The amended Energy Performance of Buildings Directive was finally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council and published in the Official Journal of the EU on May 8, 2024. It entered into force on May 28, 2024. Member states must transpose the directive into national law within two years.

Text Robert Stadler and Wolfgang Thoma

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Background

Buildings are responsible for a third of energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. In order to achieve the EU’s goal of being climate-neutral by 2050, the building sector is also required to make a contribution, which prompted the European Commission to tackle a revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) as part of the Renovation Wave presented in October 2020. The fact that 85% of current buildings in the EU will still be standing in 2050 also plays a role here. Three quarters of these buildings are currently not sufficiently emission-free or “climate-ready”. At present, only 1% of buildings in the EU undergo energy-efficient refurbishment each year, which means that, if the pace remains the same, only around 28% of the building stock will have been modernized by 2050. This is a far cry from the 75% required to achieve the climate targets.

 

The recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

Reducing energy costs and emissions through more efficient buildings

The revised Directive [1] contains a series of measures that support the EU Member States in structurally improving the energy efficiency of buildings. The focus is particularly on buildings with the lowest energy efficiency, with each Member State setting its own national target path to reduce the average primary energy consumption of residential buildings. There is sufficient flexibility to take national circumstances into account. Member States can decide which buildings their plans apply to and which measures they take. For non-residential buildings, the revised rules provide for gradual improvements through minimum energy performance standards. Member States can exempt certain categories of residential and non-residential buildings, including historic buildings or vacation homes, from the obligations. The revised energy performance certificates are based on a common EU template with common criteria to improve information for citizens and simplify financing decisions across the EU. To reduce energy poverty and lower energy costs, financing measures must incentivize and accompany renovations. They must also be particularly targeted at vulnerable customers and buildings with the poorest energy performance, as these buildings are home to a particularly large number of people affected by energy poverty. In addition, Member States must put in place safeguards for tenants to counteract the risk of vulnerable households being evicted due to disproportionate rent increases following renovation.

A new wave of renovations

The revised EPBD contains measures that improve both the strategic planning of renovations and the instruments for ensuring these renovations. According to the agreed provisions, Member States shall take the following measures:

• National building renovation plans that include the national strategy for decarbonizing the building stock and show how remaining obstacles should be removed, for example in terms of financing and training and attracting more professionals;
• Renovation passports to support building owners in the gradual renovation to zero-emission buildings;
• Central points of contact for building owners and all players in the renovation value chain to offer them targeted, independent support and advice.

The agreed rules will also help to phase out fossil-fuel boilers in the EU, as subsidies for the installation of stand-alone fossil-fuel boilers will no longer be permitted from January 1, 2025. The revised directive gives member states a clear legal basis to set requirements for heat generators based on greenhouse gas emissions, the type of fuel used or the minimum share of renewable energy used for heating. Furthermore, the Member States are required to define specific measures for phasing out fossil fuels in the heating and cooling supply with the aim of completely phasing out the use of fossil-fuel boilers by 2040. However, this is decidedly not equivalent to an EU-wide ban on fossil fuels from 2040.

Obligation to determine the life cycle global warming potential

The EPBD also obliges Member States to calculate the life cycle global warming potential and to disclose it in the energy performance certificate of the building from the following dates:

• from January 1, 2028 for all new buildings with a usable area of more than 1,000 m² and
• from January 1, 2030 for all new buildings.

For the calculation of the life cycle global warming potential of new buildings, the total life cycle global warming potential is given as a numerical indicator, expressed in kg CO2eq/(m²) (floor area) for each life cycle phase, calculated over a reference period of 50 years. Data selection, scenario definition and calculations are carried out in accordance with EN 15978 [2]. This includes the determination of the greenhouse gas potentials of the production phase (A1-3) and the construction phase (A4-5) as well as the disposal phase (C1-4) of a building.

In Austria, the obligation to determine the life cycle greenhouse potential is to be mapped in an OIB Guideline 7 “Sustainable use of natural resources”, which is planned for 2027.

