PR: Next Generation Energy Performance Certificates Conference – EPBD Recast Edition

EU-funded projects focused on next generation Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), present their results in support of the implementation of the recast Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings

Four EU-funded Horizon 2020 projects –crossCert, EPC RECAST, EUB SuperHub and iBRoad2EPC– joined forces in organising a final conference titled “Next Generation Energy Performance Certificates Conference – EPBD recast edition”. The event was held on 23 May 2024, physically at Mundo Madou in Brussels, and live streamed online. The aim of the conference was for the projects to bring forward valuable insights and applicable outcomes in the context of the 2024 recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and to discuss these with their peers.

The conference was coordinated and timed to follow two related Brussels events, namely the CINEA Cross-programme Buildings Clustering Meeting (21-22 May) and the tunES project event Tuning EPC and SRI Practices and methods to analyse national challenges (22 May, afternoon).

The conference was organised in four parts, starting with the policy context, moving onto overall project outcomes, then focusing on specific Key Exploitable Results, and concluding with extensive discussions with national energy agencies and market representatives.

The event was live-streamed and recorded and is now available to be watched on demand.

During Part 1 – Common context and under the moderation of Andrei Vladimir Litiu, EPB Center, invited guest speakers summarised the overall policy context.

• Pau Garcia Audi from the European Commission, DG ENER/B.3, focused on the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and broader regulatory framework.
• Sylvain Robert, Project Manager at CINEA, focused on relevant Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe and LIFE calls for proposals funding and the respective projects.
• Hélène Sibileau from the Buildings Performance Institute Europe – BPIE, focused on important links and potential gaps or missing elements between Energy Performance Certificates and Renovation Passports.

A quick introduction to each of the four organising projects, including their complementary perspectives, was presented by the coordinators:

• On behalf of crossCert, by Norberto Fueyo, University of Zaragoza
• On behalf of EPC RECAST, by Olivier Greslou, CSTB
• On behalf of EUB SuperHub, by Peter Gyuris, Geonardo
• On behalf of iBRoad2EPC, by Alexander Deliyannis, Sympraxis

→ Part 1 of the conference is available to view on demand via YouTube here.

Part 2 – Overview of insights and outcomes was moderated by Alice Corovessi, INZEB, provided a bird’s eye view of the four project’s perspectives and results.

The Horizon 2020 project crossCert was presented by Norberto Fueyo, University of Zaragoza. The project contributes to the next generation of EPCs by performing a detailed, bottom-up analysis of EPC methodologies in ten participating EU countries. The key elements of this approach are:

• Cross-testing, mainly by energy agencies or similar entities, of current EPCs and new EPC initiatives, on around 140 buildings in ten European countries;
• Analysing and comparing the results from the different national approaches;
• Identifying, in the process, good practices that include potential improvements on accuracy, usability and harmonisation;
• Outreach, which includes the creation of a public repository of building data, and the engagement of networks and alliances of third-party actors for analysis.

The Horizon 2020 project EPC RECAST, presented by Olivier Greslou, CSTB, sets a structured process and toolbox supporting the implementation and validation of a new generation of Energy Performance Assessment and Certification for residential buildings, for which retrofit is a challenging and pressing issue. By improving the usability, reliability and comparability of EPCs, and linking them to renovation roadmaps and digital logbooks, EPC RECAST contributes to improved working practices of EPC assessors and user awareness of building efficiency.

The Horizon 2020 project EUB SuperHub consortium carried out an extensive exercise, involving building experts and policy experts, to conclude a set of 21 Key Performance Indicators for building assessments that go beyond building energy performance and set a holistic view on buildings according to the EPBD. The indicators are tested on more than 100 buildings across various European climates. This assessment process is supported by the Digital Building Logbook developed by the project. The social acceptance studies of the project characterised the stakeholders’ motivation towards EPCs and analysed public engagement and education programmes to develop guidelines. The presentation was given by Andrea Moro, iiSBE Italy.

