Despite buildings causing 35% of EU emissions, the EEA’s report overlooks new tech such as AI retrofits that can reduce energy use by up to 30% without costly renovations, says Donatas Karciauskas
AFTER five years of waiting, European Environment Agency’s 2025 climate review has been recently released. However, it still treats old tools as the answer. This is a missed chance to align climate policy with real-world progress.
The European Environment Agency’s 2025 climate review centres on costly physical renovations, while energy experts point out AI retrofits are already cutting energy waste in commercial buildings without demolition or delay.
Recently, the European Environment Agency (EEA) released a five-year review of Europe’s climate progress. Buildings still top Europe’s emissions, responsible for 42% of energy use and 35% of CO2 emissions.
Yet, energy experts note the issue is that the prescribed solution to reduce emissions didn’t change from what it was five years ago. Instead of utilising novel technologies, the report suggests more renovation, insulation, and boiler replacements while doubling down on renewables.
In the EU, 75% of buildings are still energy inefficient. Since 85% of the stock that will stand in 2050 is already built, the cost and time needed for large-scale renovation run into decades and costs billions.
Our company, which develops AI-based tools for energy efficiency in commercial buildings, believes this simply shows how Europe’s strategy lags behind reality.
The EEA report comes once every five years, but some parts of it, unfortunately, feel stuck in the past. In recent years, AI has transformed how we manage cars, grids, medicine, and many other industries. Yet when it comes to buildings, Europe’s most important climate review still talks only about insulation and boilers. The tools that in our practice could cut up to 30% of waste are invisible in this review.
Independent reports confirm that just adding AI to buildings’ energy management systems could help them cut energy from 8-40%, yet the EEA’s review doesn’t mention it once for buildings.
However, while missing from the report, AI retrofits are already used in commercial buildings. AI-based platforms link into existing energy management systems, track HVAC, heating, cooling, and lighting in real time, and stop waste before it accumulates.
By ignoring these tools, EEA signals to policymakers that only physical renovations count.
The report is right to say buildings are Europe’s biggest problem. But it fails to show how quickly we can act. Renovations are essential, but they’re too slow to carry us to 2030’s goals. If AI isn’t even mentioned in the continent’s flagship review, then policymakers will continue to overlook the fastest lever we have.
Exergio has shared how these tools are used in practice: usually, an AI-based platform pulls live data, pinpoints inefficiencies, and adjusts operations automatically. It means heating and cooling gets cut back in empty rooms, airflow is trimmed in real time, and boilers only become staged when needed.
This way, building owners adopt them to save costs and cut emissions – two outcomes rarely achieved together with traditional retrofits.
In some of our cases, we achieved millions of savings. If policymakers recognised this in their climate plans, we’d see lower CO2 emissions and happier businesses before the next five-year review.’
Exergio warns climate reporting must catch up with technology. The traditional path of renovations and insulation will still be necessary, but if energy systems don’t operate intelligently, buildings will continue wasting energy.
If AI stays left out and forgotten from the agenda until the next review in 2030, Europe risks seeing the same numbers, the same gaps, and another five-year cycle lost.
www.exergio.com
Donatas Karčiauskas is CEO at Exergio