Buildings account for 40% of final energy consumption in the Union and 36% of its energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Electrification will play a key part in reducing emissions from the building sector in two principal ways. First, the relative share of electricity in the energy demand of a decarbonised building sector will be higher than it is now, driven by the rollout of energy-efficient and low-carbon technologies such as the decarbonisation of heating through the use of heat pumps.

A 2023 study by Eurelectric forecasts that, even as the overall final energy demand of buildings declines due to energy efficiency measures, their electricity consumption will increase to between 2,086 and 2,248 TWh in 2030 and between 2,145 and 2,546 TWh in 2050 from a 2015 baseline of 1,726 TWh. Secondly, and consequently, buildings will progressively become more important for the management of a decarbonised energy system that relies on electricity generation from variable renewable energy sources. Electrification of heating, on-site generation and EV charging points will enable buildings to become more active participants in the energy system, for example through demand-side flexibility, and support energy system integration.

To actualise this potential of building sector electrification, electrification will need to be coupled with digitalisation. The underlying idea is that of a synergetic relationship between electrification and digitalisation: the increasing uptake of digitally enabled, electric heating systems, appliances and generation assets in buildings will result in an increase in data available, which in turn can be used for a more efficient management of the assets, to the benefit of both building occupants and the energy system as a whole.

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https://fsr.eui.eu/electrification-of-buildings-and-data/