Everything you need to know about the new version of the EU Energy Efficiency of Buildings Directive
- The main emphasis is on accelerating the energy-efficient renovation of buildings with the worst energy performance; at the same time, residential and non-residential buildings are treated differently. In their housing stock, EU member states must reduce primary energy consumption by 16% by 2030 and by 20-22% by 2035, with 55% of this reduction to be achieved through energy-efficient renovation of residential buildings with the worst energy performance. It is up to each country to decide which residential buildings to reconstruct and how to do so. For non-residential buildings, however, the so-called minimum energy performance standards are to be introduced, according to which 16% of these buildings must be reconstructed by 2030 and 26% by 2033. However, certain categories of residential and non-residential buildings, such as historic buildings or summer cottages, may be exempt from these obligations. By December 31, 2026, each EU member state must submit to the European Commission its first national building renovation plan, which will be updated every five years thereafter.
- A zero carbon emissions standard for fossil fuel in-use has been introduced for new buildings. The standard will take effect from January 1, 2028, initially for state-owned and municipally owned buildings, and from January 1, 2030, for all other new buildings, with some specific exceptions.
- The tentative date for the complete phase-out of fossil fuel heating and cooling systems is 2040. This will reduce direct emissions from the building sector by 80-89%. To this end, government support for the installation of individual fossil fuel boilers will be discontinued starting in 2025. However, this will not yet apply to hybrid heating systems with a significant share of renewable energy, in which the boiler is combined with a solar collector or heat pump.
- Along with the phase-out of fossil fuels for heating buildings, the directive requires all new buildings to be suitable for the installation of solar collectors and photovoltaic panels in the future without the need for costly structural intervention. EU member states must also ensure that solar installations are installed on existing large public buildings, non-residential buildings undergoing major renovations, and new covered parking lots.
- In zero-emission buildings (i.e., new buildings from 2030 onwards), where technically and economically feasible, the total annual primary energy consumption should be fully covered by renewable energy produced on site or sourced from a nearby community where it is produced (so-called renewable energy community), as well as by using renewable energy and waste heat from efficient district heating and cooling systems.
- And most importantly, the approach to greenhouse gas emissions from buildings has undergone a decisive change. Previously, only emissions during the operational phase of buildings were taken into account and the focus was on measures to reduce them by improving the energy efficiency of buildings, but now carbon emissions over the entire life cycle of buildings (Whole Life Carbon, WLC), including the so-called embodied carbon2, will be taken into account. To measure the carbon footprint at each stage of the life cycle of buildings, an indicator called the life-cycle Global Warming Potential (life-cycle GWP) will be used. The unit of measurement is kg of CO₂ equivalent per m² of usable internal area for the base period of the study lasting 50 years. The selection of the necessary data, scenario definition and calculations should be carried out in accordance with EN 15978.
The Directive requires the calculation and disclosure of the Life Cycle Global Warming Potential for new buildings: from January 2028, this will apply to buildings with a usable floor area of more than 1000 m² and will be extended to all new buildings by 2030. In this regard, the Directive authorizes the European Commission to develop a common scheme for calculating life-cycle GWP to ensure consistency across EU member states.
By January 1, 2027, EU Member States must publish and notify the European Commission of their roadmaps detailing the implementation of limits on the total life-cycle global warming potential of all new buildings, as well as setting targets for new buildings after 2030 (taking into account the trend towards a gradual reduction in their life-cycle GWP) and maximum life-cycle GWP limits depending on the climate zone and type of building.
1 An extremely poor translation of the title of the Directive, which distorts its very essence. It does not matter that efficiency means efficiency in English. Instead, the original title of the Directive does not use energy efficiency, but rather the much broader concept of energy performance, which covers all factors that affect the level of energy consumption in buildings. In addition to the energy efficiency of the building itself, as determined by the project (adjusted for the quality of its implementation), it also includes the following: maintenance and care of the building, management of energy consumption in the building (energy management), and the needs and habits of its users - all of which directly affect whether the planned energy efficiency will be fully disclosed and utilized or not. In this context, the closest Ukrainian equivalent to the word performance is functioning (according to the Cambridge English Dictionary, performance, functioning, and operation are synonymous). Accordingly, the most accurate title of the Directive in Ukrainian is the Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (author's note).
2 Embodied carbon is the carbon emissions at the stage of a) production of building materials; b) construction of the building; and c) demolition of the building and waste disposal. Today, buildings account for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions, including 11% of embodied carbon (https://www.techtarget.com/sustainability/definition/embodied-carbon).