This report explores the national approaches to buildings efficiency certification and finds that Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) could be among the most important drivers of energy performance of the European building stock. However, most Member States are struggling with public acceptance and market-uptake.

It provides a comprehensive overview of EPC schemes and databases for residential and non-residential buildings across Europe and identifies good practices to make EPC data reliable and accessible. It builds on the findings to elaborate policy recommendations and concludes that data gaps, low reliability due to a lack of quality control and limited access to data are preventing Member States from exploiting the full potential of the schemes.

EPCs were introduced for the first time in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in 2002, and in 2010 the EPBD recast added a set of new requirements to improve the quality, usability and public acceptance of EPCs. To date, all 28 MS formally implemented the EPBD requirements in their national legislations.

In some Member States where the EPC schemes have a long tradition, a positive impact on the real estate market has been recorded. Access to EPC data repositories has shown a positive impact on the market value of energy efficiency improvements, contributing to the market transformation the EPBD aims at. The report concludes by highlighting the need to strengthen the role of EPCs in national legislations and to increase the monitoring of the EPC scheme compliance both at Member States and European levels. The European Commission should provide guidance for the development of centralised EPC registries, not only to support independent control systems, but most importantly as a tool to map and monitor the national building stock. Finally, comprehensive evaluations of the EPC effectiveness should be done by independent third-parties.