On Wednesday 27th September BUILD UP had the pleasure of hosting a webinar co-organised by EPB Centre and REHVA, with the collaboration of all NextGenEPCCluster Projects, entitled “Transposing & implementing the EPBD Recast: Next Generation Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)”. The purpose of the webinar was to explore the role of EPCs in the EPBD, considering that they are linked to key aspects of the directive and will support a data-driven, future-ready implementation of it, and to discuss the transposition and implementation of policy into action.
The session began with a welcome and introduction from Andrei Vladimir Lițiu, Executive Director at EPB Center, who set the scene for the focus of the webinar by highlighting the importance of EPCs in relation to the EPBD:
“EPCs have a sort-of linchpin role when we consider the full overview of EPBD related policy instruments”
Andrei continued his introduction by outlining some of the existing clusters linked to EPCs and SRIs, which led into the presentation of Ulrike Nuscheler, Senior Project Advisor LIFE Energy + LIFE Climate at CINEA, who discussed how projects can be used as a means of turning policy into action. The focus of her presentation was on the how LIFE-CET responds to (policy) challenges in the building sector. She gave an overview of new projects starting in late 2023, reminding that there is a LIFE-CET call still ongoing now:
“LIFE-2023-CET BETTERRENO is open until 16 November. It is not late to consider contributing!”
Following Ulrike, Aitor Domínguez, Area Manager in Building Efficiency at IDEA, Spain took the floor to give the European Council’s perspective on the transposition of the EBPD recast. Aitor gave an overview of the evolution that EPCs and energy efficiency methodologies have had over the years, and provided an overview of how he views the future of EPCs and methodologies in terms of calculation:
“Future EDCs need to integrate with Building Renovation Passports (BRP) to push renovation”
“The methodology for EPC calculation needs to be flexible to tackle the differences of each Member State building stock”
Following Aitor, the panel discussion began, introduced and moderated by Rémi Collombet, Senior EU Affairs Officer at EuroACE. Remi started the session by broadening the discussion on EPCs, highlighting the growing importance of EPCs, and interest in them by citizens, as a key source of information about the performance buildings, as well as some of the challenges EPCs face, such as reliability and the importance of translation of the information on EPCs (making sure that it is clear for citizens and businesses):
“The rollout of EPCs is still a bit patchy in Europe… some countries have been doing fairly well… but in some other places it is still very much a work in progress”
Questions for the panel discussion included:
- What should be included in EPCs (content)?
- How are the experiences from projects conceptualised in new legislation work?
- How do we make the link between EPCs and other instruments being proposed in the Directive, such as Building Renovation Passports and One-Stop-Shops?
Part way through the panel discussion, Pau Garcia Audi, Policy Officer with DG ENER joined to give the Commission’s perspective on the transposition of the EBPD recast, beginning with an overview of the purpose of EPCs and what the EPC reflects in terms of quality of a building:
“There is a good correlation between EPC and building value”
He gave a quick overview of some key areas of the EPBD recast including renovation, decarbonisation, Modernisation & system integration, and financing, in addition to mentioning an ‘enabling framework’ which is a number of provisions that exist to help citizens make the best decisions and financial institutions to see where they can invest. Among the elements, along with for example SRI and Building Renovation Passport, is of course, the EPC. Pau continued with an overview of the specific provisions to improve EPCs, such as improving quality, reliability and accessibility:
“EPCs are one of the key elements in the revision of the EPBD”
Pau rounded off by reiterating what was said by Andrei at the beginning of the session, that EPCs have a key role in the EPBD.
The panel discussion continued, with additional questions such as:
- How specific are EPCs adapted to the national context and if they take into consideration specific climate zones?
- Partial harmonisation proposed in EPBD recast text – what is the rational behind that? And what are the challenges that come with the partial harmonisation for some Member States?
- Looking forward, imagining a deal is found on the new EPBD, how do the speakers see EPCs evolving in the coming years? Is it still a working process over the coming years?
The webinar ended with a sincere thanks from Andrei Vladimir Lițiu, Executive Director at EPB Center and from BUILD UP.
