3. A success story in EPBD implementation – OVERVIEW

The EPBD (Directive 2010/31/EU) and its amendment 2018/844 stipulates that buildings have to be built and used more energy efficiently. The national implementation of the EPBD is mainly realised by the OIB Guideline 6. The OIB Guideline 6 is successively applied through the regional building regulations and directives. It sets the framework for the buildings’ energy performance and defines NZEB 2020. The NZEB standard sets requirements for the efficiency of both new buildings and major renovations as regards the building envelope, heating and cooling systems, and energy supply.

The OIB Guideline 6 was revised in 2019 and the requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings were tightened. The current directive defines not only the lowered maximum space heating demand for new buildings but also the minimum share of the renewable energy carriers in new buildings.

Furthermore, the EPC calculation tools are being optimised by more precise methods in order to meet the new requirements for energy efficiency.

The implementation of Article 12 of Directive 2010/31/EU regarding the provision of EPCs is set by the federal law (“Energieausweis‐Vorlage‐Gesetz”). The energy performance of the buildings through their EPCs contributes to raising awareness in the real estate market and makes the expected energy costs more transparent. Therefore, energy efficiency and building quality become more relevant for consumers.

Raising awareness is also achieved through promotion activities, information campaigns and awarding best-practice examples. Thanks to these activities, the heating demand of buildings, especially residential, has been continuously decreasing (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Development of space heating demand requirements for new domestic buildings in the Austrian provinces. Sources: OIB Guideline 6:2007 (blue lines), OIB Guideline 6:2011 (green lines), OIB-GL6:2015 (yellow lines) and OIB Guideline 6:2019 (red lines).

The stronger energy efficiency requirements for buildings according to the EPBD (targets for 2020) have driven the building sector towards decarbonisation. In this context, the implementation of complementary tools and control systems (such as the EPC, its implementation, and the carrying out of inspections) are the foundation for harmonising building regulations across federal provinces.

In Brussels, the Passive House standard was adopted as the building code in 2015, making it the first region in the world to require such a stringent standard. Recognised then as a leader regarding high-performance building standards, Brussels representatives were invited to New York to show the world what Brussels had to offer in that area of expertise during the Brussels Days 2018⁹. The conclusion of this event culminated in the revealing of the results of the Ice Box Challenge, organised in New York City during the same time. This challenge demonstrated the performance (with no energy added) of a highly efficient envelope.

New York City and Brussels share a common vision – both cities want to achieve a sustainable and renewable future for their communities through ambitious energy saving goals and programmes. Recognising the two cities’ expertise, New York City and Brussels aim to build upon their exchange of knowledge and provide mutual support. Together, these two cities, in conjunction with cities around the world, will continue to be leaders in enacting climate legislation and paving the way for a more sustainable future for our children and the environment.

The press release below was used to promote the Woningpas to the general public in 2019. It is written by the public administrations that collaborated to develop this public tool.

The Housing passport (Woningpas): data on the house!

Paperwork, wasting time by looking everything up in your personal files, not knowing where to start? If you rebuild, sell or buy a house, you know what I’m talking about. That’s why we present to you the Housing passport: a free and personalised handy digital passport showing all available data on your house.

(quote from campaign at the occasion of the launch December 2018)

 

The Flemish Energy Agency (VEA), the Department of Environment, Wonen Vlaanderen and the 'Openbare Vlaamse Afvalstoffenmaatschappij' (OVAM) are working together to offer building owners advice and information on their house(s) through the so-called Housing passport (Woningpas) which is being released progressively. This free digital housing passport was first released in December 2018. Looking into the future, even more functionalities and possibilities will be offered in order to help building owners rebuild, sell and buy their property without stress. The only thing you have to do is to log in at woningpas.vlaanderen.be with your e-ID or token, and your building passport is automatically produced.

What can you do now?

Woningpas offers you three main functions at the moment: access to information about your house, about the environment and about available certificates.

The provided information about your house is very extensive and offers you a series of advantages. Information on energy, insulation, installations, general building information, solar potential, mobility rate and dwelling quality is now all centralised and easily accessible. Information on possible soil contamination and building permits will save you sleepless nights. We wish to achieve the climate targets together with you. That’s why, together with your home’s insulation scores you will also find your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which you can compare with that of other houses. Through the insulation scores of individual building elements (roof, floor, etc.), you will be informed how your house can become the greenest in the neighbourhoud. A renovation roadmap, including reference to renovation costs and available grants, is displayed in your Woningpas.

Information about your home’s environmental status, i.e. flood sensitivity, information on non-movable heritage, spatial planning, air quality, etc., is visualised in the form of maps so that you can discover all relevant information at a glance.

Finally, owners will have an overview of all certificates they need when they wish to rebuild, sell or buy a house. By means of a useful roadmap, owners will be able to tell whether their plans are executable, answering questions such as 'What do I need?' and 'Where and how should I apply?'

It keeps getting better

In 2020, we will enrich the Woningpas with new additional functions. Our goal is to let the homeowner actively control their own Woningpas. For instance, if you are the homeowner you can authorise potential buyers and architects to consult your Woningpas information, or you can test the living quality yourself on several topics. Besides that, you will be able to upload documents from your own computer and complete the data available in the Woningpas. By the end of the year, you will be able to add your own renovation works in a useful timeline. All renovation works since 2008 with assigned grants will show up automatically in the passport. As such, you will have all information about your house(s) available in a centralised digital vault that you can access at any time.

And this is not all. In the following years, we want to add new information about:

• vacant plots;
• water installations (drinking and sewage): general information and certificates;
• metered energy consumption (in cooperation with the network operators);
• immovable heritage;
• sustainable heating.

Please visit woningpas.vlaanderen.be for more information.

The Walloon Region has initiated different projects with the aim of giving actors, ranging from individual house owners up to governmental officials, a better understanding of the possibilities of energy efficiency measures, thereby empowering them to undertake relevant actions.

Some key elements of such projects include:

1. Cost Optimal Tool

A review of the cost-optimal study has been performed in 2018.

In addition to the report to be sent to the Commission, this study has also developed a software tool to automate the simulations necessary for its input. Indeed, one of the parameters influencing the accuracy and representativeness of the cost-optimal study is the number of simulations applied to the reference buildings and the number of reference buildings themselves. To circumvent the burden resulting from encoding large numbers of simulations, a software tool was developed via a public tender. This tool allows EPB-related data to be systematically analysed and cross-referenced with economic data.

The tool makes it possible to automatically apply a large number of variants to the reference buildings modelled using the regulatory EPB software. It also makes it possible to extract energy performance results which are then automatically processed in a calculation cost unit. All possible simulations can therefore be tested. The tool then presents the results in terms of the global cost of the energy measures under consideration (Figure 8 and Figure 9).

Figure 8. Cost-optimal tool software: Definition of scenario’s to be simulated.

Figure 9. Cost-optimal tool software: Results.

2. “Quickscan” Tool

Quickscan is a new tool developed within the framework of the integrated LIFE project BE REEL¹⁹. It is an awareness and communication tool for citizens. It is a free application, usable on smartphones, tablets and PCs, allowing citizens to quickly assess the energy level of their home without professional help, taking into account the improvements already made.

