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Introduction

Energy performance rating plays a key role in helping decision-makers understand how energy-efficient buildings are and encourage a shift in the real estate market towards greener buildings. One of the main tools for this is the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which has become a standard across the EU.

Originally introduced at the EU level by the 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), EPCs have evolved through various updates. The revision of the Directive in 2024 introduces a unified energy rating scale for all Member States, making it easier to compare buildings across borders. This scale goes from A (the standard for net-zero emission buildings) down to G, the category for the worst performing properties. The possibility to define an A+ category is envisioned for buildings that have an energy demand that is at least 20% lower than the maximum threshold for zero-emission buildings. This new, consistent rating system is designed to promote investment in energy efficiency and thus stimulate worst-performing buildings’ renovation. 

Under these rules, it's mandatory for property owners to provide an EPC to buyers or tenants when selling, renting, or constructing a building, when renewing a rental contract or after major renovations.

The mechanism EPCs aim to trigger is that of a virtuous circle. While it's true that an efficient building reduces consumption, and therefore utility bills at the same time, a high-performance building can be rented or sold at a higher price. This provides an incentive for owners to undertake efficiency improvements, contributing to a more sustainable building stock. Additionally, the EPC acts as a safeguard, protecting buyers by making the building's actual performance transparent.

Alongside this tool, which offers a timely snapshot of the building's energy condition, additional instruments are introduced. When used together, they allow the building's future potential to be projected:

• Building Renovation Passport: a voluntary tool for building owners, a document outlining the long-term roadmap for the deep renovation of a building. Member States must ensure the availability of this instrument.

• Smart Readiness Indicator: an index measuring a building's ability to sense, interpret, communicate and actively respond to changing conditions in relation to the operation of systems, the external environment (including energy grids) and the needs of building users.

EU policy framework and context

As mentioned in the introduction, the latest revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) aims to standardise EPCs across the Member States, not only in terms of the division into energy classes but also in the energy performance calculation methods. This revision brings several advantages: greater standardisation could stimulate the development of more financial instruments to incentivise building retrofits, and it would make it easier to monitor progress towards decarbonisation targets for the building stock

However, this initiative poses a non-trivial challenge. Member States have vastly different building inventories and energy policies, which complicates the standardisation process. Despite these complexities, achieving EPBD targets is becoming increasingly urgent, and better coherence and uniformity in EPCs will be one of the most significant challenges in the coming years.

Furthermore, despite being fundamental tools, EPCs have often been underutilised and their implementation is not fully optimised, providing insufficient information to effectively stimulate renovation. For this reason, in addition to the measures mentioned above to increase the justification for issuing EPCs, the revised Directive aims to improve the availability and quality of buildings related data. For example, Article 22 of the EPBD requires Member States to set up national databases for the energy performance of buildings, also making publicly available aggregated and anonymised data about building stocks.

European projects (non-exhaustive list)

LIFE

LIFE21-CET-EPBD.wise

Energy and climate targets require stronger efforts to implement and enhance building sector policies. The project aims to support six EU countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Ukraine) in applying EPBD measures like zero-emission buildings and energy performance standards, align policies with Fitfor55, and create a replicable model for EU-wide implementation.

LIFE22-CET-Smarter EPC

Smarter EPC aims to create an open platform offering seven tools for issuing EPCs and SRIs, connecting stakeholders with tools developed by NextGenEPC research programmes and the 2021-CET-SMARTREADY Life call. The platform will provide access to EPC tools from D2EPC, SmartLivingEPC, UCERT, and SRI tools from Smart², easySRI, SRI2Market, and UCERT, enabling smart data input and tool selection for EPC and SRI issuance.

LIFE tunES

tunES unites seven national Energy Agencies to improve building energy efficiency for 132 million citizens, focusing on enhancing EPC, SRI, and related tools. Its work is structured into five areas: EPC understanding, upgrades, databases, SRI development, and instrument integration for better harmonisation and impact.

LIFE22-CET-iEPB

The iEPB project aims to enhance the energy performance of EU buildings by harmonising EPCs with complementary tools like the SRI through a unified data model. This model will promote coherence across EU Member States and allow future integration of additional assessments.

LIFE23-CET-openBEP4EU

OpenBEP4EU aims to deliver an open-source software for implementing ISO 52000 standards, fostering uniform adoption of innovative EPC calculation across EU Member States. It promotes accessible building performance data for stakeholders, supports sustainable renovation, and will be tested in five diverse regions (Greece, Denmark, Spain, Cyprus and Switzerland), aligned with EU sustainability goals. 

LIFE OneClickRENO

The building sector plays a key role in achieving the EU's 2050 climate neutrality target, but the current renovation rate remains low at 0.2%. One Click Reno aims to accelerate building renovations by promoting Building Renovation Passports (BRPs), which offer long-term, staged renovation roadmaps to help owners and investors plan efficient upgrades.

H2020

TIMEPAC

The EU-funded TIMEPAC project aims to improve the energy performance certification system by making it more dynamic and comprehensive, integrating multiple data sources to better reflect real building conditions. This will be tested in six EU countries (Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain), supporting retrofitting efforts to meet 2050 climate targets and addressing the limitations of the current static and low-cost EPC system.

CrossCert

The CrossCert project promotes knowledge exchange on EPCs across Europe, testing new approaches in 140 buildings across 10 Member States. It develops guidelines for improved EPC accuracy, usability, harmonisation, and people-centred design, while establishing an online EPC Knowledge Exchange Centre and public benchmarking repository. 

EUB Superhub

Energy performance assessments and certificates must evolve to reflect technological advancements, societal needs, and sustainability principles, offering a more detailed, lifecycle-based evaluation of buildings. The EUB SuperHub project and EU Level(s) initiative support this transformation by developing scalable methodologies and holistic approaches to assess energy use, costs, and environmental impact across the building lifecycle. 

iBRoad2EPC

iBRoad2EPC advances energy performance certification by integrating Building Renovation Passport elements into EPC schemes, focusing on multi-family and public buildings. It aims to enhance the reliability and effectiveness of EPCs across six European countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain), supporting decarbonisation and improving occupant conditions through targeted training and collaboration with implementing authorities.

Horizon 2020

SmartLivingEPC

The SmartLivingEPC project aims to provide a digital certificate that assesses building performance, integrating energy and sustainability data from BIM, while expanding to include water consumption, noise pollution, and acoustics. It will be compatible with digital logbooks and renovation passports, facilitating energy certification at the neighbourhood scale.

Chronicle

Chronicle will provide a comprehensive performance assessment framework and tool suite for various building types, integrating existing initiatives like EPCs and SRI under the Digital Building Logbook concept, using static and dynamic KPIs tailored to building lifecycle phases. By enhancing data availability and accessibility, Chronicle aims to improve EU energy policies and facilitate effective energy planning, promoting evidence-based assessments and stakeholder engagement through demonstrations in five diverse pilot sites across Europe.

Conclusions

The evolution of the EPC under the revised EPBD represents a significant step towards a more sustainable real estate market in Europe. By standardising energy performance ratings and enhancing the transparency of building efficiency, the EPC aims to incentivise investment in greener properties and drive renovations of the worst-performing buildings. Despite the challenges posed by diverse building stocks and varying energy policies across Member States, the introduction of supportive tools such as the Building Renovation Passport and Smart Readiness Indicator can help streamline efforts towards the decarbonisation of the building sector. Several European projects are also working towards these goals, producing concrete results aimed at the standardisation and streamlining of EPCs and related tools. Such a cohesive approach is essential for promoting a sustainable built environment that meets the needs of both current and future generations.