In December 2021, the European Commission published its proposal to recast the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) with the purpose of aligning it with the more ambitious climate targets for 2030 and 2050.  The recast EPBD intends to increase the rate and depth of renovation and introduces important provisions to phase-out the worst-performing buildings and to tackle fuel poverty.  However, energy performance is not the only challenge faced by the European building stock. About 50% of European territory is earthquake prone. In the last 50 years, earthquakes in Europe have caused over 36.000 deaths and around 1.4 million people becoming homeless.

The Horizon 2020 project e-SAFE focuses on highly seismic countries, such as Albania, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Croatia and Romania, where a destructive earthquake would render investments in energy-efficient renovations unsustainable from a social, economic and environmental point of view. These countries therefore need energy renovation actions that are strategically combined with seismic retrofitting by prioritizing the worst-performing buildings in terms of energy performance and structural safety.

This paper suggests practical ways that the proposed EPBD recast can strategically support the uptake of seismic renovations alongside energy efficiency in the EU, in order to ensure concrete implementation of seismic safety measures where it is needed most.