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To meet the dual challenge of energy efficiency and affordability of energy, the EU and the Member States
should launch a “wave of renovations” of public and private buildings. In parallel, the Commission
proposes to work with stakeholders on a new renovation initiative in 2020. The initiative will include an
open platform bringing together the building and construction sector, architects and engineers and local
authorities to tackle barriers to renovation. Innovative financing schemes will also be envisaged under
InvestEU which could be used by building associations or energy service companies, which could also
implement renovations through energy performance contracting. A key objective would be to organise
restructuring efforts into larger blocks so that they can benefit from better financing conditions and
economies of scale. The Commission will also work to remove national regulatory barriers to investment
in energy efficiency in rental and timeshare buildings. Particular attention will be paid to the renovation of
social housing to help families struggling to pay energy bills, including schools and hospitals, as the money
saved through increased efficiency can be used to support education and public health.

2.3 Leed certification and the Expert for Energy Management

The Commission will rigorously enforce energy performance legislation in the buildings sector, starting
with an assessment of Member States’ long-term national renovation strategies to be carried out in 2020.
In the context of wider action to ensure that relative prices of different energy sources provide
appropriate signals for energy efficiency, the Commission will also start working on the possibility of
including emissions from buildings in emissions trading. It will also examine the Construction Products
Regulation which should ensure that all stages of the design of new and renovated buildings are in line
with the needs of the circular economy and lead to greater digitisation and an increasing climate resilient
building stock. The increase in specific diseases such as asthma and childhood allergies is also linked to the
VoC emissions of materials, massive deforestation, the degree of recyclability of materials and the
consumption of Co2 needed to produce them are highly topical issues.

Source: https://www.igbc.ie/certification/leed/