18
The Juncker investment plan, aimed at
stimulating more than €300 billion of
investment,
mainly
in
infrastructure,
also calls for the prioritisation of energy
eFciency in Europe. And the European
Commission foresees a crucial role for
eFciency in its Energy Union concept. But
progress at national level, even if visible,
still shows signi±cant di²erence between
member
states.
This
demonstrates,
European MPs and industry experts argue,
the need for clear EU legislation to help
each country make their new and existing
buildings energy eFcient.
The
Energy
Performance
of
Buildings
Directive already asks member states to
develop a working plan aimed at nearly
Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEB) by 2020,
while setting a deadline in 2018 for public
buildings. But half of the countries have
not yet de±ned what an nZEB should look
like, while only eight have established their
nZEB requirements for existing buildings.
The main reason for this is that the
directive only provides a broad de±nition
of nZEB and leaves it up to member states
to work out a detailed de±nition. Buildings
account for almost half of the EU’s energy
consumption and 36% of its greenhouse
emissions, so their performance is key
to Europe’s energy transition and the
achievement of its 2020 climate targets.
Half of states still have no plan
Towards
efficiency
at different
speeds
The need for clear EU legislation
for better energy performance
builds
STAGING THE FUTURE
The US Energy Department has suggested investments
worth in excess of $15bn to improve the resilience of energy
infrastructure towards the impact of climate change, to
enhance the grid, and upgrade the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
in the US. The investments also aim to protect the grid from
potential cyber attacks. A portion of the investments could be
earmarked in the 2016 federal budget. The department has
initiated meetings with top executives from 17 energy ±rms,
such as Pepco Holdings, Consolidated Edison and Xcel Energy,
to discuss how the improvements can be made.
US to improve energy
infrastructures
