About 75% of the EU building stock is not energy efficient, and 75 to 85% of it will still be in use in 2050. Increasing the current EU renovation rate to at least 2-3% is essential to meet both the EU targets and the Paris commitment. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) sets requirements to increase the performance of a building when the owner decides to carry out a major renovation, but does not foresee any provision to increase the number of renovations, which amounts to about 1% per year. As a result, the legislation affects only a small proportion of Europe’s buildings. The revision proposed by the European Commission in November 2016 does not address how to increase the rate and depth of renovation in any shape or form.

BPIE puts forward recommendations for both EU and Member State levels that could encourage a spur in deep renovations through the inclusion of trigger points in legislation.

What are trigger points? Trigger points are key moments in the life of a building (e.g. rental, sale, change of use, extension, repair or maintenance work) when carrying out energy renovations would be less disruptive and more economically advantageous than in other moments. Taking advantage of these moments would facilitate investment decisions to undertake energy renovation works.