25.6.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 162/62

1.1

The Committee recognises that energy efficiency is a fundamental factor when it comes to taking care of the climate and achieving the targets set by the EU in Kyoto and the new ceilings set by the European Council in March 2007 in the field of reducing emissions. It therefore recommends stepping up efforts aimed at consumers.

1.2

The Committee is convinced that there is great potential in the building sector for saving energy, particularly from heating, air conditioning, motive power and lighting as well as through insulation techniques, in building design and use.

1.3

When defining measures to increase energy efficiency, account should also be taken of the benefits of the widespread use of cost-effective technological innovations, enabling end users to take more informed decisions regarding their individual energy consumption.

1.4

The Committee believes that innovative methods must be developed so as to address the issues of information and financing for end users more directly: it is essential that owners and tenants do not see these new Community measures as a new tax levied on such a primary asset as the home.

1.5

The Committee believes that new cultural stimuli and incentives will need to be devised, both to offset the higher costs and to raise interest in:

1.6

In the Committee's view, the work of the CEN (the European Committee for Standardisation) should be stepped up, in line with the Commission's brief on the matter, which provides for the definition of harmonised standards for measuring the energy consumption of existing buildings and new builds, as well as for certification and inspection procedures.

1.7

The Committee would reiterate the importance of avoiding setting unsustainable restrictions on Member States, in the face of international competition, and ensuring that owners who rent out or occupy a property are not forced to shoulder costs that they cannot afford.

1.8

The obligations and costs arising from the certification process should in the Committee's opinion be accompanied by publicity campaigns, so as to guarantee fair access to improved energy efficiency, in particular for residential buildings, built or managed in the context of social policy, and blocks of flats, particularly in the new Member States where most blocks of flats are standard-type buildings; for such buildings, standard certificates can be used.

1.9

The Committee would stress the importance of developing Community initiatives to harmonise the activities of Member States in terms of energy efficiency, so as to make real progress towards greater European coherence, while taking local conditions into account.

1.10

The Committee recommends a number of measures that could encourage end users to be more mindful of energy efficiency in general and more specifically in buildings:

1.11

From the point of view of the final consumer, the Committee feels that consideration must be given to the obstacles hindering the promotion and implementation of energy efficiency in buildings in Europe: barriers of a technical, economic, financial, legal, administrative, bureaucratic, institutional, management-related and socio-behavioural nature and barriers linked to inconsistencies of approach (imbalances between heating/air-conditioning, no consideration of the local climate).

2.1

The Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council (8/9 March 2007) stress ‘the need to increase energy efficiency in the EU so as to achieve the objective of saving 20 % of the EU's energy consumption compared to projections for 2020 […] “and identify” energy-efficient and energy-saving behaviour of energy consumers, energy technology and innovations and the energy savings from buildings’ as priority areas.

2.1.1

Energy efficiency of buildings is an issue which falls within the scope of the Community initiatives on climate change (commitments under the Kyoto Protocol) and security of supply, particularly in the context of the green papers on security of energy supply and energy efficiency, on which the EESC has commented on several occasions (3).

2.1.2

Energy consumption in buildings-related services accounts for around 40 % (4) of the EU's energy consumption.

2.1.3

For heating alone, the average consumption of dwellings in many regions of Europe is 180 kWh/m2/year. This shows that many European nations' buildings are particularly poor performers when it comes to energy efficiency.

2.1.4

Many factors contribute to this. On the one hand, few consumers are aware of the ever-increasing difficulties of obtaining energy at affordable prices; on the other, architects, building firms and the countless small entrepreneurs who work in the building sector (5) tend to pay little attention to energy efficiency and environmentally sound construction when building and to prioritise aesthetic aspects and follow passing fashions such as floor quality, luxury washing appliances, attractiveness the vitrification of external facades, type of material and size of window frames.

2.1.4.1

Moreover, many administrative bodies, particularly municipal engineering departments and public health offices, fail to pay enough attention to the issue when it comes to recording energy consumption of buildings as part of checks ensuring that they provide safe accommodation or are insufficiently informed.

2.1.4.2

Nevertheless, contrary to common belief, there is great scope for increasing energy efficiency, in existing as well as new buildings, particularly in multi-occupancy accommodation in cities (6).

