Updated: July 2023

The review of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) amends Directive 2010/31/EU and it complements measures under the Energy Efficiency Directive as well as EU legislation on energy efficiency of products. It is part of the "Clean Energy for all Europeans" package presented by the European Commission on 30 November 2016.

This update of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive was proposed by the European Commission (EC) to help promote the use of smart technology in buildings and to streamline the existing rules. The EC also published a new buildings database “the EU Building Stock Observatory” to track the energy performance of buildings across Europe.

The Council agreed on a negotiating position on the revised energy performance of buildings directive in June 2017. Negotiations with the European Parliament followed until December 2017, when the EC proposal became a provisional political agreement reached also between negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council. As a result, a series of measures are added to the current Directive which will improve energy efficiency in buildings and encourage to speed-up the cost-effective renovation work of existing buildings.
There will also be updates to provisions on smart technologies and technical building systems. For example, the Directive introduces a smartness indicator for buildings.

The inspections of heating and air condition systems are also simplified. The Directive will also introduce automation, and electromobility into its scope. These will be promoted by creating parking spaces for electric vehicles.

Since buildings account for 40% of the total energy consumption in Europe, decarbonising the existing highly inefficient European building stock is also one of the long term goals of this Directive.
After formal approval of the regulation by the Council and the Parliament, the directive will be published in the Official Journal of the EU, and it will enter into force twenty days later. The transposition period for this legislation is 20 months.
The legal texts of this political agreement are now finalized and will be formally adopted by both the Council and the European Parliament in the coming months.

On the 31st of January 2018, EU ambassadors confirmed the political agreement reached between the Estonian presidency and the European Parliament in December 2017 on the revised Directive on the energy performance of buildings.

The final legislative act, Directive (EU) 2018/844 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2010/31/EU, was adopted on the 30th of May 2018.

The Commission proposed a further revision of the Directive in December 2021 to guide the EU’s building stock towards meeting the goal of zero-emission and full decarbonization by 2050. In this context, the Directive will increase the level of ambition and reflect more pressing needs in the green transition, increase the number and speed of buildings across Europe being renovated, while providing a certain degree of flexibility based on the specific needs in the individual member states.

Additionally, the Commission presented a Renovation Wave Strategy in October 2020 as a part of the Green Deal package. This strategy sets out several measures to boost the rate of building renovation by providing a more concrete regulatory and financial framework. The strategy’s aim is that by 2030, the rate of building renovations will at least double.

Find more information:

Energy Efficiency in Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018L0844

Press Release on EPBD which amends Directive 2010/31/EU in the Council of the EU's website or download a copy here (pdf).

https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/energy-performance-buildings-directive_en

Download the final compromise text with a view to 2018 agreement from the website of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union here (pdf).

https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/renovation-wave_en