eu.bac
13/10/2017

eu.bac Press Release “ITRE vote on EPBD: MEPs bring “clear energy for all” close to reality. Will the Council be equal to the challenge?”

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Energy consumed in buildings, indoor comfort and a healthy environment are key elements of people’s personal and financial well-being. A future-proof EPBD fixing important market failures is the centrepiece to having “Clean energy for all EU citizens”. On 11 October, the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) set the pace with its report on the Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

eu.bac, representing the European Building Automation and Control Industry, welcomes the vote and congratulates the Rapporteur, Mr. Bendt Bendtsen, and his shadow rapporteur colleagues for their work.

MEPs voted in favour of amendments adding further value to the Commission’s proposal by fixing shortcomings within the 2010 EPBD that related to “technical building systems”, such as:

  • Roll-out of building automation and control functionalities in large non-residential buildings that ensure optimized energy consumption and indoor comfort in real-time, year after year, saving up to 20.3 % of all EU service sector building energy consumption, with returns 9 times higher than investments;
  • Possibility to choose building automation and control functionalities as a cost-effective alternative to mandatory physical inspections of heating and air-conditioning systems in residential buildings, with returns 9 times higher than investments and annual energy savings up to 23.4% of residential building energy consumption (optimal scenario);
  • Roll-out of individual room temperature control functionality, putting people in control of their energy bills and indoor comfort, and delivering annual energy savings of up to 160 TWh, 29 Mt CO2, with returns 7 times higher than investments;
  • Focus on the optimization of technical building system performance under actual use conditions, helping to match real-life energy consumption with theoretical expectations based on calculations.

These new measures will, beyond cutting energy bills and CO2 emissions, dramatically improve indoor comfort, tackle energy poverty, drive digitalization, and create high-quality jobs – in short, being key drivers for sustainable growth.

The EPBD Revision is therefore hugely significant for peoples’ everyday lives, and for making “Clean Energy for all Europeans” a reality.

The momentum of ITRE must now be taken to the trilogue. The Council’s General Approach agreed on this file in June is far away from adding value to the Energy Union, but rather a step back compared to the 2010 EPBD. The Estonian Presidency with the Tallinn e-energy declaration, which aimed to deliver the synergies between digitalization and energy efficiency to the benefit of people and business, sent an encouraging signal. The negotiations on the EPBD revision will be a touchstone for the Council and Commission’s commitment. Will the EU legislator be equal to the challenge of making the new EPBD a success for people, the economy and the environment?

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