The tool also provides standardised recommendations for renovating housing in order to achieve the energy class A.

Intended to make the owners of a property not having an EPB certificate aware of the potential for improving their home, it will be the gateway to other support tools such as the housing energy audit, the energy information centres of the Department of Energy and the accredited energy advisors. The tool is available on www.monquickscan.be

3. The energy roadmap

Also covered by the framework of the integrated LIFE project BE REEL, the housing audit was supplemented by the energy roadmap, which summarises the building’s renovation path, in the form of individual steps to be followed to achieve A label. The tool provides personalised recommendations to achieve this, accompanied by the respective cost.

The roadmap allows:

• a visualised glance at the potential for energy improvement of the building compared to the overall entire building stock objective (label A). If this objective cannot be achieved, the auditor will explain the reasons in the report;
• to determine the path of renovation to be followed to achieve this objective;
• to chart the phases of the works while having a global vision of the renovation project, so as to anticipate future works and a good coordination thereof, avoiding the lock-in effects resulting from a poorly planned renovation;
• to quantify the costs of the works and the gains generated by them;
• to highlight the co-benefits of renovation linked to comfort, health, the property's real estate value or environmental impacts.

The residential sector in Bulgaria accounts for about ¼ of the final energy consumption. Energy is used mainly in buildings and primarily for space heating (around 70% of energy use). The efficiency potential in space heating is significant. The pre-1990 buildings, which account for 90% of the building stock, are in very poor condition due to lack of maintenance, and their energy consumption is at least twice as high as in those buildings built according to current standards, mostly due to the low quality of insulation. As a result, about 45% of households report that they could not keep the home ‘adequately warm’ and 34% indicate that they were facing arrears on energy utility bills. These are by far the highest figures within the EU, where the respective averages were 11% and 10%.

The government’s “National Programme for Energy Efficiency of Multi-Family Buildings” (Programme) was launched during February 2015 to help address the difficulties above. The Programme builds upon past efforts aiming at much higher results. The Programme is fully in line with the country’s and the EU’s climate and energy strategy. It aims at:

• improving energy efficiency of multi-family residential buildings;

• extending the lifetime of buildings;

• contributing to a reduction in local and global air pollution.

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works is responsible for the overall Programme design and coordination among government entities.

The “Programme Development Objective” is to secure better living conditions for citizens at multi-family buildings, heat comfort and better quality of the living environment through implementing energy efficiency measures.

The key characteristics of the Programme include the following:

• Targeting: Residential buildings of three or more floors, with six or more building units of residential use designed before 26 April 1999. Eligible buildings belong to a registered homeowners association, which would sign a contract with their respective municipalities authorising them to manage the renovation process. All 265 Bulgarian municipalities are eligible to participate in the Programme.

• Financial support: Up to 100% of grant support for eligible expenditures (no co-financing requirement) mainly covering measures to:

  (i) improve the energy efficiency of the buildings (thermal insulation of building envelope, improvements of the heating, electrical work, etc.) and common spaces;

  (ii) improve the structural soundness of the buildings to, amongst other things, comply with the current building code, if needed.

  Measures to be implemented should bring the energy consumption of the building to at least energy efficiency class “C” (energy use between 191 kWh/m² and 240 kWh/m²) at the lowest cost.

• Implementation mechanisms: The Programme is administered mainly through municipalities (decentralised implementation). They not only approve project applications and sign contracts, but are also responsible for procuring and accepting all energy and structural audits, approving detailed designs, issuing construction permits and performing construction supervision. Public procurement, supervision and oversight are done in line with existing national legislation and auditing and construction standards. Regional governors in their capacity of representatives of the state have an oversight role of the Programme in their respective region.

• Financing of the Programme: The Programme has an overall budget of BGN 2 billion (about 1 billion €) financed by the state budget. The Bulgarian Development Bank, acting as a paying agent, is responsible for mobilising the financing for the Programme and channelling the resources to municipalities according to signed contracts with the municipalities and regional governors.

The best example of the promotion of energy efficiency and sustainable construction is when the idea is materialised and visible, and when the results confirm assumptions. Such a best-practice example is the multi-family ECO-SANDWICH house. The first out of twelve planned typical multi-family houses with three apartments, as a new type of housing within the programme of subsidised housing construction (POS), was completed on 7 September 2016, with an energy class of A+.

The first ECO-SANDWICH house is the first realisation of the prefabricated ventilated facade system ECO-SANDWICH, which is the result of the cooperation between Croatian scientific institutions (Construction and Architecture, University of Zagreb) and Construction industry (Beton Lucko Ltd., Knauf Insulation Ltd., Eurco dd), and was approved to be funded under the EU programme CIP-EIP-Eco-Innovation 2011. As an innovative product, ECO-SANDWICH was also recognised by the Environment Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (EPEEF) which co-financed the project.

The project objectives go beyond energy efficiency alone; it also encourages the recycling of construction waste, increasing the efficient use of existing resources and increasing the possibility of using construction and demolition waste. The promotion of the use of thermal insulation materials is based on the ECOSE⁹ technology, which does not contain harmful substances such as formaldehyde, phenols, pentane, butane and acrylics, and the production requires 70% less energy than in the case of conventional mineral wool using a binder in base oil.

The ECO-SANDWICH wall panels were cast out of concrete containing 50% recycled aggregates, and thus they contribute to resource efficiency goals, together with the energy efficiency goals. Additionally, the project ECO-SANDWICH promotes the application of prefabricated panels that reduce embedded energy in the product, as well as greenhouse gas emissions and harmful by-products from the production. Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) was produced for the ECO-SANDWICH wall panels in cooperation with consultants from The Netherlands, according to the EN 15804 standard. During the construction of the residential building in Koprivnica, green public procurement was performed for the design as well as construction phase.

Figure 5. Multi-family house in Koprivnica, Lenišće.

A new grant scheme was put in place in 2014 in order to encourage households and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. The scheme, titled 'I save – I upgrade', is the follow-up of the completed 'Grant Scheme for Promoting the Renewable Energy Sources and the Conservation of Energy' that ran for buildings in the 2004-2013 period and is based on the same financial model: the provision of grants for direct investments, partly covering the purchase and installation costs of listed energy efficiency measures and technologies. The scheme, for which the application period in now over, is expected to totally finance the renovation of 2,100 homes with 20.4 M € and 164 SME buildings with 8.7 M €. The scheme is co-financed by EU structural funds, and the responsibility of its implementation lies with the MECI.

The scheme provides financial support for a package of measures that will upgrade the building to a minimum level of increased energy efficiency. Eligible costs include thermal insulation, windows, high efficiency technical building systems, lighting and RES for heating, cooling and domestic hot water. Higher subsidies are given to buildings that are being renovated to NZEB and to the homes of vulnerable consumers. The maximum grant is 25,000 € for households and 200,000 € for SMEs. In all cases, an EPC has to be issued before and after the implementation of energy efficiency measures, in order for the savings to be verified. For buildings above 1,000 m², an energy audit has to be performed before renovations in order to better assess the available technical and financial options. To date, 1,849 homes and 128 SME buildings have been approved to participate in the scheme.

