Links to related projects and organizations
The BUILD UP (www.buildup.eu) initiative was established by the European Commission in 2009 to support EU Member States in implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
The BUILD UP web portal is intended to reap the benefits of Europe's collective intelligence on energy reduction in buildings for all relevant audiences. It will bring together new practitioners and professional associations while motivating them to exchange best working practices and knowledge and to transfer tools and resources.
The Concerted Action EPBD (www.epbd-ca.org) is a joint initiative of the EU Member States and the European Commission, launched in 2005. It involves those representatives of national ministries or their affiliated institutions charged with preparing the technical, legal and administrative framework for the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2002/91/EC) in each country. The key aim is to enhance the sharing of information and experiences from national adoption and implementation of this important European legislation.
Related projects funded by IEE
ThermCo (www.thermco.org) is a project funded by the European Commission within the Intelligent Energy Europe programme. The objective is to establish an annex for EPBD-related CEN-standards for buildings with high energy efficiency and good indoor environment. ThermCo evaluates low-energy cooling concepts all-over Europe using a standardised method based on existing monitoring data from best practice examples, provides design guidelines for typical building concepts in the European climate zones for architects and HVAC-engineers and collects the knowledge available. The proposed approach is applied to eight demonstration projects in different climatic zones of Europe.
CommonCense (www.learn.londonmet.ac.uk/commoncense) is an EC supported project. The European standard EN15251 was recently adopted to define acceptable indoor temperatures and light levels as the basis for energy calculation. The provision of comfort is a key concern for building designers. Mechanical cooling is energy intensive. Naturally ventilated (NV) buildings with fewer energy costs cannot control indoor conditions closely. Formally standards have used comfort models which favour close environmental control so NV buildings have been looked on as second-rate. EN15251 allows NV buildings more freedom for environmental variation in line with the findings of comfort theory. This project seeks to use existing information from field surveys to test the limits set by EN15251 for temperature and lighting and to validate its recommendations using existing data and building simulations.
ASIEPI (www.asiepi.eu) stands for Assessment and Improvement of the EPBD Impact (for new buildings and building renovation). The ASIEPI project (01/10/2007 - 31/03/2010) will analyze those aspects in participating countries, and will make suggestions for improvements:
- EPBD requires Member States to define building energy performance requirements... but did the Member States take this opportunity to strengthen their existing legislation?
- Member States are free to define their calculation methods and their requirements... Is it therefore possible to compare requirements across ? If yes, are the requirements from one country more severe than those of neighbouring countries?
- EPBD gives a list of aspects to consider in the calculation procedures... Practically, how to effectively handle thermal bridges, stimulate good summer comfort conditions and good building and duct airtightness?
- EPBD should not be a barrier for innovation. Are there legal and technical frameworks to assess the energy performance of new innovative systems not cover by the standard procedures?
- Regulations are only useful if they are respected. How do the Member States organise control and compliance?
