The European Commission announced a revised European Performance of Buildings Directive to be part of the Energy Efficiency Package, expected to be discussed in autumn 2016.  This is an important document because it summarises recommendations that would make the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive more effective in improving the energy performance of European buildings, while enabling Member States to develop and implement ambitious policies.

The most noteworthy measures are the following:

• Stimulating higher and deeper energy renovation rates of the current building stock, with the necessary attention to technical and economic feasibility, health and comfort issues;
• Highlighting the importance of European financial instruments in the form of loans, guarantees and equity to leverage private funding for energy efficiency projects;
• Considering energy audits for businesses to be a proven means of boosting energy efficiency, and stresses their benefits for competitiveness;
• Stressing that some key elements of the Energy Efficiency Directive (e.g. smart meters, smart grids, cogeneration and renovation plans) need more time, and that a stable post-2020 energy efficiency framework is essential in order to give the necessary confidence and regulatory stability to investors, public authorities and enterprises to launch projects and innovations;
• Emphasizing the importance to ensure that the review of the EED will provide a radically simpler method for calculating energy efficiency, and to consider proposing new delegated acts that will simplify the calculation methods of the current directive;

These recommendations are not considered exhaustive, a revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive should also:

• Reflect the agreed political priority to deliver energy savings through “energy efficiency first”;
• Take the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into account reflecting the Paris Climate Agreement;
• Realise that the built environment is the biggest infrastructure investment opportunity in Europe creating immediate positive returns for individuals and society at large;

According to the revision, European buildings should be more efficient and have zero carbon emissions by 2050. This provides an opportunity to evolve and to strengthen requirements in the current version of the EPBD which would result in higher energy savings. Europe’s transition to the low-carbon economy needs to accelerate and the recent revision of the EPBD have the propose to add new ways to improve energy performance.