Promoting sustainable mobility

In addition, the agreed regulations promote the spread of sustainable mobility solutions as they contain provisions on prewiring, charging points for electric vehicles and bicycle parking spaces. Pre-wiring will become standard for new and renovated buildings. This facilitates access to charging infrastructure and thus also contributes to the EU’s climate targets. In addition, the requirements for the number of charging points in both residential and non-residential buildings will be increased. In addition, the member states must remove obstacles to the installation of charging stations in order to put the right to an electric connection into practice. In general, charging stations must enable intelligent and, if necessary, bidirectional charging.

A zero-emissions standard for new buildings

The revised directive makes zero-emission buildings the standard for new buildings. Following the agreement, new residential and non-residential buildings may no longer have any emissions from fossil fuels on site. This will apply to public buildings from January 1, 2028 and to all other new buildings from January 1, 2030. Member states must also ensure that new buildings are solar-ready, i.e. suitable for the installation of photovoltaic or solar thermal systems on the roof. The installation of solar energy systems will thus become standard for new buildings. From 2027, solar energy systems must gradually be installed on existing public buildings and non-residential buildings, provided this is technically, economically and functionally feasible. The provisions will come into force at different times depending on the type and size of building.

Minimum energy performance standards and renovation paths

Central to increasing the efficiency of buildings are the minimum energy performance requirements that must be set by the Member States. These requirements are based on the calculated or recorded energy consumption in typical building classes and relate to indicators such as non-renewable and renewable primary energy consumption, final energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions per square meter. The minimum requirements for the energy performance of a building stipulate that buildings that are part of a comprehensive renovation plan for a building stock or at a trigger point on the market (e.g. sale or rent) must achieve a certain energy performance over a certain period of time or at a certain point in time. This is intended to trigger the renovation of existing buildings.

The political discussion focused in particular on the question of how to deal with buildings with the poorest energy efficiency. In view of rising rents, the directive dispenses with mandatory renovation targets for residential buildings. Instead, in future it will be up to the member states to set a national target path to reduce the average primary energy consumption of residential buildings by 16% by 2030 and by 20 to 22% by 2035. There is sufficient flexibility to take national circumstances into account. For non-residential buildings, it is planned to reduce the average primary energy demand by 16% by 2030 and by up to 26% by 2033, whereby at least 55% of this reduction is to be achieved by renovating buildings with the worst energy efficiency (“worst-first principle”).

The implementation of the targets is the responsibility of the Member States and is set out in national building renovation plans. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that minimum energy performance requirements for buildings or building units are set with a view to achieving at least cost-optimal levels and, where appropriate, more stringent reference values. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in order to supplement this Directive with regard to a framework for establishing and amending a comparative methodology for calculating cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements for buildings and building elements. By 30 June 2025, the Commission shall revise the framework for a comparative methodology for the calculation of cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements for new and existing buildings undergoing major renovation and individual building elements. These levels shall be in line with the national pathways set out in the national energy and climate plans submitted to the Commission.

In Austria, the minimum standards for the energy performance of buildings are to be defined in an OIB Guideline 6:2025. A new OIB document is also planned to demonstrate cost optimality in 2028 in order to reflect the new framework for a comparative method to be developed by the Commission by then.

National building renovation plan

The national building renovation plan must set out the path with intermediate steps for 2030 and 2040 to transform existing buildings into zero-emission buildings by 2050 and achieve higher energy performance classes. The report replaces the previous reporting on the long-term renovation strategy and is based on statistical data on the building stock and describes in particular the necessary strategic measures and minimum targets for energy performance and renovation in order to achieve the overarching goal. The first plan is due to be available at the beginning of 2027 and will be updated every five years.

The national building renovation plans should be based on a harmonized template to ensure the comparability of the plans. To ensure the required level of ambition, the Commission should assess the draft national building renovation plans and make recommendations to the Member States. The national building renovation plans should be closely linked to the integrated national energy and climate plans, and progress towards the national targets and the contribution of the national building renovation plans to the national and Union targets should be reported as part of the biennial reporting. The subsequent national building renovation plans should be submitted as part of the integrated national energy and climate plans and their updates, i.e. the second draft of the national building renovation plan should be submitted in 2028 with the second draft of the integrated national energy and climate plans.

