In Europe, more than 40% of energy is consumed in buildings, the real estate sector is responsible for more than 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 cannot be achieved without decarbonizing this important sector, whose social relevance is also beyond dispute.

This is, therefore, one of the sectors attracting the most legislative measures in the context of the European Green Deal - in fact, not only are building construction and refurbishment activities covered by the Environmental Taxonomy in three of the six European environmental objectives (climate mitigation, climate adaptation and circular economy), but there is also a significant set of new measures applicable to the sector with a major impact on the main players, in particular the renewed Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, which will soon become applicable and which sets targets as demanding as they are unavoidable for European climate objectives.

We therefore need to discuss with the various players in this sector the challenges and opportunities associated with a revolution that will impact the entire value chain and try to understand how each type of stakeholder can position themselves in order to maximize the value of accelerating the journey towards building a more sustainable sector.

Program:

08h45 | Welcome coffee and check-in

09h00 | Welcome Amílcar Lourenço | Executive Director Santander Portugal

09h05 | The Real Estate Sector in GRACE and the future Margarida Couto | President of GRACE, representing VdA

GRACE is launching the Real Estate Cluster, made up of companies from across the sector's value chain, taking to a new level the way in which the main sustainability issues impacting a sector so important to the national economy are worked on collaboratively.

09h15 | Challenges and Opportunities in the new regulatory context of the European Green Deal (with Q&A)

Johannes Kreißig| CEO of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB)

At a time when many of the European Green Deal's legislative instruments are already having an impact on the real estate sector, it is essential that the various players in the sector are well aware of the main challenges posed by this new regulatory context in terms of sustainability. Without this knowledge, they risk not being able to prepare themselves in time to exploit the countless opportunities it also offers, thereby losing competitive advantage.

10h00 | Building a Sustainable Sector

Guilherme Camello | Sustainability Manager, Saint Gobain José da Silva Almeida | Sustainability and SHEQ Director, Mota Engil Maria João Martins | Corporate Sustainability Manager, ACA Group Vitor Vermelhudo | Concrete Technical Department Coordinator, SECIL Moderator - Margarida Couto | President of GRACE, representing VdA

Although construction is only one phase in the life cycle of real estate, the companies most directly linked to this activity are perceived as being at the forefront when it comes to building a net zero building ecosystem. The challenges facing companies in "Pillar E" are very demanding indeed, and those in "Pillar S" are growing as Europe moves towards stricter rules on human rights, and it is important to know how the main players are facing this new future.

11h00 | Coffee-Break

11h20 | Sustainability Opportunities - from design to promotion

Elsa Monteiro | Sustainability Director, Sierra Sonae Isabel Santos | Founder, Greenlab João Jesus | Head of Sustainability & Operations, Nhood Manuel Collares Pereira | Scientific Adviser, Vanguard Moderator - Víctor Ferreira | Chairman of the Board of the Sustainable Habitat Cluster and Professor at the University of Aveiro

With the real estate sector having a long value chain, only an integrated vision on the part of the various players in this sector can guarantee that the issues that impact the sector in terms of sustainability are properly thought out and worked on throughout the entire life cycle of real estate. It is therefore important to debate the extent to which companies in the sector are prepared to deal with the new paradigm and to take advantage of the opportunities that result from it.

12h20 | Financing Sustainable Real Estate Investment

António Fontes | Head of Construction Development, Santander Portugal Florence Ricou | CEO, Insula Capital Moderator - João Mestre | GRACE Board Member, representing Fidelidade

Without financing sustainable real estate investment, it won't be possible to ensure the sector's energy transition or drive the innovation on which the development of new technologies or the emergence of new construction, renovation or portfolio management solutions depend. Financial players are therefore called upon to play a key role in the transformation of the real estate sector, since it is on their ability to channel funds into sustainable investment that much of the future of this sector will rest.

12h50 | Wrap up & Closing

Nathalie Ballan | GRACE Board Member, representing Sair da Casca