The scheme has been successful in linking financial support and EPCs. The minimum class to be achieved on the EPC scale, or the energy savings verified through the EPC – together with mandatory pre- and post-upgrade submissions of EPC documentation – will provide a boost to the EPC market. This will in turn raise awareness among the public about its benefits and harness its market potential as a driver for energy efficiency upgrades.

However, delays in disbursing money due to bureaucracy issues are considered to be major drawbacks. In order to optimise incentives for existing buildings, which can be achieved by simplifying existing processes and further leveraging private funds, consultations between the MECI, the banking sector, and other stakeholders are ongoing. The aim is to revise the 'I save – I upgrade' scheme in order to address existing hurdles, but also to design specialised financial products that could operate together or independently of the scheme.

Making the EPCs user-friendly

The EPC in the Czech Republic is used for many purposes. In the case of constructions and major renovations, it is a document that demonstrates compliance with the minimum requirements for energy performance. It also serves as a tool to assess energy savings applicable to the scope of energy efficiency financial support schemes in the Czech Republic. For an ordinary user it can be used as a cost estimation tool when considering buying or renting a property. It can also give an indication about the quality of the technical equipment systems used in the building and the quality of the building envelope. At the same time, thanks to the recommended measures, it can show to interested persons, e.g. the current building owner or potential buyer/renter, what measures can be taken in the future and what impacts these measures will have on the building energy performance. However, experience in the Czech Republic shows that unlike energy labels on energy-using products, the EPC does not fully fulfil its purpose. Although people consider energy costs when renting or buying a property, the EPC is not so widely used for this purpose. Moreover, the EPC is often considered a necessary administrative burden by the public. Even though it contains all the necessary data, it is considered to be a complex and not user-friendly tool. The Ministry, therefore, decided to amend the EPC to make it more credible, more usable and friendlier to the public.

Until 2020, the EPC consisted of two parts: the visual part and the protocol.

The visual part originally consisted of two A4 pages. It contained two main energy performance indicators – primary energy and total energy delivered to the building. It was, however, considered that including two indicators on one page could be confusing for users, as different indicators could allocate a building to different classes at the same time. With the updated layout, the visual part consists of only one A4 page and contains only the evaluation of the building expressed by the primary energy indicator and its classification into the primary energy class A-G (Figure 4).

Figure 4: The new EPC layout (visual part).

As in the past, it includes an assessment of the energy delivered to each individual technical building system and the distribution of energy carriers per energy use in the building.

The protocol, on the other hand, contained all the data used for the EPC calculation. The protocol has also undergone significant changes. Complex tables in the protocol have been replaced by easily readable elements and supplemented with clear graphical representations. An example is the graphical display of the monthly consumption of delivered energy in a building according to end use.

Figure 5: Example of the display in the new version of the EPC of the monthly consumption of delivered energy in a building by end-use.

Figure 6: Example of a new table in the EPC protocol showing the heating balance in the assessed building.

An indisputable advantage for the EPC user is that the protocol compiles in one single place an overview of the fulfilment of all mandatory requirements for the building.

Table 10: Example of a new table in the EPC protocol dealing with measures for increasing the energy efficiency of the assessed building.

Improved EPC design and clarity, in particular when accompanied by additional references to more freely available information, improves awareness of the use of the building and the potential energy savings and allows users to make more informed decisions when intending to buy, rent or renovate a building. Credibility and user acceptance are thereby bolstered, making the EPC an economically and environmentally beneficial tool that can help achieve the national and European goals for a carbon neutral future.

Common database with information on the existing building stock

In Denmark, an energy certification scheme has been mandatory since 1997. Information on the physical state of the existing building stock is collected by energy experts while carrying out an energy audit for issuing an EPC. All data from the certification scheme is gathered in a common database, so a wide range of information with respect to the building stock is available. This knowledge is used in many ways, e.g., in numerous analyses of energy-saving potential. The first comprehensive analysis was made in 2004 and the most recent one was published in November 2017. Some results show that it is possible to obtain a 28% reduction of the heat demand until 2050 if buildings that are being renovated due to end of service life would simultaneously undergo an energy upgrade. In the analysis, it is assumed that the buildings are thermally upgraded in accordance with the requirements stated in the 'Danish Building Regulations 2010'.

The available data offers a snapshot of the energy standard in the Danish building stock and has been made accessible for research. The analyses have been used for different purposes in the government's strategies for energy upgrading of the existing building stock. The most recent analysis of the Danish building stock and its energy‐saving potential is available in the report 'Potential heat savings during ongoing renovations of buildings until 2050', SBI 2016:04⁸, and has been used as part of the foundation for the Danish strategy for energy performance upgrading of the existing building stock, 'The road to energy efficient buildings in the future (Vejen til energieffektive bygninger i fremtidens Danmark)'⁹.

Furthermore, a new analysis has been documented in 'Heat savings in existing buildings – potential and economy (Varmebesparelse I eksisterende bygninger – Potentiale og økonomi)'^10, SBi 2017:16, based on the available data⁷. The purpose was to analyse the extent to which it is necessary to include RES in the energy performance calculation, in order to compensate for the fact that some buildings may have higher energy needs than the average building due to architectural requirements or limitations from local plans. How and to what extent RES are used as a buffer in such cases is being investigated.

These examples show that data of the existing building stock and energy conditions can be used for many useful analyses and is essential to form future national energy strategies.

The execution of the renovation work grant schemes in Estonia has shown that extensive integrated renovation is possible in situations in which buildings are managed by apartment associations, where apartment owners have to agree on the extent and budget of the renovation works. New innovative solutions can be implemented and it seems that apartment owners are willing to invest in order to renovate their apartment and building. Financial support keeps the cost of renovation work to an acceptable level. The grant scheme also allows requirements to be set out for the measures involved in any renovation work, thus promoting extensive integrated renovation works.

Finland has implemented the many aspects of the EPBD into Finnish legislation and building culture, in close cooperation with the significant parties (stakeholders) in the construction and building maintenance fields.

The close cooperation has continued throughout the finalisation phase of the Finnish National Building Code, as professionals and major organisations in the field have been consulted and have taken an active part in the work through various studies and several consultation forums organised by the Ministry of the Environment.

The involvement of professionals is also visible in the implementation of the EPCs. Organisations from the building ownership and building maintenance sectors are involved in developing the national transposition and disseminating EPCs. Through workshops and networking forums, the Finnish authorities are in constant communication with the professionals to ensure compliance and quality of EPCs. For example, together with Motiva Oy, the Ministry of the Environment and the ARA organise a networking day for EPC qualified assessors twice a year to inform the experts on EPC related developments and to discuss key issues.

The close cooperation has also been very much at the core in developing the Long Term Renovation Strategy in Finland. The strategy process has been conducted in cooperation with stakeholders from the building, construction, energy and finance sectors, through a series of workshops, public hearings and questionnaires also open to the general public.

