A new year, a new energy directive for buildings. Over the festive period a political agreement on new rules for improving the energy performance of buildings was reached between negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) aims to renovate Europe’s entire building stock by 2050 in order to make it “nearly zero emissions.” European Commission researchers calculated that the building sector alone consumes about 40% total energy used in the union. The investigation also confirmed that significant energy savings can be achieved in 75% of buildings, however only 0.4% to 1.2% of the EU’s building stock actually undergo renovations each year. “Increasing energy-efficiency is a no-brainer: it’s one of the cheapest and most effective ways of reducing our energy consumption and contributing to our climate goals,” said Kadri Simson, Estonia’s economic affairs minister, who chaired the Council of the EU – where national governments […]