THE EUROPEAN ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS DIRECTIVE (EPBD) Bjarne W. Olesen Technical University of Denmark, International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Nils Koppels Alle, DTU – Building 402, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark, e mail: bwo@mek.dtu.dk , http//www; ie.dtu.dk Abstract From the beginning of 2006 all new European buildings (residential, commercial, industrial etc.) must have an energy declaration based on the calculated energy performance of the building, including heating, ventilating, cooling and lighting systems. This energy declaration must refer to the primary energy or CO 2 emissions. The directive also states that the energy performance calculation must take into account the indoor climate, but gives no guidelines. The European Organisation for Standardization (CEN) is now preparing a series of standards to cover the requirements for the indoor environment, energy performance calculations for buildings and systems, ways of expressing energy performance, inspection of heating-cooling-ventilation systems and conversion to primary energy. This paper presents the EPBD and related standardisation. It also gives the status of the on-going implementation of the directive and discusses the issues related to the indoor and outdoor environment. Keywords: Energy performance, Indoor climate, Standards Category: Environmental policy 1. Introduction Heating, ventilation and cooling of buildings is the biggest consumer of energy and is responsible for a significant amount of CO 2 emission. Most European countries have national building codes requiring a minimum insulation level of buildings. Some countries give the requirements as an energy frame for the whole building or the building including the heating system. In 2003 the European Commission (EC) issued a directive, 2002/91/EC. This directive requires all member countries by January 2006 to implement building codes on a national level. For new and existing buildings this requires a calculation of the energy performance of the building including heating, ventilation, cooling and lighting systems, based on primary energy. Each building must have an energy certificate and regular inspections of heating, cooling and ventilation systems must be performed. The objective of this directive is to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the community, taking into account outdoor climatic and local conditions, as well as indoor climate requirements and cost-effectiveness. The directive refers to the energy use and does not take into account a life cycle energy demand (energy used to produce the products used for the building). 2. Concept for standardisation related to the EPBD A mandate to the European Standards Organisation (CEN) from the Commission, M343-EN-2004 has been issued. This mandate asks CEN to elaborate and adopt standards for a methodology, calculating the integrated energy performance of buildings and estimating the environmental impact, in accordance with the directive. To coordinate the standardization related to the EPBD, CEN has established an EPBD- Project Group including the following Technical Committees (TC's): TC 89 THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS AND BUILDING COMPONENTS TC156 VENTILATION FOR BUILDINGS TC169 LIGHT AND LIGHTING