Changes from plenary report to adopted text

(9a) In line with the energy efficiency first principle and in order to achieve higher levels of sufficiency and resource efficiency, Member States should minimise the number of unoccupied buildings. They should encourage the deep renovation and exploitation of such buildings, through special administrative and financial measures, if cost effective, and construction, reconstruction and modification of the builing which leads to lower life-cycle GWP within the lifetime of a building. In addition, a significant share of any new builings should be carried out on brownfiled sites.

(9b) The circular economy rules for construction materials are set out in Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council together with a framework set out in Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Definitions, methodologies and best approaches should be provided and consolidated in upcoming revision of those legislative acts to ensure a clear, consistent regulatory framework for construction materials.

(10) Buildings are responsible for about half of primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in the EU that cause premature death and illness. Improving energy performance and the use of nature-based solutions and sustainable materials in buildings can and should reduce pollutant emissions at the same time, in line with Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and the Council.

(10a) Management of energy demand is an important tool which enables the Union to influence the global energy market and thus the security of energy supply in the short, medium and long term.

(11) Measures to improve further the energy performance of buildings should take into account climatic conditions, including adaptation to climate change through green infrastructures, local conditions as well as indoor environmental quality, sufficiency and circularity and energy savings, thus promoting more sustainable, inclusive and innovative ways of living in order to adapt to new needs. Such measures should be implemented in a way that maximises the co-benefits of other requirements and objectives concerning buildings such as accessibility, fire safety and seismic, heating and electrical installation safety and the intended use of the building. Those co-benefits should be monetised in order to realistically determine the cost-optimality of further energy performance improvements. Moreover, they should ensure the improvement of the situation of vulnerable households and people living in social housing.

(11a) Member States should ensure that energy performance certificates accurately reflect the climate performance of buildings.

(12) The energy performance of buildings should be calculated on the basis of a methodology, which may be supplemented at national and regional and local level. That includes, in addition to thermal characteristics, other factors that play an increasingly important role such as heating and air-conditioning installations, application of energy from renewable sources, building automation and control systems, heat recovery from wastewater, ventilation and cooling, energy recuperation, hydronic balancing, smart solutions, passive heating and cooling elements, shading, indoor environmental quality, adequate natural light and design of the building. The methodology for calculating energy performance should be based not only on the season in which heating or air-conditioning is required, but should cover the annual energy performance of a building. That methodology should take into account existing European standards. The methodology should ensure the representation of actual operating conditions and enable the use of metered energy to verify correctness and for comparability, and the methodology should be based on hourly or sub-hourly time-steps. The methodology should also enable the on-site, remote and desktop validation of the assumptions behind the calculations, including thermal performance, materiality, system efficiency, and the configuration of controls, in the delivered building. In order to encourage the use of renewable energy on-site, including roof solar panels in line with the European Solar Rooftops initiative, and in addition to the common general framework, Member States should take the necessary measures so that the benefits of maximising the use of renewable energy on-site, including for other-uses (such as electric vehicle charging points), are recognised and accounted for in the calculation methodology, taking into account current and future grid capacity.

(13) Member States should set minimum requirements for the energy performance of buildings and building elements with a view to achieving the cost-optimal balance between the investments involved and the energy costs saved throughout the lifecycle of the building, without prejudice to the right of Member States to set minimum requirements which are more energy efficient than cost-optimal energy efficiency levels. Provision should be made for the possibility for Member States to review regularly their minimum energy performance requirements for buildings in the light of technical progress.

(14) Two-thirds of the energy used for heating and cooling of buildings still comes from fossil fuels. In order to reach zero-emissions, it is particularly urgent to phase out fossil fuel in heating and cooling. Therefore, Member States should indicate their national policies and measures to phase out fossil fuels in heating and cooling in their building renovation plans, and no financial incentives should be given for the installation of fossil fuel boilers from the entry into force of this Directive. Member States should introduce measures to ensure that the use of fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings and buildings undergoing major renovation, deep renovation, or renovation of the heating system is not authorised from the date of transposition of this Directive and phase out the use of fossil fuel based heating systems from all buildings by 2035and if not feasible as demonstrated to the Commission, by 2040 at the latest. This will also play a key role in decreasing the Union’s dependence on imports from third countries, lower citizens' energy bills and vulnerability to price fluctuations and halt excess air pollution limit values.

