Energy use in European buildings - monitoring the pathway towards a sustainable built environment

Other conference contribution, 2007

To contribute towards a reduction in demand side energy use in Europe over the coming decades, a key system that must be put in place, is a method of monitoring energy usage trends in buildings. A basic premise for such monitoring is, that, across the continent, mandatory building thermal effi ciency standards have not lead to reductions in energy use in line with regulations. Germany, for example, has had building thermal regulations in place since the early 1970’s. Theoretically there should have been a 60% reduction in residential sector energy use there over this time. The reduction has, however, been only 38%1 . A reoccurring problem is that, although applicants for building permits submit plans which include the thermal characteristics of the buildings they plan, compliance is rarely monitored afterwards by authorities. This has implications for the energy saving initiatives that have emanated from the EU in the last few years including the Environmental Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). In fact, and this certainly includes buildings, the IPCC SRES2 states that there is an inadequate ability to capture the potential for effi ciency improvement and the impacts of effi ciency programs.