Doing something about the weather
July 18th 2006

by Reijo Kemppinen, Head of European Commission Representation in the UK

Mark Twain complained that"Everybody talks about theweather, but nobody doesanything about it". Yet thatis precisely what most of the memberstates of the European Union are doingwith the new energy performance ofbuildings directive (EPBD). The UK is noexception to this. And with the price ofgas going up, with supplies looking lesssecure, with fiercer competition forresources on world markets andgreenhouse gas emissions threatening, anew attitude to energy savings should, likespring, be just round the corner.

In tune with the rest of the European Union, the UKgovernment, with the full support of the public, allpolitical parties and the CBI, is firmly committed toapplying the Kyoto Protocol to avert climate change.For its part, the Commission has launched a campaignon climate change awareness, which comes against thebackground of the debate on energy supply securityand the Commission's Green Paper.

The stakes are high: buildings are responsible for nearlyhalf the UK's gross energy consumption, so savingsshould be significant. As a whole, the EU could save atleast 20% of its current energy consumption, equivalentto over 40 billion a year. For the average EU household,this would translate into annual savings of between140 and 680.

The EBPD will also have clear benefit for theenvironment because it will save an estimated 40million tonnes oil equivalent. This is crucial as we seekto apply the Kyoto Protocol effectively. Progress here isfar too slow: in March the UK government had to revisedown its target for a 20% reduction in carbon dioxideemissions by 2010. So new ways of saving energy haveto be found: since improving energy efficiency is thefastest and best way of mitigating the potentiallydisastrous effects of climate change due to carbondioxide emissions, the EPBD can play a key role.

The EPBD's potential impact is likely to boost jobcreation across Europe too, including many for highlyskilled expert services to improve buildings' energyefficiency. This will give Europe an edge inenvironmental R&D surely a growth sector for thefuture and will help ensure our competitiveness as aworld leader in this area. In so doing it will also help tobolster our future prosperity.

What practical measures does the EPBD lay down toachieve this? Buildings' critical points are their heatingand air-conditioning systems, which is why thedirective requires them to be inspected regularly. Themember states are to ensure that minimum energyperformance requirements are set and new buildingsmust meet these, as must larger existing buildings. It isalso for the member states to apply at national orregional level a methodology for calculating the energyperformance of buildings in accordance with a verygeneral framework.

Europe's climatic conditions and building traditionsvary greatly and the experts on the spot who know themerits of local methods are best placed to take thedecisions, hence the emphasis on determiningrequirements nationally or regionally. But many playersin the construction industry are already asking forharmonised EU standards per climate zone as nationalprogress is rather slow.

A widespread concern is that all this will cost too much.Yet greater energy efficiency is in the long-term interestof us all and particularly of our children. That is whythe EPBD seeks to bring about a change in publicattitudes through the energy certification of buildings.Once people everywhere become used to the idea thatthe performance of public buildings and even of theirown homes is a factor in maintenance costs and thus intheir market value, they will see the sense ofcertification and will put pressure on contractors andarchitects to build energy efficient systems into themfrom the start. This will signal the change in attitude weneed to tackle that 40% of energy used in the sector a significant boost for Kyoto, for R&D and for theeconomy.

A big hurdle is the 'culture' of users and ease ofapplication and availability of the best techniques atthe right price. Each with their own impact and inspiredby different motivations, designers, housingassociations, architects, providers of buildingappliances, installation companies, building experts,owners, tenants, and energy consumers will all play apart in implementing the directive. The result will be togreatly enhance awareness of energy use in buildings,with the aim of significantly increasing investments intheir energy efficiency.

The sticking point for the success of the directive islikely to be implementation and enforcement on theground. This is why the Commission is providing aseries of tools to help in implementing the directive.

First, there is the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE-SAVE)programme, which funds cross-border projectssupporting EPBD take-up. Examples of projectsselected range from energy performance assessmentfor existing non-residential buildings and thedevelopment of performance assessment tools to theretrofitting of social housing. In Berlin, for instance, 750large public buildings have been improved since 1995at no additional public cost, bringing guaranteedsavings of around 4 million for a total investment ofnearly 14 million.

The EPBD Buildings Platform is an information servicewith a dedicated helpdesk to answer questions aboutimplementing the directive. Targeting practitioners andconsultants, experts in energy agencies, interest groupsand national policy-makers in the member states, itsupports the full implementation of the EPBD throughmechanisms for the transfer of information between allstakeholders. You are welcome to visit the website atwww.buildingsplatform.eu.

The official deadline for the adoption of nationalimplementing legislation by the member states was 4January 2006. Here in the UK, this had only beenpartially completed at that date. The UK governmentcould put more effort into carrying through thetransposition of the EPBD in order to match itscommitment to the Kyoto Protocol. For its part, theCommission has a duty to ensure the full and correcttransposition of EU directives. It is looking into this nowand will decide on any action vis--vis the UK soon afterthe summer..

Our planet is the only one we have. It will go onwithout us. If we want to safeguard our future on it,stepping up energy efficiency in buildings isimperative. Whether this involves keeping ourselveswarm in winter as the Gulf Stream slows, or cool in thewetter and hotter summers global warming may bring,we need to do it at the lowest possible cost to theenvironment. The EU's energy performance ofbuildings directive is an important step in achievingthat goal.

First and foremost, the directive is an energy saver. It willmake us less dependent on imported fossil fuels andwill dampen price volatility on the market much moreeffectively than any supply side policy ever could. If theauthorities get the implementation right, everyhousehold can start saving a lot of money very soon.This is especially important for the fuel poor, who donot have to be asked to foot the bill for improvements.There are a host of innovative financing instruments onthe market, so they will not have to pay a penny extra,but will be able to start saving as soon as the energysavings measures start taking effect.

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