On Friday, 26 June, at 12:00 p.m., the doctoral thesis defense of PhD candidate Nadia Soledad Ibañez Iralde will take place at the Sala de Graus of La Salle Campus Barcelona. The thesis, entitled “Decarbonisation of the Built Environment: Assessment of Public Policy Instruments and Public Financing Mechanisms to Achieve EU Renovation Targets”, has been supervised by Dr. Núria Martí Audí, Dr. Glòria Font Basté, and Dr. Jordi Pascual Pellicer. The PhD candidate is a member of the HER research group.
Buildings account for over 40% of energy use in Europe, making them vital for tackling climate change. However, despite the increasing implementation of policy instruments and financial mechanisms to promote building renovation, current renovation rates and the energy savings achieved remain below the levels necessary to meet long-term climate objectives. In this context, this thesis investigates the design, coordination and effectiveness of public policy instruments intended to accelerate the decarbonisation of buildings. It assesses past and current strategies, their alignment with environmental, social and economic objectives, and the monitoring frameworks established to evaluate progress. In addition, it evaluates financial schemes and their adaptation to territorial and socioeconomic realities.
This research is structured around three dimensions of the policy cycle: the definition of clear objectives aligned with local realities, the effective instrumentalisation of efforts through appropriate mechanisms, and the monitoring and evaluation of impacts to enable a continuous adjustment and improvement of these instruments over time. Together, they provide a comprehensive framework for assessing how policy mechanisms can be better tailored to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency over time and to contribute to achieving sustainability in all their dimensions.
The findings reveal a proliferation of indicators and a predominant focus on environmental metrics, with limited integration of socioeconomic dimensions. They also highlight a predominance of partial interventions and systems upgrades over integrated renovations addressing both building envelopes and thermal systems. Furthermore, recent subsidy schemes show uneven territorial distribution and have failed to increase the scope of renovations beyond standard market practices.
The thesis highlights the need to reassess the concept of deep renovation, develop a harmonised and integrated indicator framework, improve digitalised and interoperable data systems, and adapt financial instruments to climatic, territorial and socioeconomic specificities. It also stresses the importance of strengthening coordination across governance levels and improving understanding of the building stock to support more effective and equitable decarbonisation pathways.
The evaluation committee will consist of the president, Dr. Carlos Marmolejo Duarte; the secretary, Dr. Ignacio Enrique Guillén Guillamón; and the vocal, Dr. Joana Aina Ortiz Ferrà.