The Horizon 2020 project iBRoad2EPC was presented by Marianna Papaglastra, Sympraxis. iBRoad2EPC developed and tested a flexible and affordable model building Renovation Passport that integrates with the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), to guide and motivate building owners to undertake staged deep renovations. iBRoad2EPC adds an appropriate individual building renovation plan as well as new indicators –for Indoor Environmental Quality, Smart Readiness, Measured Energy Performance and others– into the established national EPC schemes in a modular and expandable fashion. An integral part of the long-term renovation plan provided by iBRoad2EPC are future legal regulations and obligations resulting from European or national legislation, e.g., phase-out of fossil fuel fired boilers, national implementation of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) as foreseen in the 2024 recast EPBD, etc. iBRoad2EPC also establishes links with other official tools, like national EPC calculation software or EPC databases, as well as with the iBRoad (predecessor of iBRoad2EPC project) Digital Building Logbook, One-Stop-Shops and others. iBRoad2EPC is hereby fully aligned with the policy discussions and targets and promotes decarbonisation of the European building stock while supporting additional benefits to the building owners/tenants, improving energy advice, comfort, access to energy related programmes, incentives and finance, and alleviating energy poverty.

Following presentations of the individual projects, a summary overview mapping the four projects’ focus on common and complementary aspects was presented by Alexander Deliyannis, Sympraxis.

→ Part 2 of the conference is available to view  on demand via YouTube here.

In Part 3, moderated by Gunnar Grün, Fraunhofer IBP, each project dived deeper into its Key Exploitable Results, in particular:

The key outputs from crossCert as presented by Professor David Jenkins, Heriot-Watt University:

• A comparative analysis of the EPC methodologies in participating countries.
• A quantitative estimation of the so-called performance gap in participating buildings, and an analysis of its possible sources, together with a discussion of the relevance of the performance gap as a metric for EPC effectiveness.
• An analysis of the new scales and Key Performance Indicators either as proposed in EU R&D projects or being discussed in participating countries.
• Proposals for increasing the value of EPCs through their use in databases, and their linkage with energy audits, Digital Building Logbooks, and building Renovation Passports.
• An analysis of current EPC designs and their user experiences, and guidelines and recommendations for development of people-centred EPC products and services.
• Recommendations for EPC harmonisation, and for a harmonised EPC verification framework for quality checking EPC outputs.
• An openly-accessible database of building data for selected buildings in the EU and UK countries participating in crossCert, the European OpenAIRE programme.
• The Knowledge Exchange Centre, a web-based repository of information on next generation Energy Performance Certificates for buildings in the European Union.
• A wide-ranging engagement of stakeholders through multiple channels (social media, website, newsletters, national stakeholder events, and international focus groups, networking events and policies conferences).

The key outputs from EPC RECAST as presented by Sarah Noyé, Tecnalia:

• An integrated methodology and workflow to improve daily working practices of EPC assessors with a set of digital tools and protocols, from the on-site visit to the issuing of the EPC and renovation recommendations.
• A common data model of the building for EPCs implemented in XML format as the core/foundation of EPC RECAST’s digital toolbox and integrated workflow.
• Conversion algorithms and some ‘standard values’ to connect the data model with dynamic energy simulation engines, ensuring compliance with ISO/CEN standards developed under the European Commission mandate to CEN M/480.
• Input/output data interfaces in the EPC RECAST toolbox and strategies to connect the data model and digital tools, following the principles of a common data environment.
• The BIMEO application on iPad for on-site data collection, with geometrical scanning functionalities to evaluate the building geometry and user-friendly questionnaires to facilitate the building inspection.
• On-site measurement protocols of thermal characteristics of the building envelop with heat-flux meters and remote data collection.
• A calibration toolbox to fine-tune some simulation input parameters, reducing the gap between simulation results and measured energy consumptions.
• A simulation chain connecting results of on-site data collection to dynamic energy simulation with the COMETH computing core with minimum work required to the EPC assessor.
• A new and detailed certificate template for next-generation EPCs developed in accordance with the recast EPBD (Article 19 and Annex V), including new key performance indicators (thermal comfort score, SRI, metered energy and operational rating, costs reporting considering the owner-tenant dilemma).
• A user-friendly renovation roadmap tool (equivalent to the core of a Renovation Passport) relying on the same data model and simulation engine as the EPC.
• Extensive tests of the EPC RECAST tools on 55 pilot sites consisting of three multi-family buildings as a whole, 40 apartments and 12 single-family houses spread over the six participating countries by trained EPC assessors and project partners.
• Long-term monitoring implemented in 50% of the pilot dwellings and direct feedback from EPC assessors.
• Policy and market uptake recommendations related to the transposition of the recast EPBD.

