The built environment has great energy saving potential. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings is necessary to combat climate change and achieve carbon neutrality goals.
35 percent of the energy consumed in Finland is used for heating buildings. This causes the vast majority of emissions from the built environment, which account for about a third of Finland's total emissions. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings reduces emissions.
Realizing the green transition requires improving the energy efficiency of buildings. That's why the EU is tightening energy efficiency requirements even more in the near future.
The energy efficiency of new construction has been governed by regulations for a long time, and renovation construction also has its own energy regulations.
The energy efficiency of existing buildings should be improved
In Finland, the energy efficiency of new buildings is already at a very good level. New buildings must be designed to be energy efficient, durable and require little maintenance.
Since our building stock renews itself at an annual rate of just over 1%, energy consumption must be curbed first of all in existing properties. A lot can be done with the help of proper use of buildings, adjustments and automation of building technology and, if necessary, energy renovations.
The EU's climate and energy policy is the basis of normative guidance
The European Union's emission reduction targets and the Energy Efficiency of Buildings Directive (EPBD) set national minimum energy efficiency requirements for both new and renovation construction.
Energy regulations are based on the total energy consumption of buildings. When calculating it, the energy used for heating, cooling, ventilation, hot domestic water, lighting and various devices is taken into account.
Definitions of an energy-efficient building
The definitions describing the energy efficiency of buildings come from EU legislation.
With an almost zero-energy building (NZEB, nearly zero-energy building) means a building with very high energy efficiency, as defined in accordance with Annex I of the European Parliament and Council Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy efficiency of buildings.
With the reform of the building energy efficiency directive that is being prepared, a new definition of a zero-emission building (ZEB, zero-emission building) is coming into use. The goal is that all new buildings will be emission-free in the future. Buildings according to the new definition will start to be built in 2028 (public buildings) and 2030 (other buildings).