Cross-cutting Team 1 – Technical Elements

Many issues in the EPBD go across and cover both new and existing buildings as well as covering inspection and certification. This is particularly the case for some technical elements such as calculation methodologies, how to include and calculate efficiency of technical systems or how to integrate renewable energy.

The Cross-cutting Team for Technical Elements deals with implementation issues of a technical nature, which are common to new and existing buildings and/or for minimum demands and certification or inspection.

This Cross-cutting Team refers to and reports progress on the following articles of the Directive 2010/31/EU:

• Article 3 on Methodology
• Article 4 on setting up minimum energy performance requirements
• Article 5 on calculation of cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements
• Support the work on articles 6, 7 and 8
• Support the work on the calculation of the energy performance requirements for NZEB (article 9)
• Articles 11 to 13 on certificates, as these are related to the calculation methodology
• Article 14-15-16 on Inspections
• Annex I on Common general framework for the calculation of energy performance of buildings
• Annex III on Comparative methodology framework to identify cost-optimal levels of energy performance requirements for buildings and building elements

An important aspect for this team is the work with CEN standards, their adaptation and their use in the calculation methodology.

Activities of this Cross-cutting Team

Some key topics that will be covered by this team are the adaptation of existing calculation procedures based on the revision of CEN standards.

Renewable energy will be taken into account in the Cross-cutting Team as part of nearly zero-energy demands. Another important point is equality and, or the differences between ErP (energy related products) and EPBD procedures. Discussions will look into the holistic approach versus more prescriptive elements in building codes. It will further look at the needs and possibilities relating to easy access of reliable input data.

• Use of the methodology development in CEN 2 / revised standards, filling in gaps
• Handling of special approaches used in Member States (but not yet implemented in the CEN standards) – for example: double skin facades, seasonal natural ventilation, etc. in the adapted national calculation methodology
• Handling of special approaches used in MS (but not yet implemented in the CEN standards) – for example: double skin facades, seasonal natural ventilation, etc. in the adapted national calculation methodology
• Further development and implementation of cost optimality
• Handling of technical systems in calculation and systems
• Handlings of integrated renewable energy in connection to calculation and nearly zero energy requirements