Buildings directive: compensating ambitious target with more flexibility
Despite the original proposal made in December 2021 by the European Commission, the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) discussed and voted recently by the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament calls for more ambitious targets to reach zero-emissions buildings from 2028 but provides more flexibility for member states to achieve them through national plans.
In order to increase the rate of renovations and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, the ITRE Committee adopted the review on the proposal of the discussed Buildings Directive, agreeing on some novelties that made it even more ambitious than the original. The report was approved in ITRE after a compromise agreement reached in recent weeks by the main groups in the European Parliament: the European People's Party (EPP), Renew Europe, the Greens and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group.
Its main objectives are:
- reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption in the EU building sector by 2030
- make the building sector cli