The new revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) was approved by the European Parliament which upgrades the existing regulatory framework (agreed in 2018) for member states.
Aim of the new directive reducing emissions and energy use in buildings across the EU, from homes and workplaces to schools, hospitals and other public buildings.
Under the enhanced framework, residential and non-residential residential buildings are treated differently. For residential buildings, each Member State will adopt measures to reduce average primary energy use by 16% by 2030 and by 20-22% by 2035. These national measures should ensure that at least 55% of reducing the average primary energy use is achieved through the renovation of the worst performing buildings.
The revised directive makes zero-emission buildings the new standard for new buildings. All new residential and non-residential buildings must have zero on-site fossil fuel emissions from 1 January 2028 for public buildings and from 1 January 2030 for all other new buildings, subject to special exemptions.
The updated OEAK also strengthens the favorable framework for renovations. Introduces ‘building renovation passport’ schemes across the EU to help building owners plan their (phased) renovations.
The states members should also introduce measures to address the risks of so-called “evictions” (de facto evictions associated with a significant increase in rents following renovation work).
The better design is a key feature of the revised directive. Under the new provisions, Member States will draw up national building renovation plans to set out the national strategy for decarbonising the building stock and how to tackle barriers such as funding, training and attracting more skilled workers.
A common template with mandatory and optional elements is introduced to improve comparability between Member States. The drafts must be submitted to the Commission for evaluation and, on the basis of this evaluation, the Commission may issue recommendations that should further support Member States in drawing up their final plans.
The plans are submitted under of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) process. Exceptionally, and taking into account the urgent need to scale up the renovation of buildings based on solid national plans, the first drafts of the plans will be submitted by December 2025.
According to the revised OEAK, the autonomous boilers that powered by fossil fuels will not be eligible for public support from 2025. Although the revised EPA does not impose an EU-wide phase-out date for the installation of new fossil fuel boilers, it introduces a clear legal basis for national bans, allowing Member States to set requirements for heat generating units based on greenhouse gas emissions, the type of fuel used or a minimum share of energy from renewable sources used for heating.
In addition, Member States should specify in relevant building renovation plans their policies and measures for phasing out fossil fuels in the heating and cooling sector with a view to phasing out fossil fuel boilers by 2040.
Finally, to encourage the rapid deployment of zero-emission heating systems, new zero-emission buildings must not cause on-site carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
In addition to supporting the phasing out of fossil fuels from heating buildings, the revised directive establishes a specific requirement for all new buildings to be ‘solar ready’, meaning that they must be able to accommodate photovoltaic or solar thermal roof installations at a later stage without costly structural interventions.
Member States should also ensure the development of suitable solar installations in large existing public buildings and existing non-residential buildings undergoing large-scale renovations or requiring a permit, as well as in new covered car parks.
Furthermore, in zero-emission buildings (i.e. all new buildings from 2030), where technically and economically feasible, 100% of total annual primary energy use should be met by on-site, nearby or community-generated renewable energy of renewable energy sources, energy from an efficient district heating and cooling system or energy from carbon-free sources.
The integration of renewable energy sources is also better highlighted in energy performance certificates (EPCs) as well as building renovation passports .
Minimum energy performance standards and to which buildings they will apply.
Generally, minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) are requirements for existing buildings to meet a certain energy performance as part of a broad building stock renovation plan or at a market trigger point (such as sale, lease, donation or change of purpose within the cadastre or cadastre), for a period of time or on a specific date, thus triggering the renovation existing buildings. They are already in use in some Member States.
The revised EPA establishes the phase-in of minimum energy performance standards for non-residential buildings only, to trigger the renovation of the worst performing buildings. These standards will be based on energy efficiency ceilings and lead to the renovation of 16% of the worst performing non-residential buildings by 2030 and 26% of non-residential buildings worst performing by 2033. Member States will have the flexibility to exclude different categories of buildings, based on an unfavorable cost-benefit assessment or due to the category of building and the way the building is used, such as for historic and cultural buildings inheritance. Member States are also required to set a path to comply with lower energy efficiency ceilings by 2040 and 2050 as part of their national building renovation plans.
Certificates change energy performance certificate (PEA)
Energy performance certificates (PEA) are a key tool for evaluating the performance of our buildings. The revision includes measures to make the PES clearer, more reliable and visible, and to base them on a common template across all 27 EU Member States with a range of indicators for energy and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as voluntary indicators for charging points or the presence of fixed indoor air quality controls. This will benefit building owners, buyers and tenants, financial institutions and public authorities.
Control mechanisms and visibility of property advertising are improved and Member States must report publicly on the quality assurance process for EPCs.
Under the revised EPC, there will be a common A-G scale. An ‘A’ rating would correspond to zero-emission buildings, while a ‘G’ rating would correspond to the worst performing buildings in each country, with the rest of the buildings in the country spread across the categories. This will enable a clearer and simpler building classification system, facilitating access to finance, while being flexible and adaptable to national characteristics of the building stock. Member States will also be able to designate an energy efficiency class ‘A +’ which corresponds to buildings with even better energy efficiency than zero-emission buildings and produce more energy from renewable sources on site per year than the amount of energy they consume.
PEAs should be issued and displayed at more trigger points than currently, including large-scale renovations and lease renewals, to increase awareness among building owners and tenants.
The recast OEAK also includes common requirements for the establishment of national databases on the energy performance of buildings, access to such databases and the publication of aggregated information. This will improve the availability of information, its quality and facilitate the work of public authorities and financial institutions to promote renovations across Europe.
Building renovation passport systems will also be established in all Member States members to provide reliable and personalized renovation roadmaps to building owners planning a staged renovation of their building.
Funding for energy renovations
National renovation plans of buildings must enable the development of adequate funding at national level and help leverage private investment at scale. Member States are required to include an overview of national policies and measures to empower and protect vulnerable households, alleviate energy poverty and ensure housing affordability, also in line with the Commission’s recently published recommendations on tackling energy poverty poverty.
With more than €100 billion of EU funding estimated to be available to support renovations between 2023 and 2030, the Commission is also helping to mobilize more funding needed to meet the initial investment costs. EU funding comes from various sources, including cohesion policy funds, InvestEU, lending from the European Investment Bank, the LIFE sub-programme for the transition to clean forms of energy, the Horizon Europe programme, including the partnership ” Buildings for People’, the ELENA Facility, the Modernization Fund and the Recovery Facility, notably thanks to the strong ‘Renovate’ flagship initiatives and dedicated REPowerEU-related funds in the national recovery and resilience plans. Crucially, the new Social Climate Fund established under the European Green Deal will mobilize €86.7 billion for the period 2026-2032 to support vulnerable households and micro-enterprises, with energy renovations being one of the two focus areas (with transport) in structural measures.
To enable an effective mix of public and private funding, the Commission has also made the state aid framework more favorable to the needs of the least energy efficiency standards at EU level, in particular the General Block Exemption Regulation.
The revision should also help to mobilize support from financial institutions. The directive tasks the Commission with the development of an integrated portfolio framework for voluntary use by financial institutions to support the increase in the volume of loans for building renovation. Facilitating and regulating financial institutions’ access to EPC data should also facilitate the financing of renovations through private financial institutions.
Next steps
The revised directive will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and will enter into force in the coming weeks. Member States will then have to transpose it into their national legislation.
