Next-generation of Energy Performance Assessment and Certification

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

Under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive^[1], all EU countries have established independent energy performance certification systems supported by independent mechanisms of control and verification. However, current practices and tools of energy performance assessment and certification applied across Europe face a number of challenges.

Assessment processes and certificates have to become more reliable, user-friendly, cost-effective, have comparable good quality and be compliant with EU legislation in order to instil trust in the market and incite investments in energy efficient buildings. They have to increasingly reflect the smart dimension of buildings and at the same time, facilitate convergence of quality and reliability of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) across Europe. The building energy performance methodologies should also ensure a technology neutral approach, be transparently presented making use of International and European standards, in particular the ISO/CEN standards developed under Commission mandate M/480^[2] aimed at enabling the presentation of national and regional choices on a comparable basis.

Next-generation energy performance assessment schemes will value buildings in a holistic and cost-effective manner across several complimentary dimensions: envelope performances, system performances and smart readiness (i.e. the ability of buildings to be smartly monitored and controlled and, to get involved in demand-side management strategies). The assessment should be based on an agreed list of parameters/indicators, such as e.g. calculated annual final energy use, share of renewable energy used, past (climate corrected) final energy consumptions and energy expenditure, comfort levels or the level of smartness. The assessment methods should increasingly take into account output measures of performance (actual measured data) making use of available and increasing number of building energy related data from sensors, smart meters, connected devices etc. These new schemes should contribute to improving the effectiveness of certificates, by demonstrating how these could be strengthened, modernised and best linked to integrated national/regional certification schemes within a framework that aids compliance checking and effectiveness of financial support.

Proposals should involve relevant stakeholders (including national and regional certification bodies) to take on board the lessons learnt and the innovative approaches demonstrated in the previous projects as well as any developments on the use of EPCs that have taken place in the Member States, in order to further stimulate and enable the roll-out of next-generation of energy performance assessment and certification.

Proposals should develop strategies to encourage convergence of EPC practices and tools across Europe so as to ensure a comparable level of high quality, independent control and verification. The applicability of assessment and the certification schemes should be assessed through a broad set of well-targeted and realistic cases, featuring various locations, building types, climatic conditions and field practices including existing national EPC schemes. The assessment will aim at demonstrating the potential of a Europe-wide uptake of the proposed assessment and certification schemes, along well-defined criteria.

Proposals should also address issues regarding the training requirements and certification procedure for experts that are allowed to issue EPCs. Proposals should demonstrate the benefit of EPCs increasingly covering also work on inspections (Articles 14 and 15 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive). Embedding the EPCs and their recommendations in broader concepts such as inspections and energy audits, integrating them in wider-buildings related databases (e.g. national EPC databases, national housing surveys, EU Building Stock Observatory), in practices related to quality assurance and reducing the performance gap, and one-stop-shops including administrative, financial and supply side information and linking EPCs to related concepts such as buildings renovation passports, individual buildings renovation roadmaps or building logbooks should also be considered.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 1 and 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate, depending on the scope addressed, the impacts listed below using quantified indicators and targets wherever possible:

• Primary energy savings triggered by the project (in GWh/year);
• Investments in sustainable energy triggered by the project (in million Euro);
• Increased convergence of good quality and reliable energy performance assessment and certification and uptake and compliance with EU Directives and related standards;
• Increased rate of application and compliance of EPCs and independent control systems with the provisions of EU and national legislation, in a defined region;
• Increased use of EPC databases for compliance checking and verification, linking with financing schemes and building stock characteristics research etc.;
• Increase convergence of training requirements and certification procedures for experts working on EPCs;
• Increased integration of inspections and energy audits in the EPCs.

Additional positive effects can be quantified and reported when relevant and wherever possible:

• Reduction of the performance gap;
• Additional market value of the building (single unit) with better EPC class.

Clean Energy

[1]Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings

[2]ISO/EN 52000-1, 520003-1, 520010-1, 52016-1, 52017-1, and 52018-1. 52022-1, EN 12098-1, EN 12098-3, EN 12098-5, EN 12831-1, EN 12831-3, EN 15232-1, EN 15316-1 , EN 15316-2, EN 15316-3, EN 15316-4-1, EN 15316-4-2 , EN 15316-4-3 , EN 15316-4-4, EN 15316-4-5, EN 15316-5, EN 15378-1, EN 15378-3, EN 15459-1, EN 15500-1, EN 16798-3, EN 16798-5-1, EN 16798-5-2, EN 16798-7, EN 16798-9, EN 16798-13, EN 16798-15, EN 16798-17, EN 16946-1, EN 16947-1, EN ISO 10077-1, EN ISO 10077-2, EN ISO 10211, EN ISO 12631, EN ISO 13370, EN ISO 13786, EN ISO 13789, EN ISO 14683 and EN ISO 6946, ISO/EN 52017-1 and ISO/EN 52022-1.