Summary
The European Commission has ambitiously set itself a target of a 20 percent energy savings by 2020 within the European Union (EU). According to EU reports, 40 percent of energy is consumed in buildings. To address these concerns, the EU adopted new legislation on energy performance of buildings that will enter into force on January 4, 2006. The directive (law) 2002/91/EC provides for the application of minimum standards of energy efficiency to buildings in every country in the EU and the creation of a certificate to inform buyers or tenants of the energy performance of buildings. EU member states have the right to impose additional national requirements, including choosing their own energy performance certificate for the building. Even though the majority of EU member states may not have the framework for implementation of the energy performance directive in place by January 2006, U.S. manufacturers of construction products are advised to evaluate the energy performance of their construction products in line with EU energy saving requirements. In the U.S., a comparable assessment and certification system known as Residential Energy Services Network [www.resnet.org] exists but there is no equivalency with EU.