BPIE has researched and developed ambitious roadmaps for Poland, Romania and Bulgaria which will help the countries progress towards the implementation of nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEB), and dramatically reduce the national level of energy consumption and related carbon emissions. BPIE research recommends a holistic policy approach which can deliver on energy, climate and economic goals.

European legislation on buildings (EPBD) and energy efficiency (EED) requires European Member States to develop strategies on how to progressively transform their national building stocks into an energy performing and climate-neutral built environment. Very low or ‘nearly Zero-Energy Buildings’ will become mandatory for all new constructions from 2020 onwards. To facilitate this process and to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of the nearly zero-energy standard, BPIE has undertaken a technical and economic analysis of the situation in three Central and Eastern EU countries – Poland, Romania and Bulgaria – and developed a holistic implementation plan for each.

Thus, the report combines a technical and economic analysis, based on specific national building data, economic conditions and existing policies. Different technological solutions – using variants of improved thermal insulation, energy efficient equipment for heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water and considering renewable energy generation – were simulated for improving the energy performance of offices, single-and multi-family houses. The costs were set in relation to the actual practice in construction in the country. Based on the simulation results, BPIE proposes a concrete national definition for nZEB for the defined building categories, as well as policy implementation roadmaps towards 2020, when all new constructions need to be nearly Zero-Energy buildings.