EC Cites Belgium, U.K. for Failures Complying with Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

February 29, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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The goal of this directive is to reduce energy consumption in buildings, an important part of European Union (EU) legislation aimed at improving overall energy efficiency.

The EC sent Belgium and the U.K. a formal notice in February 2006 and a reasoned opinion in October 2006, urgently requesting them to notify the transposition measures required by the directive. However, both member states failed to provide information to demonstrate convincingly that they have fully implemented the necessary measures regarding energy-efficient buildings.

In particular, the EC has not received official notification of measures for the implementation of:

• Completely specified energy performance requirements for buildings and for inspection requirements for boilers and air conditioning systems (from the Walloon region of Belgium)
• A methodology to calculate the energy performance of non-residential buildings and the complete specification of minimum energy performance requirements for existing buildings that undergo major renovations (from the Brussels capital region)
• Implementation of the directive in Gibraltar (U.K.)
• Provisions related to energy performance certificates and the inspection of boilers and air conditioning systems in Northern Ireland

The directive requires member states to establish minimum energy performance standards and energy performance certification schemes for buildings, as well as to ensure that heating and air conditioning installations are regularly inspected to enable performance improvements. The deadline for the implementation of the directive was Jan. 4, 2006, with derogation possible for certain articles until Jan. 4, 2009.

The building sector is responsible for 40% of Europe's total energy consumption. If implemented in full and on time, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive could contribute significantly to reducing energy consumption. The buildings sector has a cost-effective energy saving potential of almost 30%.

In March 2007, European heads of state and government officials agreed on an energy package stressing the need to increase energy efficiency in the EU so as to save 20% of the EU's energy consumption by 2020, as proposed in the EC's Energy Efficiency Action Plan of 2006. The EU states that full implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is undoubtedly one of the most cost-effective means to achieve this goal.

Source: European Commission.