“It is crucial that we harness the carbon reduction potential of existing buildings in the recast”, said Nils Borg, Executive Director of eceee, the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

“There is no time to lose in implementing building regulations with strict energy performance requirements for both new and existing buildings of all sizes”, Mr. Borg said.

A majority of energy used in buildings is consumed in the existing building stock. New buildings represent, on average, an annual increase of just 1% of the building stock. Considering that the renovation cycle for existing buildings typically is longer than 25 years, every building renovated without applying high standards for energy efficiency thus represents a lost opportunity that will not come back for several decades.

EU institutions need to provide the right framework for industry to provide solutions that will reduce energy consumption in Europe’s building stock, and particularly in households. Despite signs of improvement, Europe’s buildings remain a large energy consumer (40% of final energy use), of which too much is wasted in heating and cooling.

Apart from pointing out that the climate negotiations in Copenhagen would benefit from having a strong recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive in place before the meeting, eceee and the “building chain” players also request that the recast of the EPBD includes at least the following key issues:

• An obligation for Member States to fix targets for 2020 (with intermediate targets for 2015) aiming to significantly improve the energy performance of at least part of the building stock;
• The setting of minimum energy performance requirements for building components such as windows, exterior doors, roofs, walls and insulation systems, both in new buildings and when replaced in existing buildings;
• An obligation for Member States to amend their building codes, no later than 30 June 2015, in line with the cost-optimal levels that will result from the Commission’s benchmarking methodology;
• The use of national and community funds and of appropriate financing mechanisms to help EU citizens with the refurbishment of their homes and to develop the workforce required to deliver this; and
• Large scale public and private investment in the renovation and retrofitting of social housing, helping fight climate change and fuel poverty in a single stroke.

The letter was signed by the following organisations:

• European Insulation Manufacturers Association (Eurima)
  
• European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (Euroace)
  
• COGEN Europe 
  
• International Union of Tenants (IUT)
  
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
  
• Architects' Council of Europe (ACE)
  
• European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee)
  

Download letter here [pdf]

eceee contact:
Nils Borg, Executive Director
phone +46 70 585 31 74
eceee@eceee.org

Rod Janssen
EPBD contact person 
buildings@eceee.org