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Susanne GeisslerÖGNB, Austriageissler@oegnb.net | François DurierCETIAT, Francefrancois.durier@cetiat.fr |
The trend towards
Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEB) implies a better quality of the works, with
specific skills of the workforce to reach quality and good performance of the
installed systems.
In this
context, an international QUALICHeCK workshop took place in Lyon in January
2017, focusing on renewable heating and cooling systems [5]. This article
summarises its outputs.
In November
2016, the European Commission published the "Clean Energy for All
Europeans" legislative proposals, covering also energy efficiency and
renewable energy use in buildings. The proposals for a revised Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and a revised Renewable Energy
Directive (RED) demonstrate the crucial role of renewable energy systems in
buildings for achieving the decarbonisation of the European economy, defined as
target to be reached by 2050 [1].
The EPBD
aims at transforming the building sector towards improved energy efficiency,
with Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) requirements by the end of 2020, making
that renewable energy systems come to the fore.
The RED
aims at promoting the increased use of energy from renewable sources. The
building sector has a potential to use renewable energy and to generate it from
building integrated systems.
The
proposals for revising the directives include provisions for the use of
renewable energy systems in buildings, presented in Table 1.
Table 1.
Provisions relevant for the use of renewable energy systems in buildings.
Proposal for revised EPBD [2,6,7] | Proposal for revised RED [3] |
Definition of technical building systems mentioning
the use of renewables, and extended to on-site electricity generation and
infrastructure for electro-mobility (Article 2) | Scope extended to self-consumption of renewable
electricity (Article 1) |
Minimum levels of renewable energy in new and
renovated buildings based on cost-optimal calculations according to EPBD
(Article 15) | |
Requirement that the overall performance of
installed, replaced or upgraded systems is assessed, documented and passed on
to the building owner (Article 8) | Enabling consumers to self-consume electricity from
renewables without undue restrictions (Article 21) |
Suggested
changes show that more emphasis is put on renewable energy systems in buildings
as such, and on actual performance of technical building systems including
renewable energy systems.
Labelling
and certification schemes assuring quality on product level can support
compliance on building level by providing input data for calculating building
energy performance. They are often based on European standards [8].
Labels and certifications
can be of a voluntary nature or prescribed as part of legislation.
European regulations for setting energy-related requirements and
prescribing labelling for energy-related products according to Ecodesign
Directive and Energy Labelling Directive are available or under development or
revision for the most important components of building systems [9].
Among others, ecodesign criteria specify energy efficiency parameters
and minimum requirements which can be used either as input data or as default
values for the calculation of Energy Performance Certificates, if the national
regulation allows or requires it [10].
Certification
schemes exist at the European level, such as for example the mark
"Eurovent Certified Performance" [11] for heating, ventilation and
air conditioning products (with 21 certification programmes and more than 115 000
product references certified), the Heat Pump Keymark and the Solar Keymark for
solar thermal systems [12].
If allowed
by national regulation, certified product data can be used as input data for
the EPC calculation.
Databases
of certified products, and databases in which manufacturers publish product
characteristics under the control of a third party, provide easy access to
product data useful for EPC calculation (if allowed by national regulation. In
some cases, a direct link between these databases and the energy performance of
building calculation tools facilitates the choice of the input data, while
limiting the risk of errors.
QUALICHeCK
has identified and documented several databases, at national or European level
[4,13].
QUALICHeCK
shows that design and installation works need clear specifications on what has
to be done, clear procedures on how to decide on non-compliance, and effective
control and penalties if non-compliance is detected. Qualification of staff
is a key element.
Figure 1 shows how training of persons,
checking of competence and checks of the quality of the works can be used to
have a high probability of good workmanship.
Figure 1.
Stepwise approach to analyse the probability of good quality of the works.
Guidelines,
certification of persons or companies and inspection of the works are some of
the associated tools [14]. An interesting example of a national initiative to
increase the expertise of building professionals is the French programme PACTE
[15] in which professional recommendations, technical guides and notebooks for
workers (including digital version for smartphones and tablets) are developed
to help for design, construction, installation, self-control of quality and
commissioning.
[1] European
Commission – Communication […] Energy roadmap 2050 – December 2011, COM(2011)
885 final.
[2] European Commission – Proposal for a Directive […]
amending Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings, November
2016 COM(2016) 765 final.
[3] European Commission – Proposal for a Directive […] on the
promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast), November 2016,
COM(2016) 767 final.
[4] François Durier (CETIAT), Susanne Geissler
(ÖGNB) – How to get compliant and accessible data for the energy rating
calculation of a building? Overview of some existing approaches – March 2016,
QUALICHeCK report, available at www.qualicheck-platform.eu.
[5] Daniel Mugnier (Tecsol/RHC-ETIP) – Technologies for renewable heating
and cooling in buildings.
[6] François Durier (CETIAT) – Revision of the
EPBD: possible changes and additions.
[7] Michèle Mondot (CETIAT) – Revision of the
EPBD: possible impacts on heating and cooling systems.
[8] Dominique Hantz (CETIAT) – The European EPB standards for
heating and cooling systems: link with EPC input data.
[9] Geert de Cock (EHI) – How are renewable heating and
cooling systems covered by numerous regulations?
[10] Susanne Geissler (ÖGNB) - Input data for
building energy performance calculation: which are they? What about their
compliance?
[11] Sandrine Marinhas (Eurovent Certita
Certification) – Eurovent Certification for heating and air-conditioning products.
[12] Katharina Meyer (DIN CERTCO) - Heat Pump
Keymark.
[13] Jean-Paul Ouin (UNICLIMA) – The French product characteristics
database for boilers, heat pumps and solar thermal systems.
[14] Hans Erhorn (Fraunhofer IBP) – How to achieve quality of the
works? Presentation of QUALICHeCK findings.
[15] Sylvain Mangili (AQC) - Professional rules and
guidelines for installers: the French Programmes RAGE and PACTE.
QUALICHeCK responds to the challenges
related to compliance of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) declarations and
the quality of the building works. Find out more at http://qualicheck-platform.eu.
The QUALICHeCK project is co-funded by the
Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Union. The sole
responsibility for the content of this article lies with the author(s). It does
not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME
nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the
information contained therein.
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