Core Team 2 – Existing Buildings
Existing buildings are far more numerous than new buildings but have inferior energy performance – often by a very large margin. They contain energy-consuming systems to provide building services, many of which are elderly, inefficient, or neglected. Improvement of existing buildings, and the systems within them, is a huge task and an essential purpose of the EPBD.
In the Concerted Action EPBD, it is Core Team 2 that deals with existing buildings and their technical building systems. The most relevant parts of the EPBD are:
Existing buildings (EPBD Article 7)
- Upgrading to minimum standards on major renovation †
- Minimum standards for replacement building elements
- Consideration of high-efficiency alternative systems at major renovation †
Technical building systems (EPBD Article 8)
- Setting requirements for systems (not whole buildings or individual products)
- Energy performance of technical building systems (TBS)
- Dimensioning, installation, adjustment, and control
- Upgrading to minimum standards on major renovation
- Encouragement of intelligent metering for TBS
- Active controls, automation, and monitoring
Inspection of heating air-conditioning systems (EPBD Articles 14 & 15)
- Scope and frequency of regular inspection
- Electronic monitoring and control to reduce frequency of inspection
- Assessment of efficiency and sizing
- Technical advice and alternative measures to replace regular inspection
- Methodology to establish equivalent impact of alternative measures (if chosen)
- Reporting equivalent impact to the European Commission
Reports on the inspection of heating and air-conditioning systems (EPBD Article 16)
- Recommendations for cost-effective improvements
- Comparison with best feasible system and with best of same type
- Delivery of reports to owners and tenants
Other parts of the EPBD, dealt with primarily by other Concerted Action teams, are also relevant to existing buildings. They are:
Minimum energy performance requirements (EPBD Article 4)
- Minimum performance levels for existing buildings on major renovation
- Data and calculation methodology for existing buildings
High-efficiency alternative systems when undergoing major renovation (EPBD Article 6)
- High-efficiency alternative systems, comprising:
- decentralised energy supply from renewable sources
- cogeneration
- district heating and cooling, and block heating and cooling
- heat pumps
- Analysis for groups of similar buildings, common typologies, and areas
Activities of this Core Team
The principal activity is organising meetings and technical discussions that assist Member States in their implementation of the EPBD, allowing them to share experience and investigate problems and opportunities. Occasionally that may be extended to working groups or study tours on specialised topics that need more detailed attention. The main themes for Core Team 2 are:
- energy performance standards for existing buildings,
- technical building systems (TBS),
- regular inspection of heating and air-conditioning systems, and
- alternatives to regular inspection.
Recent CEN standards, the potential for sharing methods of data collection and analysis, long-term renovation strategies, and cross-over with the Energy Efficiency Directive and Renewable Energy Directive are among the wider interests to be explored.