2.1.5

As regards renovation of existing infrastructure, the contracts that can be concluded with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) have an important role to play: under these contracts, the companies are entrusted with the improvements to be made to existing buildings, to make — sometimes substantial — savings on energy costs. The company is paid with the money saved from the reduced consumption (7).

2.1.6

Additionally, numerous measures could be taken in small-scale renovations such as external shutters on windows, the installation of smart meters, which allow consumers to monitor their consumption in real time on an ongoing basis, or gas-fired water heating plant (top boxes) that can reduce costs and harmful gas emissions by 40 %. Air ventilation micro-systems have also proved to be remarkably efficient in flats, while paying attention to the type of material used, for example, for a transparent vertical panel (windows) can reduce heat loss from a flat by at least 20 % (8). The use of water-saving renovation techniques also cuts down on energy consumption. In connection with the energy bills, energy suppliers shall inform the consumers clearly and free of charge about the consumption of the corresponding period of the year before, for the consumes to be able to put their present consumption into perspective.

2.1.7

The EESC firmly believes that initiatives in this sector can bring huge savings, thus helping to achieve goals related to climate change and security of energy supply. Given that there is relatively little scope for action in the short- or medium-term in the area of energy supply conditions, it is necessary to influence end users, i.e.:

2.1.8

There are a variety of factors which prevent saving and better use of energy resources:

2.1.9

The potential for energy saving in the building sector is huge, especially when it comes to energy consumption for heating, motive power and lights in the use-phase of the building. This is shown by what are known as passive buildings (10), which harness huge saving opportunities, spurring the Community's competitiveness and innovation by keeping the focus increasingly on development and use of new, more energy efficient technologies.

2.1.10

The energy policy's strategic objectives seek to:

2.1.11

When defining measures to increase energy efficiency, account should also be taken of the benefits of widespread use of cost-effective technological innovations. End users can take more informed decisions regarding their individual energy consumption if they are given appropriate information, such as details of measures laid down to increase energy efficiency, comparisons of end users' profiles, and specific, practical techniques relating to energy-powered appliances (11).

2.1.12

All kinds of information on energy efficiency, especially the related costs, should be widely disseminated in the appropriate forms to interested parties. The information should also cover financial and legal aspects and should be presented in information and advertising campaigns which provide a clear picture of best practices, at all levels.

2.1.13

Measures limited solely to technical aspects are necessary, but not sufficient, to reduce energy consumption in the building sector. The complex interaction between the constantly-developing technology and its many and varied users also needs to be addressed.

2.1.14

As part of the previous Intelligent Energy — Europe Programme (2003–2006), the initiative of an EPBD Buildings Platform was developed (12). This provides services facilitating the implementation of Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings, which entered fully into force at the beginning of 2006. The directive includes the following requirements, which apply to the Member States:

2.1.15

From a technical point of view it is essential that the public and consumers realise the need for an integrated approach which takes various factors into account, including:

2.1.15.1

There are essentially two basic indicators:

2.1.16

To achieve the goal of keeping down energy consumption and pollutant and climate-change gas emissions, policies are also needed which:

2.1.17

Community innovation and research programmes play a decisive role in developing the energy efficiency of buildings, as regards the technological goal of developing ‘zero energy’ intelligent buildings, i.e. ‘positive energy’ buildings which produce more energy than they consume, using the most common alternative forms of energy such as solar, wind and geothermal energy.

2.1.18

At Community level, in addition to the above-mentioned Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), a decisive role in supporting the development of clean energy technologies is played by the Seventh Framework Programme for RTD, which provides for a special thematic priority under the ‘Cooperation’ specific programme.

2.1.19

European technical standardisation has an essential role to play in the energy efficiency of buildings sector. The CEN — European Committee for Standardisation — has been instructed by the Commission to draw up the technical regulations necessary for the implementation of the above-mentioned Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (15), as follows:

2.1.20

Almost 30 (CEN) European standards have been drawn up (16). The Member States have already confirmed their intention to implement them on a voluntary basis. Should it be observed that voluntary conformity with the standards is not being achieved, appropriate legislation should be introduced to make them binding.