(14a) The renovation of heating systems involves the replacement or refurbishment of the heating generator, and it may also involve other elements of the heating system, such as pumping equipment, insulation of pipework, controls or terminal units, such as radiators or fan coils. Despite their impact on the overall efficiency of the system, the replacement or refurbishment of individual elements without involving the heat generator, should not be considered as a renovation of the heating system, since these elements are independent of the energy source used. The renovation of heating system represents an opportunity to support the decarbonisation of heating across the Union.

(14b) Efficient use of waste heat from domestic hot water systems represents significant energy saving opportunity. Hot water preparation is the main source of energy consumption for new buildings and normally this heat is wasted and not reused. Knowing that most of the hot water consumed comes from showers, harvesting heat from shower drains in buildings could be a simple and cost-effective way to save final energy consumption and related CO2 and methane emissions of domestic hot water production.

(14c) To achieve a cost-efficient decarbonisation of the heating sector, Member States should ensure a level playing field among available technologies and support multi-vector solutions, by taking into consideration security of supply, cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

(18) Major renovations of existing buildings, regardless of their size, provide an opportunity to take cost-effective measures to enhance energy performance. For reasons of cost-effectiveness, it should be possible to limit the minimum energy performance requirements to the renovated parts that are most relevant for the energy performance of the building, while encompassing heating and cooling systems. Member States should be able to choose to define a ‘major renovation’ either in terms of a percentage of the surface of the building envelope or in terms of the value of the building. If a Member State decides to define a major renovation in terms of the value of the building, values such as the actuarial value, or the current value based on the cost of reconstruction, excluding the value of the land upon which the building is situated, could be used.

(18a) To ensure decent housing for all, it is necessary to define vulnerable areas or neighbourhoods associated with energy poverty in a way that allows for more accurate detection of less developed micro-areas, both rural and urban, encompassed within more developed areas. That would contribute to the identification and location of the most vulnerable social sectors and those suffering from energy poverty, and households that are exposed to high energy cost and lack the means to renovate the builings they occupy, thus helping to fight against social inequalities that may arise from the application of the different climate action measures. Moreover, inefficient housing is a systemic cause of energy poverty, with 50 million people in the Union living in energy poverty, unable to adequately light, heat or cool their homes, and over 20 % of poor households in the Union live in a dwelling that has mould, damp or rot.

(19) The enhanced climate and energy ambition of the Union requires a new vision for buildings: the zero-emission building, the very low energy demand of which is fully covered by energy from renewable sources where technically feasible. All new buildings should be zero-emission buildings, and all existing buildings should be transformed into zero-emission buildings by 2050. Member States should take into account energy transition timing and social costs when they establish any target deadlines.

(20) Different options are available to cover the energy needs of an efficient building by energy from renewable sources: on-site renewables such as solar thermal, geothermal, solar photovoltaics, heat pumps hydroelectric power and biomass, renewable energy provided by renewable energy communities or citizen energy communities, and district heating and cooling based on renewables or waste heat recovery from waste water, sanitary hot water or air and renewable energy supplied from the energy grids.

(20a) With the increased electrification of heating and increase of renewable energy generation, energy efficiency in buildings is required to avoid creating excess pressure on grid capacity and oversizing generation capacity to manage peaks in electricity demand. Energy efficiency in buildings will support the grid and reduce generation capacity needs. This includes dealing with the seasonality of heating demand, which in many Member States is the main part of the energy system peak demand.

(20b) The Commission should assess the grid capacity that is necessary for integration of renewable energy and electrical heating solutions and identify remaining barriers to facilitate the development of renewable self-consumption, in particular those in vulnerable households.

(21) The necessary decarbonisation of the Union building stock requires energy renovation at a large scale: almost 75 % of that building stock is inefficient according to current building standards, and 85-95 % of the buildings that exist today will still be standing in 2050. However, the weighted annual energy renovation rate is persistently low at around 1 %. At the current pace, the decarbonisation of the building sector would require centuries. Triggering and supporting building renovation to at least triple the current renovation rate, including a shift towards emission-free heating systems, is therefore a key goal of this Directive. Supporting renovations at district level, including through industrial or serial type renovations, offers benefits by stimulating the volume and depth of building renovations and will lead to a quicker and cheaper decarbonisation of the building stock.