The involvement of stakeholders helps to ensure support and acceptance of the new legislation and implementation of initiatives. This is further supported by specific information activities and active voluntary energy efficiency agreements. The Ministry of the Environment encourages both energy-efficient new constructions and renovations, by funding development projects as well as advisory programmes and campaigns. One major factor in ensuring energy efficiency in existing buildings is the continuation of the Finnish national voluntary energy efficiency agreement scheme that has achieved very good results, especially in the property sector which consists of commercial buildings and rental housing properties. The property sector reached a total annual energy savings of 0,51 TWh with annual cost savings of over 34 million € during the period 2008-2016. The savings in the new agreement period (2017-2025) are promising with annual energy savings of 90 GWh and annual cost savings of nearly 6 million € (2017-2018).

Following the previous thermal regulation (RT 2012), stakeholders expressed mixed feelings towards an even more ambitious regulation, stating that the current one was already quite complicated and burdensome. In the process of defining new regulation, there was thus a strong need to bring stakeholders together from the start. This led to the creation of a testing scheme called ‘E+ C-’ (standing for Energy plus Carbon minus), for voluntary developers, which started in late 2016.

This scheme allowed the government to see the impacts of taking into account the carbon emission amounts alongside energy consumption rates in a building regulation. Not only did it show different thresholds of carbon emission allowance during the active life of the buildings; it also offered to include a mandatory life cycle analysis. In addition, it encouraged builders to seek for even more energy efficient projects than what RT 2012 required, by defining four different levels of energy performance categories.

All along this scheme, the government led concertation with builders to experience the technical and financial feasibility of building construction in accordance with future regulations. In this respect, public developers intend to pave the way of integrating renewable electricity production systems into their buildings and developing low-carbon construction processes. A test observatory collected feedback and best practices to refine indicators and establish future regulatory thresholds.

To reward the first buildings constructed under the new regulations, the Government has introduced a new label that is awarded after the assessment of the technical and economic feasibility of the new requirements. Intended to distinguish positive energy buildings in the same way as low-carbon buildings, this label incorporates several performance levels.

There are four different levels based on the energy consumption and two on the carbon footprint, set by the scheme. The energy performance assessment relies on the currently used calculation methodology, with the first two levels corresponding to the energy performance expected by the RT 2012 but with a higher share of RES. The third level involves a higher energy performance than the current regulation, and the fourth level matches the positive energy building (meaning that the energy performance is lower than zero).

The new regulation in preparation is about to seek energy performance but also aims to reach ambitious carbon emissions reduction. After 4 years of work, the regulation will be named RE2020 (for Environmental Regulation of 2020) and is predicted to be released in January 2021.

Involving banks in energy efficiency financing

KfW is Germany’s state-owned promotional bank mandated by law to carry out its promotional activities²⁹. KfW acts in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The objective of the programme 'Energy Efficient Construction and Refurbishment' is to provide financing by soft loans and grants for energy efficient construction and refurbishment activities for the German residential sector.

Additionally, the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) is administrating several funding programmes for the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy. BAFA is for example in charge of giving grants for energy advice for both residential and non-residential buildings.

Key principles of promotion:

In order to benefit from financial support, it is a precondition that the efficiency standards achieved are better than the requirements set up in the German Energy Savings Ordinance. Individual or combined measures as well as complete packages seeking to achieve an 'Efficient House' Standard are promoted.

Who are the key people involved?

As KfW does not have a branch network (the so-called on-lending principle involves financial intermediaries), customers usually file the application for the promotional loans at banks or insurance companies of their preference. The application for grants however is processed directly by KfW.

The involvement of an energy consultant is mandatory in the process of application for promotional loans or grants. It is the consultant’s responsibility to check whether the construction or refurbishment project is properly designed to achieve the targeted efficiency level by using an internet-based tool to compare the technical details of the project with the targeted efficiency level. 

What were the key achievements?

The promotional programmes have a proven and very positive impact on climate and economy:

• during the period between 2005 and 2015, the programmes led to a total reduction of 6.4 million tons of CO₂-equivalents per year;
• high volume of investment triggered;
• high number of jobs created or conserved;
• in 2019 alone, 282,000 housing units were refurbished to more energy efficient levels and 86,000 housing units were newly built with a very high energy performance with support of the programmes;
• well established programme structure and distribution network;
• benefit for public households.

What were the key lessons learned?

The more transparent and simple the structure of the overall promotional scheme is, the more it is understandable by the parties involved, and the easier to distribute.

The mandatory involvement of an energy expert from the beginning of the application process until completion of the construction or refurbishment project is very important to:

• provide confidence to the investor regarding their energy efficiency project;
• assure a high degree of quality and reliability regarding the energy efficiency level reached;
• assure target-oriented use of public funds;
• assure a high degree of reliability regarding the promotional effects.

What makes this a good practice example?

The promotional scheme provides a win-win situation to all parties involved:

• customers benefit from very attractive promotional conditions;
• commercial banks benefit from both an enhanced product spectrum for their clients which improves cross-selling potential, as well as from additional liquidity without refinancing cost and with an attractive margin;
• public budget benefits from additional income (tax and social security contributions);
• economy benefits from the creation of job positions particularly in small- and medium-sized enterprises due to the volume of investment triggered;
• environmental benefits from the high volume of CO₂

In addition:

• a high number of new housing units is reached and a high number of investors are incentivised to invest in energy efficient construction and refurbishment measures;
• the scheme is transparent and attractive for customers (provides a high and increasing level of demand);
• it comprises a standard setting with wide acceptance;
• provides systematic and comprehensive quality control;
• includes the mandatory involvement of energy experts;
• secures the continued development of energy efficiency in society.

A very successful programme for energy renovation measures in the residential sector is the 'Energy Savings in Households II' (Figure 7). It is a national programme that offers financial support by way of structural and national funds for interventions in the building envelope, the heating/cooling systems and the installation of RES for DHW production. The programme was launched as 'Energy Saving in Households II' and resembles the previous 'Energy Saving in Households' programme, with a few changes concerning the subsidies provided as well as beneficiaries categories. More analytically, the current programme provides subsidies ranging from 25% to 70%, while the remaining investment was provided in the form of zero-interest loans. The maximum eligible measures (inclusive VAT) should not exceed 25,000 €. Due to its large acceptance rate, the programme was performed in two rounds, where the second round began in 2019. The initial budget of the first round of the programme was approximately 502.99 million €, while due to great interest more money was allocated to the programme, reaching 778.01 million € in the beginning of the second programme.

The programme includes buildings which have a building permit and:

• are of residential use (main residence);
• their owners meet specific income-related criteria;
• are classified as low-energy efficiency buildings (energy class D or lower).

The programme offers incentives for citizens to carry out the most important renovations, aimed at improving their houses’ energy efficiency, while at the same time contributing to the achievement of Greece’s energy and environmental targets.

Figure 7. The 'Energy Savings in Households II' programme website.

The main supported actions/measures include:

• building envelope (including thermal insulation, windows & glazing, exterior wall, doors, ceiling, etc.);
• equipment (including efficient heating, efficient lighting systems, ventilation, cooling, control systems, etc.);
• energy audits, consultancy costs, labour costs, education and training activities, etc.