2.1.21

In any case, it is the Commission's responsibility to provide Member States with the instruments necessary to develop an integrated, uniform methodology for calculating the energy performance of buildings. Once the Member States have established minimum energy-efficiency requirements, these must be reflected in ‘energy performance certificates’, which are essentially marks conferred on buildings, similar to those conferred on household appliances. However, the certificates for buildings are more elaborate and complex and are accompanied by recommendations on how to improve performance.

2.1.22

Research projects have clearly demonstrated that, along with a building's technical installations, the attention which its users give to energy saving — be they residents or users of workplaces during the daytime — is a decisive factor in energy consumption.

2.1.22.1

For instance, it is worthwhile promoting a culture of dressing more appropriately in high temperatures, e.g. not wearing jackets and ties in the summer (17), as well as appropriate winter attire, to enable the temperature in apartments and offices to be kept at approximately 20 or 21 °C (18).

2.1.23

Even the orientation of a house affects the quantity of heat needed to make it comfortable for its inhabitants. The per-capita energy consumption for heating identical terraced houses can vary by a factor of 2,5 (and by a factor of 3 for detached houses) while electricity consumption can vary by a factor of 4 or 5.

2.1.23.1

In view of the above and other considerations, the existing legislation should be fleshed out with some precepts for energy efficiency, not only for buildings but also for neighbourhoods.

2.1.24

Increasingly, even at school age (19), people should be made more aware of the significant amount of primary energy required by their homes for:

and that with a little care and readiness much of this energy can be saved (20).

2.1.25

End users often have to take important decisions regarding investments, for instance when renovating houses or deciding to make significant changes to houses still being planned or built. Decisions to invest in new technologies that allow significant energy savings can have major repercussions on the energy performance of buildings. Examples include:

2.1.26

It is clear that to change the frame of reference generally used to date, new cultural stimuli and incentives will have to be found to compensate for the higher costs and to increase interest in:

2.1.27

The following incentives deserve to be considered:

2.1.28

Any measures adopted with a view to securing significant energy savings should take into account the fact that the majority of Europeans live in existing buildings and that new buildings constitute only a small percentage.

2.1.29

One problem with rented accommodation is that it is generally the owners that bear the cost of energy efficiency-increasing measures (e.g. new door and window frames, high-efficiency boilers, clean energy generators), whereas it is the users that benefit from the resulting lower costs.

2.1.30

This problem could be avoided by backing the ‘third-party financing’ method (25). This involves encouraging energy-saving initiatives in buildings, carried out by companies linked to lending bodies, paying off investments over a fixed number of years with the average savings made as a result of lower energy costs in the years following completion of the work.

2.1.31

One valid financing system used in the industrialised countries, which could be backed and extended, is demand side management (DSM). Energy producing or supplying companies invest in projects for the energy-related renovation of the buildings within their responsibility. The savings made after the work cover the expense.

2.1.32

Clearly, the system could be improved with the right legal framework, encouraging energy suppliers to invest in renovating the heating systems of buildings for which they supply energy.

2.1.33

The complex issue of saving energy in residential buildings is one facing most of the EU's new Member States. The burden of this cost and complexity must not be allowed to fall on the end users and the public. The Czech Republic, for instance, has managed to use some of the funds granted through cohesion policy for the renovation of residential buildings.

2.1.34

The main area requiring attention is the need to ensure that building renovation is carried out with concern for energy conservation. If the objectives of keeping energy consumption and pollutant gas emissions down are to be met, policies are needed to:

2.1.35

To be genuinely effective, a policy aimed at promoting energy savings in buildings must secure, alongside public involvement, the commitment of the various professional associations and entrepreneurs in the various sectors, namely:

3.1.1

Improving the energy efficiency of buildings has been the objective of many Community provisions, including: the 1989 Directive on construction products (26) and the construction-related elements of the 1993 SAVE Directive (27), a 1993 directive on the energy certification of buildings (28), the 2002 Directive on the energy efficiency of buildings (EPBD) (29), Directive 2005/32/EC of 2005 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-using products (30), and the 2006 Directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services (31). Meanwhile there have been many other legislative measures relating to products, such as the directive on boilers (32), the office equipment decision (33), the directive on household appliances and the labelling of energy consumption (34), the directive on the energy efficiency of refrigerators (35), and the directive on ballasts for fluorescent lighting (36). The 2002 EPBD Directive deals specifically with improving the energy efficiency of new and existing residential and non-residential buildings.

