REHVA has joined 26 other organisations from across the buildings and energy ecosystem in a joint statement welcoming the European Commission's follow-up on the transposition of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) - and calling for the Directive to be implemented and enforced in practice, not merely written into national law.
A joint response to the Commission's follow-up
REHVA has co-signed a joint stakeholder statement welcoming the European Commission's decision to follow up on the transposition of the revised EPBD across all 27 Member States. The undersigned organisations regard this action as essential to uphold the credibility of EU building policy and to ensure that the agreed requirements are implemented effectively.
The statement responds to the Commission's action of 15 July 2026, when the Commission opened infringement procedures by sending letters of formal notice to all 27 Member … for failing to fully transpose the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU) 2024/1275 into national law. Member States were required to notify transposition by 29 May 2026, and they now have two months to respond, complete transposition and notify the Commission.
Why the EPBD matters
For REHVA, the technical stakes are clear. Buildings account for around 40% of the EU's final energy consumption and around half of its gas consumption, while heating, cooling and hot water represent around 80% of household energy use. The EPBD is one of Europe's most important tools to reduce energy demand and optimise energy use across building services - heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water and lighting - while lowering energy bills, strengthening energy security, improving indoor environmental quality and comfort, and supporting Europe's clean technology market.
Legal transposition is not enough
These benefits, the signatories stress, will only materialise if the Directive is fully transposed, effectively implemented and properly enforced. Based on exchanges with national authorities and market actors, the picture across Member States remains mixed: some are developing practical implementation tools, while many remain delayed, address the requirements only partially, or focus on legal transposition without the necessary guidance, verification and compliance checks. The central message is that legal transposition alone is not enough - measures must be operationalised, with clear compliance routes, practical guidance, proportionate verification methods and sufficient administrative capacity.
Six joint calls to the Commission and Member States
The statement sets out six joint calls to the Commission and national authorities: to fully transpose the revised EPBD without weakening or delaying provisions; to provide clear guidance on demonstrating compliance in practice; to inform citizens and building owners of what the new requirements mean for them; to develop proportionate verification and inspection routes, including for existing buildings; to avoid fragmented national approaches and support the third EPB mandate for standardisation while respecting national specificities; and to invest in skills and administrative capacity.
REHVA's contribution: harmonised EPB standards
The reference to standardisation reflects REHVA's own principal contribution to the statement. The third mandate for the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) standards is central to delivering the Directive consistently across the internal market: it provides the common, transparent methodology by which the energy performance of buildings and their technical systems - heating, cooling, ventilation, domestic hot water and lighting - is actually calculated, verified and compared. Fragmented or divergent national approaches would undermine market certainty, complicate compliance and weaken the very benefits the EPBD is designed to deliver. As the federation of European HVAC associations and a long-standing contributor to the development of the EPB standards, REHVA advocates that Member States build their transposition on this harmonised framework, while respecting genuine national specificities, so that the rules are applied coherently and can be operationalised by authorities and professionals on the ground.
Ready to support implementation
Together with the co-signatories, REHVA stands ready to support the Commission and Member States with technical expertise, practical tools, case studies, training materials and market feedback - ensuring the collaboration needed for successful implementation. As the statement concludes, the EPBD has been agreed and adopted; the task now is to ensure it works for citizens and businesses.