Eligible for participation in the programme are only natural persons who have the right of (full or bare) ownership, or usufruct to an eligible residence and meet the income-related criteria set.

The programme’s goal is to result in:

• energy savings;
• public awareness concerning the rational use of energy and environmental protection;
• improving the living conditions in buildings, cities and the urban environment;
• mobilising market forces towards developing sustainable communities.

The new building of the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) project’s scientific centre in Szeged, commissioned in 2017, is considered a success story for Hungary.

The ELI project is an integral part of the European plan to build the next generation of large research facilities identified and selected by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). The extreme light infrastructure is the first infrastructure in the world capable of the investigation of the interactions between light and matter with the highest intensity, in the so-called ultra-relativistic range.

The constructed buildings house laser equipment, secondary sources, target areas, laser preparation and other special laboratories. They also provide sufficient administration space for approximately 250 researchers and support staff. There are also seminar, meeting and conference rooms, electrical, mechanical and optical workshops, and a library. These state-of-the-art facilities require specialised design and cutting-edge implementation of the latest technology for vibration levels, thermal stability, relative humidity, clean room facilities and radiation protection conditions.

Special function and comfort requirements are imposed by the function of the building. The technology requires significant ventilation and cooling. The building engineering system relies in part on renewable energy sources by using the air heat pump, thermal water energy and solar energy to reduce the energy required to operate the building²⁸.

The comfort features of the interior were designed with dynamic simulation, which is not yet widespread in Hungary.

Figure 7. The new building of the ELI scientific centre in Szeged²⁹.

The EPBD has provided the framework for understanding and improving building energy performance and raised awareness on energy consumption in buildings resulting in a more prominent role in energy policy. When the EPBD was transposed into national legislation in 2006, SEAI established a national database for all EPC related information. The national database of EPC is essential for collecting statistical insights in the energy performance of the existing building stock. The database is used to inform renovation strategies and to enable stakeholders in the supply chain to better understand the market for their products.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is Ireland’s official statistics office. The CSO combines EPC data with other data sources including the national census. The CSO publishes comprehensive EPC data. Residential buildings’ EPC ratings for the 3rd quarter of 2020 can be accessed at https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/dber/domesticbuildingenergyratingsquarter32020/.

Dwellings built in the period 2015-2020 were considerably more energy efficient than those built in earlier periods, with 97% given an “A” rating compared with 35% in 2010-2014 and 1% in 2005-2009.

Mains gas was the main space heating fuel used in 49% of the dwellings completed during 2015-2020. This was an increase from the period 2000-2004 when 41% of dwellings used mains gas. There were contrasting trends for heating oil and electricity, with 35% of the in the period 2000-2004 built dwellings using heating oil compared with 4% for dwellings built in the period 2015-2020. In contrast, usage of electricity increased from 19% in the period 2000-2004 to 47% in the period 2015-2020.

The average floor area of all dwellings was 112 m². This average size varied from 158 m² for detached houses to 61 m² for basement dwellings.

An online National Platform (NP) for building energy performance will be developed to comply with the transposition of Directive 844/2018/EU.

The NP has the scope to provide citizens, public administrations and enterprises with information concerning building energy performances, cost-effectiveness, maintenance works to improve building energy efficiency, available incentives, EPCs, etc.

In particular, the NP should be able to make the following available: a building energy map; an overview of potential non-compliance with energy regulations; an evaluation of the potential improvement of the energy efficiency; a selection of the retrofit priorities including a step-by-step renovation strategy; a selection of the most appropriate incentives; and a training path for professionals. For public administrations, the NP should also be able to address the most appropriate incentives and contract models, taking into account the energy performance contracts.

The portal will be designed to provide public and private building owners with all the data available concerning their dwelling characteristics, including energy profile, aimed at creating an advanced visual interface for a high degree of usability.

The NP will also provide the Ministry of Economic Development with valuable technical support and useful information for monitoring national targets and for the development of strategies and promotion programmes for energy efficiency in buildings.

Furthermore, the portal will be able to provide data and processing carried out through periodic reports for statistical and study purposes.

With the aim to digitalise all documentation related to the entire construction process, Latvia has introduced the BIS which also offers public access to the Register of Independent Experts in the Field of Energy Performance of Buildings and the Register of Certificates of Energy Performance of Buildings. This digitalisation process lessens the administrative and paperwork burden for the certification of qualified experts, as any new information is always available online for anyone to check. Implementing the BIS will give access to better statistical data and lead to a better understanding of how requirements work in practice.

As explained in section 2.II.i. of this report, Regulation No. 907 determines which energy performance level a building must not exceed, and obliged the owner to undertake measures for its improvement if those levels are exceeded. SO far, owners of buildings that exceed this level are receiving informative letters. This is not intended as a punishable clause and therefore, no penalties have been applied so far. This process is set in order to give the administrator of a multi-apartment residential building the possibility to take mandatory actions without having to go through the usual voting procedure required of apartment owners. This, however, is only possible in cases where the average thermal energy consumption of the residential house within the last three calendar years has exceeded 200 kWh/m² per year, or 150 kWh/m² if the heat is only used for residential building heating. In some cases, this requirement can trigger the need for complex renovations; in other cases, it will only trigger a single measure, for example, a simple change to the attic insulation. Still, this does not allow a multi-family building administrator to start a large-scale renovation that would have significant financial implications without the owners’ consent. The consent through the owner voting procedure remains necessary if the improvement of the energy performance system would require a building permit from a building authority.

This mechanism is very effective for multi-family buildings where small-scale energy performance improvements are required and it is difficult to get all owners’ consent. Also, it is an effective tool for encouraging the building administrator to start actively informing apartment owners about the benefits of energy performance and the need to improve it, as well as to trigger the owner voting procedure for large-scale renovation works, especially in cases where the administrator only does the bare minimum.

Directive 2010/31/EU introduced the concept of NZEB. For residential buildings, Luxembourg defined this concept as being in principle an A-A-rated building (heating energy demand and primary energy needs). Luxembourg decided to advance the application of the NZEB standard in comparison to the EPBD. The NZEB standard is mandatory as of 1 January 2017. The timeline for NZEB, which was published in 2012, provided the sector sufficient time to create and adapt the training offer (Luxbuild project¹⁴ under the BUILD UP Skills initiative to train blue-collar workers as well as planners). Thanks to LuxBuild2020, Luxemburg’s construction sector considers itself ready to build new residential buildings in nearly zero-energy standard from 2017 onwards. The main results of the project are:

• creation of centres of excellence for craftsmen based on a competency framework¹⁵;
• innovative training concept: practical training, internal and external coaches, pedagogical tool;
• gateway LuxBuild2020: support services and tools.

The LuxBuild2020 initiative made it possible to improve the professional skills in the field of energy efficient constructions and to develop and promote a broad offer of related training programmes. This training and education offer can be split into theoretical and practical on-site courses (within a 'test house'). The organisation of the offer is a continuous work-in-progress, which is monitored by the Conseil national pour la construction durable (CNCD) to constantly adapt and improve the available structures.

