imminent close of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) transposition period, and the conclusion of the three-year EPBD.wise project.

Over three years, EPBD.wise partners worked alongside public authorities, including municipalities and energy agencies, across Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of key provisions of the EPBD. Voices of Change was its final conference.

© Charis Brice

Buildings are a strategic asset for European energy independence

The keynote address was delivered by Rosalinde van der Vlies, Director at DG ENER of the European Commission. Buildings, she argued, are a strategic asset for the EU, central not only to climate targets but to Europe’s energy independence. The technologies required for deep renovation already exist. What is needed now is alignment: of people, of regulatory frameworks, and of political will.

The urgency is underscored by the broader energy context. Analysis published by Ember the day before the conference confirmed that wind and solar generated more electricity than gas globally for the first time in April 2026, accounting for 22% of world electricity output against 20% from gas. The energy transition is accelerating, and Europe’s buildings must keep pace. Decarbonising the built environment is inseparable from energy security, housing affordability, and long-term societal resilience.

© Charis Brice

Renovation must be made by citizens, not done to them

Closing the event, Thomas Pellerin-Carlin MEP (S&D, France) addressed the political economy of renovation. The desire to shape one’s own home is a genuine and widely held value, he argued, and one that policymakers must harness, not overlook. Building renovation will only succeed at scale if citizens are its authors. Buildings, he concluded, are now at the heart of Europe’s resilience and future.

Changemakers and national policymakers: implementation in practice

The heart of the day was its changemakers: renovation pioneers from Germany, Romania, Italy, Poland, and Austria who shared first-hand accounts of ambitious building upgrades — from whole-house deep retrofits and zero-energy renovations to competitions for the most challenging and ambitious projects. Their stories demonstrated that the barriers to action are real, but surmountable.

National policymakers from Czechia, Poland, Portugal, and Bulgaria described the practical challenges of transposing EPBD provisions into national frameworks and the strategies being deployed to enable building transformation at scale.

At the event, BPIE also launched the EU Buildings Climate Tracker, a new evidence-based monitoring tool to assess whether Europe’s building stock is on course to meet its climate and energy targets.

© Charis Brice

The core message: necessary, desirable, and possible

As the transposition deadline arrives, the message from Voices of Change is unambiguous. Implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is not only necessary. It is desirable, and it is possible. The technologies exist. The political momentum is building. What is required now is sustained, co-ordinated action at every level of governance.