The objective of this report is to investigate how the current EPC schemes best make the link towards the BRP and the DBL to incentivise further and stimulate cost-effective deep energy renovations of buildings across Europe.
Two surveys were carried out to collect relevant information about the current status of the EPC data records and identify stakeholders’ potential needs, perceptions, thoughts, and expectations regarding a future connection between the EPC and the BRP or DBL. These surveys were prepared in two forms: using an Excel file format circulated via email and using an online questionnaire, and 16 countries contributed to their completion.
Regarding the EPCs, the state or regional energy agencies are the owners of the EPC data records and make full use of them. Their current main usage is for statistical reasons in the majority of the countries, and their access is publicly available in half of the responding countries. Many common data are stored in the EPC database and can be linked with other tools (half of the EPC databases are already linked with another source).
Regarding the BRP, a review of existing European schemes showed that successful BRPs have combined renovation advice with financial support, legal requirements and/or communication campaigns. An important factor of the BRP is that it should be issued by a qualified expert and should provide customised measures for the specific building together with the investment costs per renovation measure(s).
The DBL analysis showed that it should provide access to building information and contribute to better decision-making for future interventions as well as operation, use and maintenance records. The building owner/user is proposed to have full access to the logbook and provide/input about energy bills and building plans/construction materials info. An important aspect is that the DBL should be updated every time the building undergoes intervention. The most important barrier is the lack of motivation to update the DBL contents, followed by the absence of synergies and consistency with other tools. Another interesting finding is that both BRP and DBL should be fed automatically by EPC data without any user interference.