On the 7th of December, the Council and the Parliament reached a provisional political agreement to revise the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. This agreement aims to enforce more ambitious energy performance standards for both new and renovated buildings, targeting a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, addressing energy poverty, and advancing towards the EU's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
Key points of the revision include:
Ambitious Targets: By 2030, the directive aims for all new buildings to be zero-emission, and by 2050, the goal is to transform the existing building stock into zero-emission structures.
Solar Energy Implementation: A new provision, Article 9a, focuses on deploying suitable solar energy installations in new buildings, public buildings, and existing non-residential structures undergoing renovation requiring a permit.
Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS): The agreement stipulates that by 2030, all non-residential buildings should exceed the performance of the 16% worst-performing buildings and, by 2033, surpass the 26% threshold.
Renovation Targets: Member states are tasked with ensuring a 16% reduction in average energy consumption in residential building stock by 2030, aiming for a range of 20-22% by 2035, with 55% of energy reduction achieved through renovating the worst-performing buildings.
Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Boilers: The agreement outlines plans to include a roadmap in the National Building Renovation Plans to phase out fossil fuel boilers by 2040.