3.1.2

The deadline for transposing this directive was 4 January 2006, but various Member States have requested and been granted an extension (37), while others, are subject to infringement procedures by the Commission for failed or incorrect transposition (38). Nevertheless, all the Member States should have established criteria for energy certification by the end of 2007.

3.2.1

In order to address fully the issue of end users' contribution to the energy efficiency of buildings, one has to consider the specific characteristics of the vast areas of the EU concerned, with regard in particular to:

3.2.2

Types of building stock. In the new Member States and the five East German Länder, the building stock has potential for considerable energy savings, compared with building stock in the other 15 Member States.

3.2.2.1

The building stock in these areas is for the most part the legacy of post-war town planning, and is based on the use of prefabricated components making up large multi-storey multi-occupancy blocks. These were built using rapid mass production and homogeneous, standard, centralised technologies. They also went without any maintenance or restructuring for long periods (39).

3.2.2.2

In Romania, for instance, 4 819 104 residential buildings were counted in 2002. There were 83 799 housing blocks containing 2 984 577 apartments. They account for approximately 60 % of existing flats. Furthermore, 53 % of residential buildings are over 40 years old; 37 % are over 20 years old and only 10 % are under 10 years old.

3.2.2.3

In over 95 % of the big apartment blocks, common to all the countries of the former Soviet bloc, energy for heating, ventilation and water heating is supplied by centralised systems. Studies carried out in 2005 on this type of building calculated potential energy savings of 38-40 %.

3.2.2.4

These major energy losses can be put down in part to the end users, the poor quality of materials, insufficient heat insulation, old high-consumption technologies, obsolete heating installations, high-consumption lighting, inefficient firing installations, poor quality pumps, etc. Another reason is inefficient energy management, with considerable losses (40) paid for in the long run by the consumer. Energy efficiency is the most accessible, the least polluting and the cheapest of all the available options.

3.2.3.1

In the main climate zones of northern and southern Europe, average consumption in the residential sector is equal to 4 343 kWh/year (41). This energy is used principally for heating, which consumes 21,3 % of demand for electricity, despite being concentrated mainly in northern and central Europe. Next in line is the share of electric energy used by fridges and freezers (14,5 %) and by lighting (10,8 %).

3.2.3.2

In southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, and the south of France), one of the main factors in increased electricity consumption is the rapid spread of low power consumption, low yield residential air conditioning units (42) (< 12 kW output cooling power) and their widespread use in summertime.

3.2.3.3

Residential consumption of electricity for air conditioners, to which Directive 2002/31/EC applies, has been estimated at around 7-10 TWh per year for the 25-Member State EU (43). It should also be noted that in Europe, new multimedia equipment, such as personal computers, printers, scanners, modems and mobile phone chargers plugged in continuously account for 20 % of household energy consumption.

3.3.1

Energy consumption in Japan, accounts for approximately 6 % of world consumption. Measures were taken some time ago to reduce this level of consumption and the resulting CO2 emissions, particularly in the transport and construction sectors, the residential sector accounting for 15 % of overall consumption.

3.3.2

In the residential sector, primary energy savings, reduced CO2 emissions and energy cost savings achieved by means of building energy efficiency measures have been estimated, respectively at approximately 28 %, 34 %, and 41 % (44). Japan's residential building energy efficiency standards (45) were revised in 1999 and include both yield standards and prescriptive standards, the objective being to achieve full application of these standards for more than 50 % of new buildings.

3.3.3

The Japanese method of assessing jointly buildings and the household electrical appliances used has the following features:

3.3.4

In the USA, already in 1987 (46), in line with the chapters on residential building in the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC (47)), minimum efficiency standards were established for 12 types of household electrical appliance. These form the basis for a number of state energy codes.

3.3.5

Building energy efficiency monitoring is the responsibility of individual states and in many cases individual counties, particularly since the adoption of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, (EPACT), which uses accelerated tax deductions to encourage the owners of commercial buildings to apply energy efficiency systems to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

3.3.6

The Model Energy Code (MEC) (48), developed on the basis of the IECC in the 1980s and regularly updated including as recently as 2006, is backed up by the US Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program, and aims to promote ever better building energy codes and assist the federal states in adopting and applying those codes, which are reviewed regularly in order to:

3.3.7

In 2007, the Energy Efficient Buildings Act was introduced to Congress with a view to:

3.3.8

According to the Federal Department of Energy, DOE, the design of new more comfortable and efficient buildings could reduce cooling and heating costs by 50 %, while measures aimed at applying the energy efficiency codes in buildings will create new job opportunities in construction, renovation and plant engineering.

