Abstract
Final energy consumption for space cooling in residential buildings tripled between 2010 and 2019 in the 19 euro-area countries, while households’ equipment rate in air conditioning in Europe rose from 14% in 2010 to about 20% in 2019. Cooling alone accounts for around 4% of final energy demand in the EU, with 106 TWh for space cooling and about 110 TWh for process cooling complemented by 0,6 TWh for district cooling. More frequent and intense heat waves accelerate this trend, and contribute to peak loads, and even power cuts. Above all, this represents a major risk for health, with over 70,000 excess deaths in Europe in 2003, and more than 60,000 in 2022. Heatwaves cause about 90% of fatalities related to climate-related extreme events. Summer comfort is thus a major challenge for both, mitigation and adaptation policies. Policies for space cooling may be too much focused on cooling technologies, overlooking solutions to avoid, or at least minimise, cooling needs while ensuring summer comfort. Cooling demand is indeed influenced by various factors beyond cooling devices' efficiency, including passive architecture building design based on bioclimatic principles, urban environment (e.g. urban heat island) and behaviours. This paper reviews how space cooling is addressed in the EU policy framework, including changes brought by the fit-for-55 package. The paper then analyses policies and strategies of the five countries with the largest cooling demand (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Greece), focusing on national building regulations, comprehensive assessments on heating and cooling, draft updates of National Energy and Climate Plans, and National Adaptation Strategies and Plans. These analyses are crossed with a scouting of solutions for sustainable space cooling, to discuss their coverage in the current EU policy framework. We conclude that a shift may be needed in the policy framework to prioritise first measures that can minimise cooling needs, acknowledging that their implementation implies a coordination between EU, national and local policies, as the local level can best take into account local climate conditions and adapt urban planning.