Sweden: years ahead of the UK on energy efficient buildings

European authorities are trying to ramp up energy efficiency standards for buildings - but not without opposition. Keith Nuthall, Alan Osborn and Lee Adendorff report.

It is hard to argue against the need for energy-efficient buildings, but what is open to question is the best way of regulating developers and their utility partners to ensure they happen. In Europe, there is no firm consensus about how best to do this, as reflected by current hard bargaining in Brussels over updating the 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

The 2002 directive sought to impose European Union-wide standards on the energy efficient construction and operation of buildings. It also imposed commitments concerning air conditioning, buildings inspections, and the consideration of alternative energy systems in buildings. These have all had a direct impact on utilities.

Tougher rules

The reforms now under discussion could impose much tougher rules on building design and operation. In its first reading of changes suggested by the European Commission, the European Parliament in April voted for a rule stating that all buildings built after December 2018 must generate on-site as much energy as they consume, via solar panels or heat pumps. MEPs also called on member states to set targets nationally for existing buildings, specifying minimum energy-efficiency performances to be achieved by 2015 and 2020.

Moreover, the parliament said it wanted the directive to mandate public spending, much of which could go to utilities. For instance, it wanted national action plans drafted by mid-2011 to specify how the funding would be raised for improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Measures could include such things as low-interest loans or rebates on property taxes for green investments. Or gas and electricity utilities could be required to help homeowners make their buildings more energy efficient. It also said the Commission should propose a "significant increase" in European Regional Development Fund spending on energy efficiency and the creation by 2014 of a special EU energy efficiency fund.

A building's energy performance would also have to be upgraded to meet at least minimum energy performance requirements whenever it underwent major renovation, including upgrading utility systems.

Opposition

Not surprisingly, there is opposition from member states whose governments think they know best how to regulate energy efficiency in their own countries. The current Swedish president, for instance, has been busy pruning MEPs' amendments. Stockholm hopes to secure agreement at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 7 December, the same day as the opening of the Copenhagen climate change conference.

There was an informal meeting of energy ministers in Are, Sweden, in July, to try and prepare the ground. There, Sweden's minister for enterprise and energy Maud Olofsson said: "My assessment is that there is broad support for the directive and its general contents, and that there is a willingness to reach an agreement."

She claimed that new legislation "with such a great potential to affect energy usage in the EU [was] an important message to send to the negotiations in Copenhagen".

Grants for utilities

The importance given to energy-efficient buildings in the EU was also demonstrated by the Commission's announcement in July of a €1 billion 2009-13 spending programme, jointly funded by the EU construction sector. The aims of the programme, according to a Commission briefing note, is to "promote green technologies and development of energy-efficient systems and materials in European buildings".

Utilities will be able to bid for grants from the EU for research and development projects associated with energy-efficient building design. The first tranche of European spending came on 30 July, with the release of €80 million from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for research.

Anticipated EU-funded research projects will include: integrating renewable energy systems into buildings and districts; better use of information and communication technologies to reduce energy consumption in buildings; and the development of new materials, using nanotechnology and other cutting-edge innovations.

UK impact

How this legislative and policy action affects how utilities work across Europe will vary.
In the UK, the government has implemented the Performance of Buildings Directive "in full", according to the department for Communities and Local Government. It says the UK is "in the top five EU countries for compliance" as measured by the three main indicators: energy performance certificates (EPCs), display energy certificates and air conditioning inspections. The necessary legislation was put before Parliament in March 2007 and came into force later that year. It provided for a phased introduction of EPCs for buildings in 2008 and 2009 with first inspection of air conditioning systems to be completed by January 2011.

The UK has just begun consulting on the proposed changes to the directive as proposed by the Commission and the European Parliament, and expects to have clarified the UK position by the November deadline.

One big obstacle for the UK is the proposed requirement that any building of more than 250 sq m (as opposed to the current 1,000 sq m) have EPCs.

"This is the contentious part because it has important cost implications and it's the main focus of the consultations we're now having," says a communities and local government spokesman. The official adds that it is "unlikely" that the UK is the only member state to have misgivings about this.

Strides in Sweden

There are no such problems for current presidency Sweden. The country has a long tradition of requiring high energy efficiency standards in its building design. An International Energy Agency report lavished praise on the Swedes: "Already in the late-1970s stringent requirements were introduced in Sweden. Although they have been only slightly changed over time, they are still today among the highest energy-efficiency requirements in the world."

Swedish building regulations are flexible, imposing energy efficiency rules depending on the type of construction and the location of a building. They also set rules for ventilation, warmth, boilers and air conditioners.

Italian initiative

It is no great surprise that the Swedes are blazing a trail in energy-efficient building design, but other less likely candidates have also been making progress. Italy has passed two laws prompted by the first Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. They require that all new buildings, and refurbished energy systems of existing buildings, be issued with an energy certificate from an appropriate qualified technician. Heavy fines and sanctions can be applied for false or missing ­declarations.

New buildings must use renewable energy sources such as solar panels to provide at least 50 per cent of their daily hot water usage. Buildings exceeding 1,000 sq m, colleges, convents, gaols and barracks must also use thermal insulation systems that maximise natural ventilation and heat retention. Exclusions include buildings of particular historical significance, isolated buildings of less than 50 square metres surface area and certain categories of agricultural and industrial buildings.

Keith Nuthall, Alan Osborn and Lee Adendorff are freelance journalists.

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