Buildings’ operation in 2021 resulted in 30% of global final energy consumption and 27% of total energy sector emissions. Members States are moving forward in designing and applying more strict building energy efficiency codes, promoting at the same time the use of renewable energy technologies in buildings to achieve the decarbonisation goals of the sector set for the years 2030 and 2050.
Nevertheless, there is still a shortfall in actions and investments. There are key barriers that need to be addressed, among them the low levels of awareness among homeowners and tenants, the lack of information about appropriate renovation programmes, and available financing options. In addition, a limited connectivity between homeowners, tenants and service providers is monitored.
One solution that is promoted with the potential to contribute to addressing some of the renovation barriers is the Building Renovation Passports, a tool that provides information and guidance to enable property owners to improve the energy status of their properties and reduce emissions. Building Renovation Passports are already rolled-out in a few Member States and can be designed in a way to support all building types, residential, commercial, and public buildings considering also the national contexts, needs, and renovation goals.
Building Renovation Passports typically contain a digital logbook that provides historical and current property information and data, the building’s construction and operational performance, energy use, and more, as well as a long-term renovation roadmap that identifies and guides the building owners for future retrofit steps. The Building Renovation Passports can also provide links to contractors, service providers, and available financing options.
Building Renovation Passports can play an important role in delivering future-proof renovations as they map the paths to a net-zero built environment with multiple benefits for the sector’s key stakeholders, e.g. the benefit for the public sector concerns the standarised data collection and analysis process to support future planning to reach climate and social goals. For energy and renovation professionals, Building Renovation Passports provide new business opportunities, time and cost savings, and valid performance monitoring. The building owners benefit from compliance with energy efficiency obligations.
Interested in learning more about the Building Renovation Passports?
Check out the results of the iBRoad project (2017-2020, funded by Horizon 2020), which aimed at exploring, designing, developing, and demonstrating the concept of individual Building Renovation Roadmaps.
We also invite you to navigate the iBRoad2EPC project website (funded by Horizon 2020) builds on the results of the iBRoad project. iBRoad2EPC aims to bridge the Building Renovation Passport with the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and expand, improve, and broaden their format and joint scope to consider additional features, e.g., indoor environment and smart technologies, and become applicable also to multi-family and public buildings. The aim is to improve reliability, usefulness, and effectiveness, thereby establishing the next generation of EPCs that will support Europe’s decarbonisation ambitions as reflected in the Renovation Wave Strategy, while improving conditions for building occupants.