MEPs have adopted plans, already agreed with the Council, to help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the construction sector. The main goal of the adopted changes is to limit greenhouse gas emissions, renovate existing buildings, and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Emissions-reduction targets
All new buildings should be zero-emission as of 2030; new buildings occupied or owned by public authorities should be zero-emission as of 2028. When calculating the emissions, member states will take into account the life-cycle global warming potential of a building, including the production and disposal of the construction products used to build it.
For residential buildings, member states will have to put in place measures to ensure a reduction in the average primary energy used of at least 16% by 2030 and at least 20 to 22% by 2035.
According to the new directive, member states will have to renovate the 16% worst-performing non-residential buildings by 2030 and, by 2033, the worst-performing 26% through minimum energy performance requirements.
If technically and economically suitable, member states would have to deploy solar installations progressively in public and non-residential buildings, depending on their size, and in all new residential buildings by 2030.
Phasing out fossil fuel boilers
Member states have to outline how they will adopt measures to decarbonise heating systems, with a view to phasing out fossil fuels in heating and cooling by 2040. Subsidising stand-alone fossil fuel boilers will be prohibited as of 2025. Financial incentives will still be possible for hybrid heating systems that use a considerable share of renewable energy, such as those combining a boiler with a solar thermal installation or a heat pump.
Exemptions from new regulations
Agricultural buildings and heritage buildings can be excluded from the new rules, while EU countries may decide to also exclude buildings protected for their special architectural or historical merit, temporary buildings, and churches and places of worship.
The directive was adopted with 370 votes to 199, with 46 abstentions. It will now have to be formally endorsed by the Council of Ministers, too, in order to become law.
The legislation on the energy performance of buildings is directly aligned with the objectives and proposals from the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFE), aiming at enhancing the EU's energy independence and sustainability. This legislative initiative is interwoven with CoFE proposals such as enhancing the role of municipalities in urban planning to support blue-green infrastructure (Proposal 2(3)), reducing dependencies from oil and gas imports through energy efficiency projects (Proposal 3(3)), and actively supporting energy efficiency projects to achieve more autonomy in the field of energy production and supply (Proposal 18(2)).
Source of information: European Parliament