New zero-emission homes. This is the slogan behind Europe’s controversial shift towards emissions, focusing on both public and private buildings. The aim is to restructure the entire European building stock to make it more sustainable.
The EU’s battle hasn’t yet reached its final blow, but after the European Parliament’s green light on March 14, negotiations have begun within the framework of the EU guidelines.
Objective of the “Green Home” directive
The proposed Energy Performance Directive aims, essentially, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by 2030, with the aim of achieving complete carbon neutrality by 2050.
How can this be achieved? By renovating as many energy-inefficient buildings as possible.
“Green Home” emissions reduction target
The objectives set by the Members of the European Parliament include:
Residential buildings: by 2030, all buildings must be in energy class E, with a mandatory transition to class D three years later. A reduction in energy consumption of approximately 25% will be achieved through energy efficiency measures such as thermal insulation, window and door replacement, condensing boilers, and solar panels. This will lead to net-zero emissions by 2050.
New buildings: emissions must be zero starting in 2028. For those publicly owned or managed, the deadline is 2026.
Sanctions: Each government will decide which sanctions to apply and to what extent, in addition to the automatic loss of value of non-compliant properties.
Exemptions: Each country can deduct 22% of its total property. This 22% includes monuments, holiday homes (occupied less than four months a year), officially protected historic buildings, churches, and places of worship. This also includes homes with a surface area of less than 50 m2.
Green Home Directive: what are the next steps?
Green Directive: Building Situation in Italy
The situation in Italy is not rosy. The European Parliament has estimated that approximately 15% of Italian buildings are energy-intensive, and estimates suggest that it would take many, many years to reach the EU target. Furthermore, ENEA reports highlight that approximately 75% of Italian buildings were built before Law 10/1991, the law regulating energy consumption in public and private buildings. Therefore, to ensure the European directive’s implementation, an adequate tax incentive policy is needed to facilitate the retrofitting process.
Green house and building bonuses
Based on what the Directive states and describes, it is clear that there is a connection between energy efficiency and tax deductions, which were created precisely to incentivize the rational use of energy.
The draft therefore envisages a reform of the tax deduction system that currently incentivizes renovations and retrofits. However, to overcome the fragmentation of existing deductions, the development of a single text is being considered that will reduce retrofit costs and optimize implementation times.
The reform should:
Ensure rates are distributed over 10 years;
Be targeted at real estate units subject to the Green Directive;
Allow both individual interventions (energy, seismic, and removal of architectural barriers) and energy retrofits (insulation of multiple interventions);
Thus, guarantee specific maximum costs for both individual interventions and for in-depth energy retrofits.
The advantages of the green home directive
According to the EU Parliament, improving the performance of European buildings will bring numerous benefits:
Lower bills;
Reduce energy poverty and emissions;
Create more jobs;
Improve the well-being of millions of people.
It’s clear that this is still a hot topic and a work in progress. There will be many additions and revisions, but we’ll likely have to wait until 2025 to see any action.