Member States must ensure that their long-term renovation strategies include policies and actions to target all public buildings and shall facilitate access to appropriate mechanisms for guiding investments into an energy efficient public building stock, in line with Eurostat guidance (Art. 2a). As of 2021, all new buildings must be nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB) and since 2019, all new public buildings should be NZEB (Art. 9). To this end, regional and local governments must ensure that their building stock complies with the requirements and undertake all the necessary measures. Implementation of projects that help improve the energy performance of public buildings can provide the stimulus for developing the market for energy efficiency improvements in the entire building stock.

The Directive also requires that EU countries set cost-optimal minimum energy performance requirements for new buildings, existing buildings undergoing major renovation and the replacement or retrofit of building elements like heating and cooling systems, roofs and walls (Art. 4-8). EU countries must also draw up lists of national financial measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings (Art. 10).

On 15 December 2021, the European Commission published its proposal for a recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, in the framework of the Fit for 55 % Package. The proposed revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive introduces new standards for energy performance to decarbonise the building sector, with changes to definitions of energy performance standards, revisions to national building renovation plans and a new requirement for life cycle emission calculations for new builds.

National Building Renovation Plans (previously 'Long-Term Renovation Strategies') will need to be revised to include a roadmap and national targets by 2030, 2040 and 2050. Member states will need to ensure that public buildings and non-residential buildings are at least class F by 2027, and class E by 2030, with all residential buildings meeting class F by 2030 and class E by 2033. New buildings will have to be zero-emission by 2030 (2027 for public buildings), and life cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) will be calculated for large new buildings from 2027, and for all new buildings by 2030. The revised EPBD would give Member States a legal basis for banning fossil fuel boilers and aims to end all financial support for them by 2025.

More information about the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive can be found here: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/energy-performance-buildings-directive_en

More information on the proposal for a recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive can be found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021PC0802&qid=1641802763889

The 2018 report prepared by the Concerted Action EPBD (CA EPBD) ‘Implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) – Country Reports’ provides a compilation of 34 Country (or region) Reports on the status of the implementation of the EPBD in 2016/2017: https://epbd-ca.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CA-EPBD-2018-BOOK-VOLUME-I.pdf

The developed material is envisioned to provide both an insight on the developments at the individual country/region level, as well as an EU overview, lessons learned and analytics on the development of policies related to the energy performance of buildings across Europe.

• Date of document: 19/05/2010
• Date of effect: 08/07/2010; Entry into force Date pub. +20 See Art 30
• Date of transposition: 09/07/2012; At the latest See Art 28
• Date of end of validity: No end date