Towards nearly zero-energy buildings: The state-of-art of national regulations in Europe

Energy efficiency in buildings is an important objective of energy policy and strategy in Europe. A survey questionnaire was conducted among the 27 European Union Member States. This study aims to provide an overview of the current national regulatory framework focusing on three aspects: 1) integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy requirements, 2) translation of investments in energy saving into economic value, 3) commitment towards "nearly zero-energy" target. The study shows that European countries have adopted different approaches in the design of their national regulatory framework. This heterogeneity consists of four main factors: different authorities involved in energy regulations, traditional building regulations and enforcement models, different contextual characteristics, and maturity of the country in the implementation of energy efficiency measures. These differences are important to take into account country's profile in order to improve the sharing of best-practices and energy efficiency governance among European Union Member States. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.