Every national building renovation plan includes

• an overview of the national building stock by different building types, including their share in the national building stock, construction periods and climatic zones, and the national energy performance certificate database, an overview of market barriers and market failures and an overview of the capacities in the building sector, the energy efficiency sector and the renewable energy sector, and an overview of the share of vulnerable households;
• a roadmap with targets and measurable progress indicators set at national level, including the reduction of the number of people affected by energy poverty, with a view to achieving the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 in order to ensure a highly energy-efficient and decarbonized national building stock and the transformation of existing buildings into zero-emission buildings by 2050;
• an overview of the implemented and planned strategies and measures to support the implementation of the roadmap in accordance with bullet point 2;
• an overview of the investment requirements for the implementation of the national building renovation plan, the sources and measures of funding and the administrative resources for building renovation;
• the threshold values for operational greenhouse gas emissions and the annual primary energy consumption of a new or renovated zero-emission building;
• the minimum energy performance requirements for non-residential buildings based on the maximum energy performance thresholds;
• the national pathway for the renovation of the residential building stock, including milestones for 2030 and 2035 for average primary energy consumption in kWh/(m2.a), and W an evidence-based estimate of the expected energy savings and wider benefits, including those related to indoor climate quality.

Similar to the long-term renovation strategy, the national building renovation plan in Austria is to be published as an OIB document and submitted to the Commission.

Renovation pass

As part of the EU Buildings Directive, Member States must create and make available a scheme for the creation of renovation passports. Originally planned to be mandatory, the renovation passport is a document that building owners can create voluntarily to receive a customized renovation plan – including recommendations for replacing the heating system. Comprehensive phased renovations can be a solution to the high initial costs and hassle for residents that can occur with ‘one go’ renovations, and allow for less disruptive and more financially feasible renovations. However, such a comprehensive multi-stage renovation must be carefully planned to avoid one renovation step precluding necessary further steps. Compared to a multi-stage renovation, a comprehensive renovation in one step can be more cost-efficient and lead to lower emissions related to the renovation. Renovation passports provide a clear roadmap for comprehensive multi-stage renovations and make it easier for owners and investors to plan the timing and scope of the renovation measures in the best possible way. Renovation passports should therefore be promoted and made available to building owners in all Member States as a voluntary tool.

The basis for creating the renovation passports is an on-site visit by qualified or certified experts. In the course of this, advice is to be given on energy-efficient renovation towards a zero-emission building. In addition, a digital tool is to be introduced by the member states to facilitate the creation and updating of renovation passports. It should also be possible to create a simplified draft in advance. The renovation passport can be created by the expert together with the energy performance certificate and includes steps that lead to a significant improvement in the overall energy efficiency of the building. The preparation of energy performance certificates has also been revised in the directive in order to ensure a clearer design. In addition to a common template for all EU member states, there will also be a common scale from A to G. A” indicates a zero-emission building and “G” indicates buildings with the worst overall energy efficiency. The standardization is intended to ensure easier access to funding and can be easily adapted to national characteristics of the building stock.

There are some synergies between renovation passports and energy performance certificates, in particular as regards the assessment of the current energy performance of the building and the recommendations for its improvement. In order to make the best use of those synergies and to reduce costs for building owners, Member States should be able to allow the renovation passport and the energy performance certificate to be drawn up and issued together by the same expert. Where both are drawn up and issued together, the renovation passport should replace the recommendations contained in the energy performance certificate. However, it should remain possible to obtain an energy performance certificate without a renovation passport.

In Austria, the OIB is aiming to publish guidelines for the renovation passport in 2025.

Conclusion

The amended Energy Performance of Buildings Directive was published in the Official Journal of the EU on May 8, 2024 and came into force on May 28, 2024. Member states must transpose the directive into national law within two years. A key innovation is the minimum standards for energy efficiency, which are to be designed in such a way that at least 16% of the national non-residential building stock is below a threshold value for energy performance. In accordance with a national building renovation plan, a national pathway for the gradual renovation of the residential building stock will be defined with the aim of transforming the building stock into a zero-emission building stock by 2050, for which a system of renovation passports will also be introduced.

List of standards and literature

[1] Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 24, 2024 on the energy performance of buildings (recast), published in OJ L of May 8, 2024, p. 1.

[2] ÖNORM EN 15978: Sustainability of construction works – Assessment of the environmental performance of buildings – Requirements and guidance, May 15, 2024.