(22) Minimum energy performance standards are the essential regulatory tool to trigger renovation of existing buildings on a large scale, as they tackle the key barriers to renovation such as split incentives and co-ownership structures, which cannot be overcome by economic incentives. The introduction of minimum energy performance standards should lead to a gradual phase-out of the worst-performing buildings and a continuous improvement of the national building stock, contributing to the long-term goal of a decarbonised building stock by 2050.

(23) Minimum energy performance standards set at Union level should focus on the renovation of the buildings with the highest potential in terms of decarbonisation, energy poverty alleviation and extended social and economic benefits, in particular on the very worst-performing buildings, which need to be renovated as a priority.

(23a) The Commission should publish a summary report on the situation and progress of the Union building stock at local, regional and national level, in particular regarding the worst-performing buildings in order to focus efforts and investments appropriately.

(24) Minimum energy performance standards should create a pathway, supported by financial mechanisms, for the progressive increase of energy performance classes of buildings, in particular with regards to rural and isolated areas. When reviewing this Directive, the Commission should assess whether further binding minimum energy performance standards need to be introduced in order to achieve a decarbonised building stock by 2050.

(24a) This Directive should be consistent with the basic principles of the property and tenancy law of the Member States.

(25) The introduction of minimum energy performance standards should be accompanied by an enabling framework including technical assistance and financial measures as well as policies that aim to enhance the skills of workers in the construction and renovation sector. Minimum energy performance standards set at national level do not amount to “Union standards” within the meaning of State aid rules, while Union-wide minimum energy performance standards might be considered constituting such “Union standards”. In line with revised State aid rules, Member States may grant State aid to building renovation to comply with the Union-wide energy performance standards, namely to achieve a certain energy performance class, until those Union-wide standards become mandatory. Once the standards are mandatory, Member States may continue to grant State aid for the renovation of buildings and building units falling under the Union-wide energy performance standards as long as the building renovation aims at a higher standard than the specified minimum energy performance class.

(35) Member States should support energy performance upgrades of existing buildings that contribute to achieving ▌ healthy indoor environmental quality, including healthy and affordable living space, the removal of asbestos and other harmful substances, preventing the illegal removal of harmful substances, and facilitating compliance with existing legislative acts such as Directives 2009/148/EU and (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(35a) Integrated district or neighbourhood approaches allow for overall renovation concepts for buildings that are spatially related such as housing blocks. Such approaches to renovations offer multiple solutions at a larger scale. Integrated renovation plans can adopt a more holistic approach, which addresses the broader community ecosystem, such as transport needs and appropriate sustainable energy sources, including on-site and nearby renewables or district heating and cooling. Such plans allow for increased cost effectiveness of the works required, enhance connections between modes of transport and take account of existing infrastructure for the purpose of system optimisation as well as the preservation of cultural heritage. Therefore, this Directive should promote the wider use of integrated, participative and district-related approaches, which allow for synergies and potential energy savings that would remain untapped if the focus were exclusively on individual buildings. Integrated renovation plans can also lead to benefits such as improved air quality, a reduction in district emissions, and a large-scale alleviation of energy poverty. Districts should be established by local authorities, in accordance with local needs.

(35b) In order to support the multiplication and replicability of successful building renovation projects, in line with the New European Bauhaus initiative, in particular with its sustainability goal, Member States should put in place national industrial policies for the large-scale production of locally adaptable prefabricated building elements for building renovation that provide different functions, including aesthetics, insulation and energy generation and insulation and green infrastructures. They should also promote biodiversity, water management, accessibility and mobility.

(35c) Member States should develop national electrical inspections regimes in light of the fact that a high percentage of the domestic and accidental domestic fires have an electrical source and in order to ensure that electrical installations are safe and ready for new uses aiming to achieve zero-emissions buildings.

(35d) Consideration of the water-energy nexus is particularly important to address the interdependent energy and water use and the increasing pressure on both resources. The effective management and reuse of water can make a significant contribution to energy savings, yielding climate, but also economic and social, benefits.

