Danfoss: EU Buildings Directive – Member States need to deliver in trilogue

Date: 30/10/2017

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is key to unlock the energy efficiency potential of our buildings and make them future proof for digitalization. On 25 October, the European Parliament’s rapporteur Bendt Bendtsen (EPP/DK) received the mandate to enter trilogue negotiations on the EPBD with the Council and the European Commission

“The positive position of the European Parliament is an important step on the way to secure pragmatic and meaningful provisions to unlock the potential of all dimensions of energy efficient buildings, especially the optimization of technical building systems”, says Alix Chambris, Director of EU public affairs for Danfoss.

Technical building systems are the systems for heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water. By optimizing the control of energy flows in these systems, energy consumption can be reduced by 30% on average and benefits of digitalization fully utilized.

To achieve this, the position agreed in the European Parliament ensures that the EPBD will:

  • Get the basics right and support the roll-out of individual room temperature controls. 50 to 100 mln EU citizens are still unable to control their heating expenses, because most basic features for regulating room temperature are absent in their homes.
  • Ensure that theoretical and actual energy use are matched. Systems need to be optimized for dynamic (part load) conditions; this should be reflected in system performance and inspection requirements.
  • Make buildings smart and put users in control by accelerating the roll-out of building automation and controls (BAC) including effective monitoring and control functionalities.

“Optimized control of energy flows can deliver huge benefits for European citizens both in terms of affordable energy costs, and of comfort and well-being. The related investments are low, pay-back is fast, and return on investment is large. We need the right regulatory framework to address market failures.”, says Lars Tveen, president of Danfoss heating. “We believe that the position of the European Parliament is fit to unlock the dormant potential that lies in control of energy flows. Now we look to the Council to keep the ambition level and ensure that the EU will adopt an EPBD that does justice to Europe’s international climate commitment and its ambition to create an innovative low-carbon economy.” , says Alix Chambris.