Concerted Action

Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

OBJECTIVES | STRUCTURE | THEMES | OUTCOMES | DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT

AVAILABLE DOWNLOADS

Executive summary report Concerted Action 2005-2007
Detailed technical reports
Book of country reports 2008
Executive Summary Report on the Interim Conclusions of the Concerted Action (February 2010)

Reducing energy consumption and eliminating wastage are among the main goals of the European Union (EU). EU support for improving energy efficiency will prove decisive for competitiveness, security of supply and for meeting the commitments on climate change made under the Kyoto protocol. There is significant potential for reducing consumption. With 40% of our energy consumed in buildings, the EU has introduced legislation to ensure that they consume less energy.

A key part of this legislation is the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) which requires all EU countries to enhance their building regulations and to introduce energy certification schemes for buildings. All countries are also required to have inspections of boilers and air-conditioners.

The introduction of national laws meeting EU requirements is challenging, as the legislation has many advanced aspects. It is a great opportunity to mobilise energy efficiency in EU buildings, but also a formidable and continuing challenge for many EU countries.

To support EU countries in this task, the Concerted Action (CA) EPBD was launched by the European Commission to promote dialogue and exchange of best practice between them. An intensely active forum of national authorities from 29 countries, it focuses on finding common approaches to the most effective implementation of this EU legislation.

The multi-faceted format of the forum, with specialist workshops combined with high level discussions, allied to networking opportunities and web resources, has centred on sharing -and inspiring- smart solutions for the professional tools, skills and systems in all fields addressed by the legislation. These solutions are now being applied across the majority of EU countries.

When initiated in 2005, most countries were still at the planning stage, but are now well advanced. After stimulating advancement and convergence across the EU, the approach was enhanced in 2007. The countries now share real operating experience and the Concerted Action provides ever increasing practical value and deeper learning to all participating authorities, playing its role in ensuring the success of this Directive as a vital instrument of EU energy efficiency policy in the built environment.

The CA is funded under Intelligent Energy–Europe under the European Union's Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.

OBJECTIVES

Assist with creation and adoption of national laws and regulations for certification, inspection and testing markets
Create favourable conditions for common solutions and standardisation
Support the follow up of legislative implementation

Encourage sharing of experience, good practice and networking in the field:

	The CEN working groups in charge of preparing the new standards which offer a more harmonised implementation of the EPBD
	The BUILD UP website (www.buildup.eu) is a new environment for building professionals, local authorities and building occupants willing to share their experience on how to cut energy consumption in buildings
	The promotion and dissemination projects supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe which address various issues related to the EPBD implementation and take-off

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STRUCTURE

The Concerted Action EPBD is carried out under the coordination of ADENE, the Portuguese National Energy Agency
The consortium is composed of organisations designated by all 27 EU Member States, plus Norway and Croatia
The activities revolve around 6 meetings, each with over 100 participants, held over a 3-year period (December 2007 – November 2010)
Working groups and networking take place between the meetings
Only national authorities implementing the Directive are involved, or those bodies appointed and entrusted by the national authorities to do so
Invited experts attend to give additional specialist view points

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THEMES

The Concerted Action EPBD covers five Core Themes:

Certification procedures
Inspection of boilers and air-conditioning systems
Specifications and training requirements for experts and inspectors
Methods and procedural aspects for energy performance characterisation
Information campaigns

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OUTCOMES

29 National Summary Reports (Overview)
- Individual country status reports as of 2008
- Updated status to be reported by the end of 2010
Core Theme summary reports
Technical summaries from interesting topics
Executive summary report of the Concerted Action EPBD (2007-2010), due after the end of the activities, as well as an interim summary report in 2009 to support the EPBD recast (already available)

DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT

Who's leading the way forward in the Concerted Action EPBD?

General coordination is lead by Eduardo Maldonado, Portugal
Certification of Buildings by Kirsten Thomsen, Denmark
Inspection of boilers and air-conditioning systems by Marcello Antinucci, Italy
Specifications and training requirements for experts and inspectors by Kevin O'Rourke, Ireland
Methods and procedural aspects for energy performance characterisation by Hans Erhorn, Germany
Information campaigns by Hans van Eck, The Netherlands
Evaluation of participant satisfaction by Andras Zold, Hungary
Internal and external communications by Peter Wouters, Belgium
Logistics and reporting by Aleksander Panek, Poland

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Last update: 8 June 2010