Life cycle thinking toward sustainable development policy-making: The case of energy retrofits

Viable implementation of building energy-efficiency policies is inevitable to mitigate climate change, above all as buildings account for around 40% of the world's energy consumption. Although some 75% of all buildings in Europe are energy-inefficient, only 0.4–1.2% of the whole stock is renovated each year. The greatest challenge for the coming decades is to increase the rate, quality and effectiveness of building renovation. The overall goal...