(36) Electric vehicles are expected to play a crucial role in the decarbonisation and efficiency of the electricity system, namely through the provision of flexibility, balancing and storage services, especially through the development of smart charging and aggregation. This potential of electric vehicles to integrate with the electricity system and contribute to system efficiency and further absorption of renewable electricity should be fully exploited including through the installation of a public charging infrastructure in parking spaces. Charging in relation to buildings is particularly important, since this is where electric vehicles park regularly and for long periods of time. Slow smart and bidirectional charging is economical and the installation of recharging points in private spaces can provide energy storage to the related building. Combined with data provided by smart meters and data produced by the vehicle, charging infrastructure for electric vehicles could also provide flexibility solutions and integration of smart and bidirectional charging services and system integration services in general. Electric vehicles capable of bidirectional charging add to the capacity of buildings and the electricity system to balance power supply and demand, especially during peak hours and at lower cost, and empower users to actively providing such services against adequate remuneration.

(37) Combined with an increased share of renewable electricity production, electric vehicles produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles constitute an important component of a clean energy transition based on energy efficiency measures, alternative fuels, renewable energy and innovative solutions for the management of energy flexibility. Building codes can be effectively used to introduce targeted requirements to support the deployment of recharging infrastructure in car parks of residential and non-residential buildings. Member States should remove barriers such as grid connection and capacity bottlenecks, split incentives and administrative complications which individual owners encounter when trying to install a recharging point on their parking space.

(38) Pre-cabling provides the right conditions for the rapid deployment of recharging points if and where they are needed. Readily available infrastructure will decrease the costs of installation of recharging points for individual owners and ensure that electric vehicle users have access to recharging points. Establishing requirements for electromobility at Union level concerning the pre-equipping of parking spaces and the installation of recharging points is an effective way to promote electric vehicles in the near future while enabling further development at a reduced cost in the medium to long term. ▌ Member States should ensure the accessibility of recharging points for persons with disabilities.

(39) Smart charging and bidirectional charging enable the energy system integration of buildings. Recharging points where electric vehicles typically park for extended periods of time, such as where people park for reasons of residence or employment, are highly relevant to energy system integration, therefore smart charging functionalities need to be ensured. As bidirectional charging assists the further penetration of renewable electricity by electric vehicle fleets in transport and the electricity system in general and is instrumental to peak shaving, thus lowering the need for power supply at peak hours and hence overall system costs, such functionality should also be made available, not least as it empowers owners of electric vehicles to make such functions available to play and active part in the energy system against adequate remuneration, in line with their right to generate, share, store or sell self-produced energy.

(40a) Technical support will also be needed to build the capacity of local authorities through trainings and workshops, for instance on designing procurements considering whole life-cycle data and to carry out the whole-life carbon monitoring.

(40b) When implementing the electromobility requirements in this Directive, Member States should particularly consider the economic situation of vulnerable households and vulnerable microenterprises and small enterprises and should be able to adjust the installation of the relevant infrastructure accordingly.

(41) The agendas of the Digital Single Market and the Energy Union should be aligned and should serve common goals. The digitalisation of the energy system is quickly changing the energy landscape, from the integration of renewables to smart grids and smart-ready buildings. In order to digitalise the building sector, the Union’s connectivity targets and ambitions for the deployment of high-capacity communication networks are important for smart homes and well-connected communities. Targeted incentives should be provided to promote smart-ready systems and digital solutions in the built environment. This would offer new opportunities for energy savings, by providing consumers with more accurate information about their consumption patterns, and by enabling the system operator to manage the grid more effectively.

(42) In order to facilitate a competitive and innovative market for smart building services that contributes to efficient energy use and integration of renewable energy in buildings and support investments in renovation, Member States should ensure direct access to building systems’ data by interested parties. To avoid excessive administrative costs for third parties, Member States shall facilitate the full interoperability of services and of the data exchange within the Union.

(43) The smart readiness indicator should be used to measure the capacity of buildings to use information and communication technologies and electronic systems to adapt the operation of buildings to the needs of the occupants and the grid and to improve the energy efficiency and overall performance of buildings. The smart readiness indicator should raise awareness amongst building owners and occupants of the value behind building automation and electronic monitoring of technical building systems and should give confidence to occupants about the actual savings of those new enhanced-functionalities. The smart readiness indicator is particularly beneficial for large buildings with high energy demand. For other buildings, the scheme for rating the smart readiness of buildings should be optional for Member States.