EU wants public buildings to display energy ratings

The European Parliament has backed plans to make all new and renovated public buildings display an energy performance certificate from 2009.

The recommendations, made in a report on the EU's action plan for energy efficiency written by North East MEP Fiona Hall, will tighten up the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive despite the fact that few member states - the UK included - managed to implement it when it come into force in January 2006.

The report - which also calls for a ban on patio heaters - proposes scrapping the exemption of buildings under 1,000m2 to display an energy performance rating and calls for all new and renovated buildings for public use to present the ratings.

It also says all new buildings should be constructed to the German Passivhaus standards or a non-residential equivalent by 2011.

Hall criticised the UK government's timetable to build zero-carbon homes by 2016, when the technology exists to do so sooner. She said: "We're in the situation where we're building all these homes that are producing far more CO2 than is necessary."

The idea of requiring all public buildings to display energy certificates has been welcomed by environmental experts, who say it will encourage tenants to improve energy performance.

But the suggestion that the timetable for zero carbon should be shrunk has been met with scepticism.

Paul King, chairman of the UK Green Building Council, said: "We do have some zero-carbon prototypes, but the difference between this and delivering sustainable communities is immense."

John Tebbit, industry affairs director at the Construction Products Association, suggested the MEP should visit Passivhaus experts in Austria and Germany to "learn what is practical and plausible".

He added: "In Austria they have plenty of experience of Passivhaus and are only proposing it's mandatory by 2015 for public-funded buildings.

"What is misunderstood is that it is possible to build a limited number in the UK, but if developers don't understand how to do it, they will get it wrong."

Hall said the recommendations form part of a "kite-flying" exercise. They will not become part of European Law, but may pave the way for future legislation.