A reference guide to the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: key deadlines, minimum energy performance standards and what changes for new and existing buildings.
The recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/1275, entered into force on 28 May 2024. Member states had until 29 May 2026 to transpose most of its provisions; its obligations then phase in between 2025 and 2040.
Directive (EU) 2024/1275 recasts Directive 2010/31/EU. It introduces minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for non-residential buildings, a renovation trajectory for the residential stock, the zero-emission building standard, renovation passports and solar requirements for buildings.
Member states may no longer provide financial incentives for installing stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels. Support for hybrid systems, such as a boiler combined with a heat pump or solar thermal installation, remains possible.
Member states submit draft national building renovation plans to the Commission. The plans replace the long-term renovation strategies and set out the national roadmap to a zero-emission building stock by 2050, including the residential trajectory and the policies to phase out fossil fuel boilers.
Deadline for member states to bring most provisions of the recast directive into national law, including the minimum energy performance standards, the new energy performance certificate scale and the renovation passport scheme.
Final national building renovation plans are due. Solar energy installations, where technically and economically feasible, become required on all new public buildings and new non-residential buildings with a useful floor area above 250 m².
New buildings owned by public bodies must be zero-emission buildings; for new buildings they occupy but do not own, public bodies should aim for the same standard. The life-cycle global warming potential of new buildings with a useful floor area above 1,000 m² must be calculated and disclosed in their energy performance certificate.
From 1 January 2030 all new buildings must be zero-emission buildings, with life-cycle carbon disclosed for every new building. By 2030 all non-residential buildings must perform better than the threshold set at the 16% worst-performing part of the national stock, and the average primary energy use of the residential stock must be at least 16% lower than in 2020.
All non-residential buildings must perform better than the threshold set at the 26% worst-performing part of the national stock.
The average primary energy use of the residential stock must be 20–22% lower than in 2020. Across both residential milestones, at least 55% of the reduction must come from renovating the 43% worst-performing residential buildings.
National building renovation plans must set out the policies and measures to phase out fossil fuels in heating and cooling, with a view to completely phasing out fossil fuel boilers by 2040.
The recast directive treats existing non-residential buildings, existing homes and new buildings differently. Non-residential buildings face binding minimum standards; for homes, member states must deliver an average reduction across the whole stock and choose their own measures to get there.
| Building Category | Requirement | Deadline | How it is set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing non-residential | Renovate the 16% worst-performing buildings, then the 26% worst-performing | 2030 / 2033 | National thresholds based on the non-residential stock on 1 January 2020; exemptions possible for certain building types |
| Existing residential | Cut average primary energy use of the stock by at least 16%, then by 20–22%, compared with 2020 | 2030 / 2035 | National trajectory; at least 55% of the reduction from the 43% worst-performing homes |
| New buildings owned by public bodies | Zero-emission building | 1 January 2028 | National maximum energy demand threshold for zero-emission buildings |
| All new buildings | Zero-emission building | 1 January 2030 | National maximum energy demand threshold for zero-emission buildings |
| New buildings (life-cycle carbon) | Life-cycle global warming potential calculated and disclosed in the EPC | 2028 (>1,000 m²) / 2030 (all) | Common EU framework for whole-life carbon calculation |
Source: Directive (EU) 2024/1275, Articles 7, 9 and 11. National thresholds, exemptions and support measures are defined in each member state's transposing legislation.
Member states bring the directive into national law mostly through their building codes and energy legislation, so thresholds, exemptions and support schemes differ from country to country. Some already had comparable rules before the recast: France bars new leases of G-rated homes from 2025, and the Netherlands has required offices to hold at least energy label C since 2023.
Binding minimum standards for non-residential buildings, set so that the 16% worst-performing are renovated by 2030 and the 26% worst-performing by 2033, plus a national trajectory that cuts the average primary energy use of homes by 16% by 2030 and 20–22% by 2035.
New buildings must be zero-emission buildings: from 2028 when owned by public bodies, from 2030 for all. Their life-cycle global warming potential must be calculated and disclosed, from 2028 above 1,000 m² and from 2030 for all new buildings.
Solar installations, where technically and economically feasible, are phased in from the end of 2026 for new public and non-residential buildings above 250 m², through large existing public buildings from 2027, to all new residential buildings and adjacent roofed car parks by the end of 2029.
Member states introduce a renovation passport scheme: a tailored, step-by-step roadmap for renovating a building towards zero-emission standard, drawn up by a qualified expert after an on-site visit. Its use is voluntary for owners unless a member state decides otherwise.
A common A to G scale: class A corresponds to a zero-emission building and class G to the very worst-performing buildings in the national stock when the scale is introduced. Certificates follow a common template, are valid for up to 10 years and are needed when buildings are built, sold, rented to a new tenant or undergo a major renovation.
Financial support for renovation should prioritise vulnerable households and the worst-performing buildings. From 1 January 2025, no financial incentives may be given for installing stand-alone fossil fuel boilers.