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World Bank Working Paper
Many practitioners in municipalities with private-sector controls emphasize the value of informal discussions with and education of all participants in the building chain—developers, architects, designers, construction companies, and building owners. Together with some spot checks by municipal authorities this is deemed a rather successful compliance route. Self-certification has been tried in several countries and has been shown to fail particularly in areas of regulation not seen by industry as direct safety areas such as access and carbon emissions.6 Self-certification relies on honest builders and informed buyers. Third-party enforcement or letters of assurance have the advantage of providing legal recourse to the building owner in case the builder makes errors or doesn’t comply with regulations.
Toward Regional Harmonization: the EU Energy Performance in Buildings Directive Since the late 1990s, EU policies and regulations have been driving the development of BEECs in EU member countries. The European Union committed in 2007 to the 20-2020 target to be achieved by 2020: Reduction of GHG emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels, a 20 percent share of renewables in the energy mix, and reduction of primary energy use by 20 percent compared with projected levels through improved energy efficiency.7 Buildings in EU member states are responsible for 40 percent of energy consumption and 36 percent of CO2 emissions. The building sector offers a large potential of cost-effective energy efficiency measures. By cutting the energy use in buildings by about 30 percent, Europe's energy consumption would fall by 11 percent, more than half of the 20-20-20 target.8 Realizing this potential would have environmental and competitiveness benefits for the EU and also substantially improve the security of energy supply. The 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD, 2002/91/EC) is the major regulatory measure targeting energy efficiency improvements in the building sector and imposing a harmonization of methodologies for BEECs and related measures within the European Union. The EPBD requires that all member states should adopt by January 2006:
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methodologies for integrated building energy performance standards (Article 3) minimum energy performance requirements on the basis of those methodologies for all new buildings and those >1000 m2 with major refurbishment (Articles 4–6) certification schemes for all buildings (Article 7) inspection and assessment of boilers and air conditioning installations (Articles 8, 9).
Details are provided in table 4.6.