Additionally, the construction sector has created the platform Neobuild¹⁶, with the mission to identify innovative technological and managerial concepts and to develop tools, methods and protocols for their implementation. As part of its mission, a testing laboratory was built containing over 100 different materials, products and systems. This zero-energy building, unique in Europe, offers many possibilities for life-sized monitoring and testing. The building is a complementary tool – a kind of living laboratory – to observe and analyse innovations in real-life conditions.

The building stock in Malta mainly consists of either vernacular buildings with traditionally good passive energy design or modern buildings built after the second half of the 20^th century which typically perform less efficiently. Due to mild climate conditions, the benefits reaped from the renovation of buildings are limited, and consequently the mobilisation of investments in energy efficiency from renovation is low. The task of mobilising investment in the sector was very limited for a long period.

The Maltese government decided at an early stage that, to reduce the energy use within buildings, the most effective ways for achieving energy efficiency should be targeted first and on a large scale. Opportunities were seen in the introduction of domestic hot water heating to satisfy the significant portion of energy used for this purpose, and offsetting the electrical demand for space cooling and other loads by means of on-site PV. Sustained efforts in this field led to a significant increase in on-site generation, with 9% of the annual demand being covered by on-site PV by 2020 (excluding solar water heating).

The renovation of the building stock was initiated on a large scale in recent years, with the government leading by example with the renovation of large office buildings occupied by the government. This is expected to continue, so that by 2030 all buildings occupied by the government which have a high specific energy consumption will have been targeted.

System Energy Performance of Buildings

As of 1 January 2021, the new energy performance requirements (maximum kWh/m².year and minimum percentage of renewable energy) for new buildings will be calculated with the newly developed energy performance calculation method NTA8800 (Nederlandse Technische Afspraak), which will be applicable for all buildings, both residential and non-residential. In addition, the method calculates the overheating indicator for residential buildings. This method will also be used to calculate and determine the energy performance certificate for all existing buildings, both residential and non-residential. NTA8800 is based on the CEN Standards.

It has been a major challenge to develop the calculation method, software and inspection protocols for all new and existing buildings. In addition, all training-, quality- and enforcement systems have been brought in line with the new method as shown in Figure 8; a true change of the whole system affecting all new and existing buildings.

Figure 8. System Energy Performance of Buildings (Source: www.gebouwenergieprestatie.nl/stelsel-energieprestatie-van-gebouwen/)

Preparing the market for stricter energy performance requirements

On 1 January 2016, new and stricter energy performance requirements came into force in Norway and they became mandatory in January 2017. This implementation required a change in the way buildings are constructed. Better planning and more cooperation between different technical professions have led to an increase in the production of compact, airtight and well-insulated buildings, with well-adapted technical installations.

The work of preparing the market for the new regulations started in 2010. Several concepts of energy efficient buildings had been tested. Based on this, the German concept of 'Passivhaus' was selected and adapted to Norwegian circumstances. A strategy was developed to share building knowledge among planners and contractors and to insert the concept into the Norwegian market for new buildings.

Evaluations (see endnote 4) show that the programme has led to innovation and increased knowledge about building energy efficient buildings. An important key to success was the cooperation between several governmental organisations, research institutions, property developers and trade organisations in the building sector.

The evaluation showed that the most ambitious part of the building market was changed as a result of the process, but questions remained as to whether or not the rest of the market would follow. Almost two years later, new performance requirements were set closely to the standards established in the programme. This secures the spread of knowledge and techniques for building energy efficient buildings in a new way, which will soon be seen as the normal way.

The introduction of coherent energy efficiency regulations in line with the EPBD succeeded in increasing the number of energy efficient buildings in Poland and in raising public awareness.

A mandatory review of regulations concerning the minimum requirements in the field of the energy performance of buildings was made for EU Member States. The most important changes in this area translated into amendments to technical and building regulations regarding thermal protection and energy consumption in buildings. The currently applicable requirements for the energy performance of buildings can be found in the regulation on technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location.

In 2016, energy poverty affected 12.2% of Poland's inhabitants, i.e., 4.6 million people or 1.3 million households. According to data available at the institute for structural research (http://ibs.org.pl/publications/jakograniczyc-skale-ubostwa-energetycznego-w-polsce), energy poverty previously affected 14.4%, 13.9%, 13.7% and 13.3% of the population respectively in the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Energy poverty thus decreased during the period 2012-2016 by 2.2%. The improvement in the situation of households was largely the result of an increase in income. The 'Guide to Improve the Energy Performance of Buildings' released in January 2020 by the Ministry of Development is a publicly available guidebook which offers significant support and advice in energy efficient construction to a wide range of customers, including building owners, users and many others. The publication describes the evolution of energy performance regulations in Poland and, on the basis of multiple case studies, shows how to improve the energy performance of new and existing buildings. Moreover, the guidebook reveals national and regional incentives which support energy performance actions.

Some steps in implementing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) have already been taken; however, they do not have a systematic nature, as these are the activities of individual energy companies and relate to pilot programmes involving the installation of remote meter reading in some Polish cities.

Portugal has managed to create a link between funding schemes/incentives and the EPC.

Funding schemes that are currently in operation were designed using information that was made available by the national EPC database. This database holds information on roughly 1.8 million buildings/building units. The data contributes to a better understanding of the building stock, and it is increasing at a steady pace of approximately 160,000 EPCs per year.

In Portugal, the EPC is a tool that provides access to funding schemes and is also used as a validation mechanism (by the qualified expert) regarding the effectiveness of the implemented recommendations supported by those incentives. In order for the validation to occur, the EPC is issued at the beginning of the process and aims to assess the current status (baseline) of the building. It clearly identifies which building component has to be replaced or renovated, in order to evaluate the future performance of the building and the resulting associated savings, in terms of either energy consumption or monetary value. Because of this, the EPC is a mandatory document for the funding application process. After the construction/renovation phase, a final EPC is issued and is used as a validation and conformity check of the works that were carried out, and also to evaluate new energy indicators and improvements.

Since all information is stored in a central database, it is easier to establish connections with other databases to better operate the funding schemes. Having a single EPC ID number that not only identifies the EPC (with around 150 variables per certificate) but also the building in question, allows for several public and private bodies that are not necessarily familiar with technical data to gain easy access to the relevant information.

Current funding schemes are based on two types: 'green taxes' and an energy efficiency fund. The former consists of a series of tax benefits or exemptions when a building’s energy performance rating (as stated in its energy label) is improved by at least two (2) labels. The latter is a fund specifically designed to aid the renovation of certain building elements. In recent years, the requests targeted specific building components, i.e., windows, walls and roof insulation, or solar thermal collectors, and were based on the EPC as a tool to better facilitate the specific renovation measure. When EPCs are issued during a period in which funding has been made available in this way, an icon representing financing is displayed next to the specific measure in the EPC. This highlights the fact that financial support was made available, and it also includes a link to further information, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: EPC indicating available funding mechanisms.

