The Clean Energy for all Europeans policy package led to the revision of several key pieces of legislation related to the renovation of buildings. Most notable was the revision of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) that now sets a clear direction for the full decarbonisation of the European building stock by 2050.
The amended EPBD was published in the Journal of the European Union on 19 June 2018 and entered into force on 9 July 2018. Every Member State must transpose it into national law by 10 March 2020. With the amended text, the EU has given itself a legal framework to continue pushing efforts at national level to tap into the huge potential for efficiency gains in the building sector.
The revision of the EPBD created a clear path towards achieving a highly energy efficient and decarbonised building stock in the Union by 2050, underpinned by national road-maps with precise milestones and domestic progress indicators, together with corresponding and required public and private financing and investment support, and taking advantage of smart technologies.
Member States must now adopt national long-term renovation strategies with a solid planning and finance-related component. This is to ensure the renovation of existing buildings into highly energy efficient and decarbonised buildings and facilitating the cost-effective transformation of all existing buildings into nearly zero-energy buildings. Full transposition and effective implementation of the amended EPBD is fundamental to achieve 2030 energy efficiency targets and to put the Union on track for the full decarbonisation of national building stocks by 2050.
The EU-ASE recommendations developed in this document are intended to clarify key aspects of the EPBD and provide industry views on the interpretation of essential provisions during the transposition and implementation period, notably:
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Long-term renovation strategies (Art 2a)
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Technical building systems (TBS) improvements and building automation and
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Control systems (BACs) deployment (Art 2.3, 8, 14, 15)
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Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) (art. 8, Annex IA)