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Energy

Technical assistance study for ensuring optimal performance of technical building systems under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

Introduction

The performance of technical building systems has a significant impact on overall building energy performance. Therefore, one of the aims of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is to ensure that technical building systems’ performance is optimised. In particular:

  • Article 8(1) of the EPBD requires Member States to set system requirements on overall energy performance, proper installation, appropriate dimensioning, adjustment and control of technical building systems.
  • Article 8(9) of the EPBD requires Member States to ensure that when a technical building system is installed, replaced or upgraded, the overall energy performance of the altered part or (where relevant) of the complete altered system is assessed.
  • Article 14 and 15 of the EPBD requires Member States to establish regular inspections of heating systems, air-conditioning systems, and combined ventilation and heating / air conditioning systems above an effective rated output of 70kW.

The objective of this study is to provide technical assistance to the European Commission services for the development and the dissemination of technical guidelines aimed to support an effective establishment and enforcement of Articles 8(1), 8(9), 14(4) and 15(4) of the new DIRECTIVE (EU) 2018/844 that amended Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings.

This objective translates into the following sub-objectives of this service contract:

  • To assess the state-of-play, i.e. reviewing technical building system requirements established in EU Member States16, also highlighting most effective practices;
  • To extend this review to other relevant measures, initiatives (e.g. voluntary labelling schemes) and references, highlighting most relevant ones and drawing lessons;
  • For each technical building system, provide technical guidelines on the establishment of requirements (covering all aspects referred to in Article 8(1) of the EPBD)
  • For each technical building systems, provide technical guidelines on enforcement of requirements and, in relation to the latter, on most effective approaches to assess system performance in accordance with Article 8(9) of the EPBD ;
  • To provide technical guidelines on the understanding of capabilities of BACS under Article 14(4) and 15(4) of the EPBD;
  • To provide material for disseminating the guidelines listed above and on that basis, to lead targeted actions.

The study comprises the following tasks:

  • TASK 1: Review of technical building systems’ requirements (definition and enforcement) and other relevant measures and initiatives, identification of good practices
  • TASK 2: Identification and assessment of possible technical building systems’ requirements
  • TASK 3: Possible approaches for enforcement of technical building systems’ requirements and assessment and documentation of system performance
  • TASK 4: Technical guidelines for establishing and enforcing technical building systems’ requirements, and for system performance assessment and documentation
  • TASK 5: Technical guidelines for an effective understanding of BACS’ capabilities under the EPBD
  • TASK 6: Dissemination, including stakeholder consultation

Registration and contact

The European Commission is offering stakeholders the opportunity to provide input to this study, thereby creating a fully transparent and open process.

All (draft) documents will be freely available through this website, but if you register as stakeholder you will also receive notifications on website updates. As stakeholder, you can also provide direct feedback to draft reports published on this website and make suggestions. Please note that your comments and suggestions may be made public on this website.

To register as a stakeholder, please use this form. If you would like to contact the study team, please email to tbs4epbd@vito.be

To register for the stakeholder meeting please use this link. You can find the date and the agenda of the meeting below, in the section "Project planning".

Project planning

DateEvent/plan
13 July 2020Start of the contract
13 SeptemberWebsite launch
1 July 2021

Stakeholder meeting (date to be confirmed)

Documents will be sent out before the meeting

12 September 2021End of the contract

Draft agenda of 1 July 2021 stakeholder meeting

09:30-09:45Introduction
09:45-10:00What is article 8 and why is it needed?
10:00-11:00Key findings on current and potential article 8(1) requirements (overall energy performance, dimensioning, installation & control) for heating/hot water, cooling, ventilation lighting and photovoltaics (tasks 1 and 2)
11:00-11:05Short break
11:05-11:20Q&A session on tasks 1 & 2 findings
11:20-11:55Key findings on article 8(9) enforcement, assessment & documentation (task 3) and on BACS (task 5a)
11:55-12:10Q&A session on tasks 3 and 5a
12:10-13:00The road ahead - discussion on key topics, AOB

Study team

VITO, The Flemish Institute for Technological research (Belgium), is a renowned European research centre in the field of Energy, Environment and sustainable materials management. VITO has more than 20 years of experience in working for both government and industry providing them with policy support advice. It has 959 employees and 157 of them from 45 countries outside Belgium. Within Energyville it cooperates with the University of Louvain and IMEC on sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems.

Waide Strategic Efficiency Europe, is an Irish based technical and policy consultancy that has staff with 30 years of experience in all aspects of international product and energy efficiency policy development both within the EU and all the world’s major economies. Most recently they were a lead partner in the development the Commission Services Smart Readiness Indicator study.

Guidehouse is a subcontractor to the study team and an international consultancy firm.

Documents

You can find documents relevant for the study in the dedicated file depository.

In the subfolder “Enquiries”, you can find the questionnaires developed for the study.

Related links