Other types of benefits currently available are those related to municipal taxes indexed on EPC labels. For example, buildings with the highest ratings (typically A and A+) and buildings undergoing renovations that improve their EPC rating by at least two (2) labels benefit from reduced taxes.

A noteworthy success of the Slovak Republic, in relation to creating the enabling conditions for improving the energy performance of buildings, is the strong interlinkage of different policies and steady improvements over time. The Slovak Republic started to implement the EPBD in 2005. Since that time, the general principles and methods of energy performance certification have remained constant. The system was developed, refined and extended in accordance with the evolution of the requirements in the EPBD as well as European Standards, new knowledge and the development of common conditions for the energy performance of buildings. That is the biggest success. A very important aspect for the successful implementation of the EPBD was the introduction of definitions related to the energy performance of buildings, but also the extension of terms initially provided in the EED.

The implementation process in relation to the EPBD was supported by CEN standards that were translated into the Slovak language. All of these standards were transposed into the Slovak technical standards system.

Defining these concepts also requires determining the conditions for which loans for carrying out major and deep renovations are granted. Upon any request for grants or loans, documentation should indicate that all the requirements of the EPBD can be achieved.

Research work conducted since 1992 included pilot and demonstration projects aimed at reducing energy use and the consumption of energy at the very least. The obtained results were used for the revision of thermal protection standards, but also for setting regulations on the energy use of technical building systems, leading to a decrease in energy demand supplied by RES. In 2012, a path was set for the gradual tightening of requirements concerning the thermal protection of building envelope components and the energy performance of buildings towards the NZEB energy level of construction. The requirements were set based on calculations of cost-optimal minimum requirements for energy performance of buildings. This influenced the innovation and changed market conditions for construction products. Achieved results influence the continuous improvements in the housing stock and the implementation of new conditions for overall policy integration, which has led to energy savings and improvements to the energy performance of buildings. Newly implemented procedures raise the awareness of building owners and mobilise them towards the energy renovation of buildings.

Based on the Long-Term Renovation Strategy for existing buildings (2015), Slovenia developed holistic policies for specific building types. This success story is about a set of policies for multi-family buildings. There are around 25,000 old multi-family buildings in Slovenia, mostly built between 1960 and 1980 and privatised in the 1990s. The Residential Act imposed building management as an obligatory service in each multi-family building. A new profile of companies for building (facility) management was developed, which manages the proper operation, maintenance, repair and renovation of existing multi-family buildings on behalf of the building owners. The owners are obliged to contribute a minimum amount (0.2 to 0.3 €/m²) or more to a ‘reserve fund’ of the buildings, and this budget can only be used for regular maintenance, urgent repair and renovations, including investments in energy renovations, and to repay the loan for the works. A precondition is an accepted maintenance plan, where a 50% consensus is required to accept such a plan and to use the reserve fund, respectively. On the other hand, for energy renovations, a 50% consensus (elapsed economic lifetime of the element) to a 75% consensus (investment before the end of economic life) is needed.

The most important barriers hindering deep energy renovations of multi-family buildings are the lack of consensus (50%, 75%) for renovation investment (100% if a building permit is needed), the lack of money and/or fuel poverty, the 100% consensus needed to take a loan, the credit worthiness of all building owners – necessary for the approval of the loan – , previously completed single measures that prolong the payback of later planned energy efficiency measures, insufficient information on technical solutions and financing options, insufficient design and planning of the works before commencement, the unreliable control of works, a low level of trust in contractors who unfortunately are not always adequately skilled, and a lack of monitoring and optimisation after the completion of works.

To break through these barriers and allow for deep energy renovations of multi-family buildings to take place, the following package of policies was put into action in 2016:

• information activities for flat owners (web portals, radio and television broadcasts, information events at fairs and in shops);
• free advice for households at ENSVET¹⁶ energy advisory offices;
• special guidelines for renovating heritage buildings;
• training of over 200 building managers (in two full-day training sessions) for facilitating deep renovation of multi-family buildings;
• progressive subsidies for common and individual investments made available by the Eco fund which cover a wide array of possible energy efficiency measures and their combinations from NZEB renovation to energy efficient building components and systems, with specific calls launched according to the approved plan²⁰;
• the Eco fund programme ZERO 500 to tackle energy poverty²¹;
• loans for common renovation works in multi-family buildings made available either through the Eco Fund and through commercial banks via the SID bank²², through EIB funds or from own bank funds;
• new financial instruments offered by commercial banks – ‘factoring’, in which the bank buys the claim from the contractor that completed the renovation and accepts monthly payments into the reserve fund for the repayment of debt.

One of the best-case success stories considered in Spain, due to its impact on compliance with the EPBD, is the PAREER-CRECE³ support programme (Figure 5).

Figure 5. PAREER-CRECE support programme.

This programme has been created to encourage and promote the implementation of reform actions that favour energy savings, the improvement of energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in existing buildings.

It has been designed to create opportunities for growth and employment in different economic sectors, especially in the construction sector, to favour urban regeneration.

The management of this programme lies with the Institute for the Diversification and Savings of Energy (IDAE), which has managed the programme with funds worth 200 million €.

The programme is designed to encourage the renovation of buildings, including the following actions:

• improvement of the energy performance of the thermal envelope;

• improvement of the energy performance of thermal and lighting installations;

• replacement of conventional energy in thermal installations by biomass;

• replacement of conventional energy in thermal installations by geothermal energy.

The criterium established to evaluate and limit the technical quality of the renovations is the energy performance rating. The actions supported must improve the total energy performance rating of the building by at least one (1) energy class measured in the scale of carbon dioxide emissions (kg CO₂/m².year).

Each project can opt for two types of support:

• financing

• repayable loans

The characteristics of the aids are included in Table 3.

Table 3. Typologies and support of the PAREER-CRECE programme.

The results of the programme have involved requests for help that have exceeded 235 million € through more than 1,500 projects that are currently being executed.

To date, 377 cases have been evaluated, which involve improving the energy efficiency of:

• 14,768 homes;

• 1,787 rooms in 12 hotels.

It is estimated that a final energy saving of 7,487 toe / year will be achieved through said projects.

A success story is the renovation of the "Oscar" Building in San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid) (Figures 6 and 7).

The action consisted of the renovation of the thermal envelope in a building of 80 existing housing units.

Figure 6. Renovation works "Oscar" building in San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid).

The building was constructed in 1991 under a 1979 regulation for thermal insulation; with assistance from the programme for the energy renovation of existing buildings, PAREER-CRECE of the IDEA, 80 millimetres of expanded polystyrene insulation was installed. All windows were renovated and now achieve transmittance values of U = 1.8 W / m² K. The shell has also been insulated, and the lighting systems of common areas and garages have been replaced by LED lighting.

The result has been a two (2)-energy class improvement in the EPC rating, from an E to a C, with an estimated final energy saving of 44% and a reduction in primary energy demand of 53%.

This project has had a total cost of 1.06 million € and has received a subsidy of 240,000 €.

Figure 7. "Oscar" building in San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid) after rehabilitation.

