About CPEA

The Climate Positive Europe Alliance (CPEA), AISBL is a non-for-profit membership-based think tank based in Brussels.

Founding Members

Founding members of CPEA are the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), the Austrian Sustainable Building Council (ÖGNI), Green Building Council España (GBCe) and the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA).

The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) was founded in 2007 and has more than 1500 members, making it Europe’s biggest network for sustainable building. The aim of DGNB is to promote sustainability in the construction and real estate industry and instil awareness of building sustainability among the broader population. DGNB is an independent non-profit organisation.

Established in 2008, GBCe is the main organization in Spain working towards sustainability in the construction sector. As non-profit organization, the association gathers representatives from the entire industry. GBCe is transversal, enhances the public-private collaborations in the sector, the networking through the associates, communicates and promotes events, and provides education, studies and breaking news in sustainability with an independent approach.

ÖGNI is an NGO with the aim of showing the added value of building certifications in order to create environmentally and resource-saving buildings with high economic and social efficiency, which can be used flexibly over generations and have a positive effect on the health, well-being and performance of the users.

The Green Building Council Denmark was established in 2010 as a Danish council for sustainability in the construction industry. The association’s aim is to improve sustainability in construction as well as in the surrounding environment by spreading the Danish DGNB certification scheme. With a focus on both the environment, economy and social conditions, DGNB wants to promote a holistic approach to construction and urban areas.

REHVA provides its members a strong platform for international professional networking, and knowledge exchange pursuing the vision of improving health, comfort, safety and energy efficiency in all buildings and communities. REHVA contributes to technical and professional development, follows EU policy developments and represents the interest of its members at EU level and globally.

All four founding members share a deep commitment to a holistic understanding of sustainability, encompassing environmental, economic and sociocultural factors. So their vision is just as much about the environment as it is about economic viability and people.

CPEA is represented by:

Dr. Christine Lemaitre
Chair CPEA
CEO at DGNB
info<at>cpea.eu

Bruno Sauer
Vice-Chair CPEA
CEO at GBCe
info<at>cpea.eu

Sisse Norman Canguilhem
Deputy Director at Dk-GBC
info<at>cpea.eu

Frank Hovorka
Treasurer CPEA
President at REHVA
info<at>cpea.eu

Ursula Hartenberger
Secretary General CPEA
u.hartenberger<at>cpea.eu

Our Mission

Our core mission and that of our members is to collaboratively accelerate market transformation towards more sustainable market practices by facilitating cross-sectoral dialogue and providing sectoral insights and tangible solutions for the most pressing challenges faced by the construction and real estate stakeholder community.

Unique Approach

CPEA works with a bottom-up, market-focused capacity building approach. All our the activities-and projects are based on extensive, first-hand experience in the area of the sustainability certification of individual buildings and districts. Based on the common European DGNB methodology this data-driven and fact based approach covers the whole range of life-cycle-assessment, life-cycle costing and building material requirements and aspects of indoor air quality and comfort aspects.

Thematic Focus

Sustainable Finance

Buildings and the SDGs

Circular Economy

CPEA FOUNDING MEMBERS