4.1

The Committee has spoken out on a number of occasions on the need to make significant and sustainable energy savings by developing low-consumption techniques, products and services, and on the need to change people's behaviour so as to reduce energy consumption while nevertheless maintaining the same quality of life.

4.2

The Committee recognises that energy efficiency makes a major contribution to safeguarding the climate and to respecting the commitments made by the EU at Kyoto as regards emission reductions, and it recommends continuing and stepping up efforts made at consumer level.

4.3

The Committee would argue that to encourage energy savings in buildings there must be a detailed examination of the obstacles that have prevented full implementation of the EPBD directive, and that a transition period of approximately 10 years should be allowed before making certification for all existing buildings covered by the directive compulsory.

4.4

In its 2001 opinion on the draft EPBD directive, the Committee stressed its support for the Commission initiative and its desire to develop a common methodology for assessing and monitoring the energy performance of buildings. However, it pointed out that care should be taken to: ‘avoid creating intolerable constraints for Member States in terms of international competition’ and to ‘avoid imposing charges on property owners — whether renting out or living in their property — that are disproportionate to their means, as this could have the effect of neutralising the objectives of the directive, and encouraging people to reject a united Europe’  (49).

4.5

The EESC believes any extension to the EPBD directive should include a building-system lifecycle analysis, to illustrate the impact on the carbon cycle. This would give consumers and the regulatory authorities a clearer idea of the consequences regarding the carbon emissions of the products planned for use in the building system.

4.5.1

Any extension of Community legislation in this area should in any case be subject to an appropriate impact evaluation, given its likely impact on the market and the costs falling on the final consumers, be they owners or tenants.

4.5.2

Care should also be taken to ensure that the desired measures for improving heat insulation allow for sufficient circulation of air and humidity, prevent damp and do not cause damage to the building, for instance by causing mildew to form.

4.6

As the Committee has already pointed out (50), ‘Relevant actions to enhance energy efficiency vary widely because of different local circumstances and actions so far. The effects of these actions on the internal market seem limited. Against this background it is important, in line with the subsidiarity principle, that additional actions at EU level give genuine added value’.

4.7

The certification process should be accompanied by publicity campaigns, so as to guarantee fair access to improved energy efficiency, in particular for residential buildings that are built or managed in the context of social housing policy.

4.8

The regular maintenance, by qualified staff, of boilers, air-conditioning installations and other alternative energy installations will help to ensure they are at the right settings, in accordance with product specifications, and thus providing optimum performance.

4.9

On the basis of the positive experience of a number of Member States, and following the results in past years of the implementation of major Community policies, the Committee would recommend a number of measures that could help to promote energy efficiency in general and more specifically in buildings:

4.10

The Committee believes that innovative methods must be developed so as to address the issues of information and financing for end users more directly: it is essential that owners and tenants do not see these new Community measures as a new tax levied on such a primary asset as the home.

4.11

Meeting the Kyoto Protocol objectives and saving energy must not appear to be a simple transfer of greater costs from the energy producing industries to the end users and European citizens.

4.12

In order to limit the burden on individual owners, the Committee would argue that, wherever possible, certification should be conducted for entire buildings using sample apartments to secure certification that would be valid for all the apartments in the building.

4.13

A website, promoted by the Commission and linked to national websites, might be a useful way of overcoming the legal, institutional, management-related and technical barriers that prevent user-friendly access for end users.

4.14

The Committee considers it to be important that it should set a good example on energy efficiency in the management of its own buildings. It has noted the excellent example of its near neighbour in Brussels — the ‘Renewable Energy House’ — which shows that significant improvements in an existing building can be achieved in a cost-efficient way. Some improvements have already been made in the Committee's buildings, and in working towards EMAS certification. The Committee is now calling for a further report from its administration to review progress so far, and identify what further improvements could be made.