ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS DIRECTIVE: NEW PROPOSAL FOR SOLAR ENERGY INSTALLATION

Publication date:May 27, 2022

 

‘Article 9a
Solar energy in buildings

Member States shall ensure that all new buildings are designed to optimise their solar energy generation potential on the basis of the solar irradiance of the site, enabling the later cost-effective installation of solar technologies.

Member States shall ensure the deployment of suitable solar energy installations:

  1. by 31 December 2026, on all new public and commercial buildings with useful floor area larger than 250 square meters;
  2. by 31 December 2027, on all existing public and commercial buildings with useful floor area larger than 250 square meters; and
  3. by 31 December 2029, on all new residential buildings.

Member States shall define, and make publicly available, criteria at national level for the practical implementation of these obligations, and for possible exemptions for specific types of buildings, in accordance with the assessed technical and economic potential of the solar energy installations and the characteristics of the buildings covered by this obligation.

 

Article 9a would be part of Article 9 on minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) , the article that imposes renovation of the EPC ‘G’-level 15% worst-performing national building stock to ‘E’ level by 2030 (public and commercial) or 2033 (residential).

What does this mean for existing public and commercial (including rural commercial – farmhouses, etc.)?:

  1. For existing public buildings, this comes on top of the July 2021 EED Proposal’s obligation to renovate to NZEB level 3% of the public building stock per annum. The entire public building stock will have to have solar installation by 31.12.2027.
  1. For existing private commercial buildings, we should distinguish between the ‘G’ stock and the rest:
  1. For the ‘G’ stock it means a shift of emphasis. The solar installation is obligatory, but just by doing that, the owner probably partially or even entirely takes the building to ‘E’ level, so there is less or no regulatory pressure to do any other renovation.
  1. For the remaining 85% of the national private commercial building stock – which under the existing 15 December 2021 Proposal has no new obligations compared to the existing Directive – it means mandatory solar installation by 31.12.2027.

With two exemptions for both public and commercial:

  1. Buildings with useful floor area of 250 m² or less
  1. “Specific types of buildings, in accordance with the assessed technical and economic potential of the solar energy installations and the characteristics of the buildings covered by this obligation” (for ex. buildings in dense urban areas having limited access to light)

 

Full EPF Secretariat report and text of the Proposal under epf22-31 of 23.05.2022