Build Back Smarter: the digital potential of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

The European Commission’s proposed revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) comes at a time when the EU needs to address sustainability and economic recovery. If done correctly, it can play a crucial role for Member States in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Globally, buildings are accountable for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Digital will play a crucial role in the transformation of the whole building value chain, in particular in the monitoring of all building systems, with direct feedback to occupants, municipalities and power grids.

Data-driven technologies open up new ways to ensure buildings are sustainable, ecological and consistently user-friendly throughout their entire life cycle from the design phase, the construction (where CO2 is already generated) until the operational use of the building.

For example, digital twins enable the linking of static and dynamic building data from operating processes (building usage), infrastructure (asset management) and enable the continuous optimisation of buildings’ design, construction and operating processes that will:

• Achieve more comfort, convenience and safety while reducing waste.
• Ensure cooperation between architects, engineers, services providers and contractors in all phases of the life cycle of a building (design, construction and operation).

The EPBD revision is a key opportunity to ensure that digitisation can play a key role in achieving these benefits and to successfully drive this transformation process forward. Global standards need to be implemented and targets prescribed and enforced. A wide range of key stakeholders must work together if the EU is to succeed.

Our panel will bring together industry experts and policy makers to outline the challenges and solutions.