Healthy Buildings Barometer 

The Healthy Buildings Barometer is an annual research-based report that takes the pulse of Europe's building stock. Since 2015, the reports have highlighted the importance of improving buildings to address health and climate concerns across populations.

Individuals, societies and the planet can all benefit from better buildings. UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 focuses on Sustainable Cities and Communities, and the Healthy Buildings Barometers demonstrate how such buildings can help in achieving this goal.

The majority of the world’s population lives in buildings in cities and their suburbs, and Europe is no exception. Europe’s buildings are, on average, old, inefficient, and not particularly healthy. The Healthy Homes Barometers examine different types of buildings and their deficiencies in a range of settings to establish how to best target renovation efforts and improve building legislation. The ultimate goal is to boost the renovation rate and reap the rewards of a healthy, efficient building stock. The payoff is better indoor climates that safeguard the health of individuals exposed to them, plus improved energy efficiency and thereby a minimal impact on the climate.

Since our first Healthy Homes Barometer in 2015, our ambition has been to work with accredited research partners to investigate the state of Europe's housing stock. 

Healthy Buildings Barometer 2024

For this year’s edition, we have worked with the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE), a leading independent centre of expertise in the energy performance of buildings, who has taken a novel approach in their research and analysis. 

This year’s edition has been extended to cover four major building types - homes, workplaces, schools, and hospitals - and has been renamed to “Healthy Buildings Barometer”. The report shines the spotlight on how the European building stock can better benefit people, society, and the planet by identifying the significant benefits that can be derived from addressing the current shortcomings of European buildings.
 
The Healthy Buildings Barometer 2024 presents a new framework with five dimensions that define a healthy building and guide actors in the building industry in how to ensure healthy, more sustainable, and resilient buildings going forward. Furthermore, the report also identifies ten policy gaps within the current legislation and presents corresponding recommendations that guide the way toward reaching the decarbonisation goal of the Paris Agreement by 2050.

With Europe standing on the cusp of a Renovation Wave that will tackle the climate crisis by decarbonising our building stock, policymakers have an opportunity to invest in extensive renovation. With the right focus, sustainable, resilient, and energy-efficient buildings can improve the health and well-being of citizens throughout Europe. The hope is that the new Healthy Buildings Barometer 2024 will become a useful tool on how to create more healthy, sustainable, and resilient buildings – not just by identifying the size of the issue and the potential of addressing it – but also by providing a way forward.