EUB SuperHub’s key outputs as presented by Elena Mocchio and Fabio Rossi, UNI include:

• Selected KPIs, plus qualification needs of experts to use building KPIs according to EU norms (EN ISO), leading to development of the EUB SuperHub CEN Workshop Agreement to assess and certify buildings by skilled professionals (exploiting the TRAIN4SUSTAIN project CWA 17939-2022).
• KPIs meeting with the EPBD 2024 provisions for applications that also go beyond building energy performance, including life-cycle approach (GWP), quality of life for occupants (IAQ), climate and future proof indicators (SRI, resilience).
• Storage and management of geo-referenced EPCs on an online platform, further supplying building information and supported by a Digital Building Logbook, boosted with the project specific KPIs and the EUB Passport, as annex in a One-Stop Shop (building certification, marketplace, training).
• A set of 21 KPIs needing upskilled assessors, trained to use the necessary –online– tools as well.
• Training material, assessment and testing results on 100+ case study buildings across seven EU Member States on different European climates, also used to upgrade the method.
• Social acceptance studies constituting
  1. Mapping of stakeholders and understanding of the needs of market actors with respect to EPC certificates and assessment schemes
  2. Principles, guidelines for public engagement and education.

For iBRoad2EPC, the key outputs were presented by Peter Mellwig, ifeu:

• iBRoad2EPC’s adaptable database of country specific renovation advice, including climatic regions, energy classes, milestones, MEPS, obligations, targets, technical specifications, costs, etc.
• iBRoad2EPC Assistant: the software used by energy assessors to produce the Renovation Passport, consisting of a basic standardised country-specific module, expandable upon demand with various additional modules, including the currently developed Indoor Environment Quality module, Measured Energy Performance Module, Smart Readiness Indicator module, Energy Demand module, and Cost-Investment module.
• iBRoad2EPC: the Renovation Passport itself, as an online document and printable page, complementing the EPC with a step-by-step renovation plan to fulfil national obligations and own targets, improve conditions for the building user, avoid mis-investments, and including information/advice on indoor quality, smart readiness, cost, etc.
• The iBRoad2EPC API: an interface forging links within differing country contexts and tools, e.g., connecting the Renovation Passport with the EPC calculation data file, database or software, with One-Stop Shops, the Digital Building Logbook or other instruments.
• iBRoad2EPC’s training material for energy assessors guiding them on how to jointly produce the EPC and Renovation Passport.
• iBRoad2EPC training module for construction professionals improving their skills for the design and implementation of staged deep renovation.
• iBRoad2EPC advisory package for public authorities assigned with energy planning on how iBRoad2EPC can support them in their functions
• iBRoad2EPC’s EU roadmap on accelerating deep renovation with Renovation Passports
• iBRoad2EPC’s national guides for the roll-out of iBRoad2EPC within national contexts
• iBRoad2EPC’s guide on the use of financial and non-financial incentives to increase and deepen renovation

→ Part 3 of the conference is available to view on demand via YouTube here.

Finally, the interactive Part 4 – Third party feedback and views, moderated by Rui Fragoso, ADENE, gathered input from energy agencies and market representatives, organised around two panel discussions:

• Panel “From project results to EPBD implementation: The Energy Agencies perspective” with representatives from the Austrian Energy Agency (Nicole Hartl), the Greek Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving – CRES (Andreas Androutsopoulos), the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development – ENEA (Fabio Zanghirella) and The Polish National Energy Conservation Agency – KAPE (Karolina Junak)
• Panel “A market look at the recast EPBD implementation: how can the four projects’ outcomes help?” with representatives from EuroACE – Efficient Buildings Europe (Rémi Collombet), European Builders Confederation – EBC (Spyros Mathioudakis) and the European Federation of Intelligent Energy Efficiency Services – EFIEES (Valérie Plainemaison)
• Verbal statement by the European Public Real Estate Association – EPRA (Jean-Marie Simon)

The event concluded with closing remarks from Ulriche Nuscheler, Project Manager at CINEA.

→ Part 4 of the conference is available to view on demand via YouTube here.