In 2021, Boverket has developed an Application Programming Interface for the EPCs

Boverket's Application Programming Interface (henceforth API) is developed to make it easier for companies to access certain basic data from the EPC register that is needed in their operations. The data that can be accessed includes information about the building's energy class, the EPC identification number (ID) and the date of issue, the building’s energy performance (primary energy number), specific energy use (the measure for energy performance before the introduction of the primary energy number), as well as whether a radon measurement and ventilation control have been performed. Such basic information is provided free of charge.

A practical example of use of the API is that of banks offering green mortgages to customers who buy or live in buildings with energy class A or B; they can retrieve information that verifies the building's energy class directly from Boverket.

Although at the time not required by the EPBD, an Energy Performance of Buildings Register was established in 2007, when EPBD requirements were first implemented. An energy certificate is only valid if it has been generated from data lodged on the register and each set of data has been allocated a report reference number. The data that produces energy certificates must be entered on the register before they are given to the person who requested them. Any data entered on the register must be kept for a period of at least 20 years.

The registers are the only official place for storing energy certificate data. The registers provide a central repository from which historic certificates and reports can be retrieved and enables those who require certificates and reports for statutory purposes to check the validity of the documents they have received. The registers also support quality assurance and enforcement activities, reduces fraud and allows statistical and data analysis to inform policies and to improve the Government’s knowledge of the building stock.

Open Data

As part of the Government’s move to make more data publicly available, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has enabled greater access to the data held on the Energy Performance of Buildings Registers.

Previously, energy certificates were only available individually, via the register search functions. In 2012, individual data records were made available in bulk to a limited number of authorised data users. However, the Government recognised the value of information about the energy performance of buildings to researchers, local authorities and environmental organisations in delivering national climate change objectives. The public interest in making this information more readily available was fully aligned with the wider Government commitment to greater transparency of data held by public authorities.

Making Government data more accessible empowers citizens, fosters innovation and reforms public services. MHCLG believes there have been significant benefits in publishing the data, these include:

• Informing the development of better policy making across the Government, the public sector and other sectors to support energy efficiency
• Providing local authorities and other organisations contributing to the delivery of national climate change objectives with evidence to inform their plans
• Supporting further research into issues like fuel poverty, climate change and building stock analysis to identify innovative solutions and targeted interventions to improve energy efficiency
• Support the Government to achieve its obligation of reducing emissions as set out in the Climate Change Act 2008 by 2050
• Meeting the Government’s duties under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, to progressively make environmental information available to the public
• Encouraging innovation in the private sector to develop consumer applications that can enable informed consumer choice (e.g. integration of EPCs into building sale and rental websites), an objective of the EU Directive

In March 2017, data for domestic and non-domestic EPCs and DECs for public authority buildings was published on the Open Data Communities website⁶⁰. The data is updated 2 to 4 times a year. In making the data available, data protection legislation and privacy risks were considered. MHCLG provided EPC holders with the opportunity to decide whether to ‘opt out’ before the data were released. MHCLG does not publish data where there may be national security concerns.

MHCLG is aware from responses and enquiries that this data has been of considerable interest. Data users can investigate, understand and manage the energy efficiency of buildings in their geographical or thematic areas of interest. There are approximately 3,000 registered data users and 2,300 to 2,600 user sessions per calendar month. The process does not record which sector data users come from. Anecdotal evidence gathered through user engagement suggests data users are mainly from the private sector, analysts specialising in a particular field (housing, energy, etc), Government departments, Local Authorities, universities and other organisations with an interest in energy efficiency.        

Positive uses of energy performance of buildings data, include an insight into the housing stock in England and Wales as e.g.:

• Financial institutions have used the EPC data to explore the feasibility and impact of green mortgages for the most energy efficient new-build residential properties (bands A or B).
• The Home Builders Federation has used EPC data to identify that new homes being built in England and Wales are considerably more energy efficient than their predecessors, saving owners £629 a year in energy bills.

Internally, MHCLG’s Data Analysts have used the data:

• To verify and quality control English Housing Survey⁶¹ results and to complete information where there are gaps.
• To identify ‘high rise’ blocks of flats in different geographical areas.
• To look at how different housing characteristics contribute to house prices, such as the impact of energy efficiency on house valuation.

The Welsh Government “Warm Homes” programme, which includes the “Warm Homes Nest” and “Warm Homes Arbed” schemes, is designed to improve the energy efficiency of existing housing, targeting low-income households or those living in the most deprived areas of Wales.

“Warm Homes Nest” is a demand-led fuel poverty scheme. It combines free impartial advice and support to help reduce energy bills with a package of free home energy improvement measures to eligible low-income households living in the most energy inefficient homes.

“Warm Homes Arbed” is a strategic area-based fuel poverty scheme focused on improving the energy efficiency of homes in some of the most deprived areas. Arbed aims to reduce the carbon footprint of Wales’ existing housing stock and, in doing so, provide resilience for households against rising energy costs.

Welsh Government “Warm Homes” programme takes a whole house approach to improving the energy efficiency, making homes more efficient and cheaper to heat. Between 2009 and 2019, more than £327 million (~372 M€) was invested in home energy efficiency improvements through the Warm Homes Programme, benefitting more than 55,000 homes. This investment enabled the provision of advice to more than 129,000 people over the same period.  

District Councils enforce the Regulations for qualifying buildings in their jurisdictions. They have powers to require the building seller or prospective landlord to produce copies of EPCs for inspection. In 2013 these powers were extended to include the “relevant person’s agent”, e.g. Estate or Letting Agents. District Councils operate a three‐stage enforcement process: first a letter to encourage compliance, followed by a stronger “enforcement letter”, and then a penalty charge notice. By June 2020, almost 600 enforcement letters had been issued, with 70 penalty charge notices issued.

The Department of Finance (DoF) enforces the Regulations on District Councils’ buildings. Since 2010, DoF has funded a dedicated Enforcement Team to facilitate cross‐council working, deliver awareness‐raising, and ensure consistency across the 11 District Councils following the Local Government reform (previously Northern Ireland was made up of 26 District Councils). DoF carried out audits of six District Councils in 2018 – 2020, which confirmed the effectiveness and benefits provided by the Enforcement Team. The team also provides quarterly reports to DoF, detailing Councils’ enforcement activities and it helps Councils reduce their administrative burden.

The annual compliance rate for real estate agents in the 2019/20 financial year is 67%. This compliance percentage reflects a combination of both visiting agents on-site and scrutinising properties advertised on websites. The compliance with DEC requirements, in the audited buildings of six District Councils, was 90% at the end of January 2020. DoF has continued to fund the Enforcement Team to ensure monitoring of enforcement levels.

EPCs continue to be a key mechanism to support both policy-making and the delivery (and monitoring) of energy efficiency improvements in Scotland.

An example of this can be seen in the Energy Efficient Scotland Route Map (2018)⁴⁵ which sets out long term objectives to improve the energy efficiency of the Scottish building stock across tenures and building types. This national programme, which will run until 2040, proposes to use the EPC assessment as the basis for both setting targets and demonstrating the level of improvement achieved. This Route Map is scheduled to be updated during 2020.