EU’s new energy efficiency plan looks like a big problem for the Spanish housing sector

The draft version of the EU’s new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive would impose huge costs on owners, and obstruct the sale of older homes that don’t make the grade.

According to the new draft directive approved by the European parliament, all homes must have an E rating or better by 2030, and a D rating by 2033. The draft now gets negotiated by the European Commission and Council before final approval and adoption by member states in 2025/26.

The idea, according to Marcos Ros, a Spanish Socialist MEP quoted in the Spanish press, is to “reward owners who embrace energy efficiency,” by making their homes more valuable in the market. That also means a devaluation of less energy efficient homes. There is talk of making a minimum rating a legal requirement for property changing hands.

Making homes more energy efficient will require a big investment by owners, especially in the case of older homes, say experts. Despite resistance to this directive from some quarters, “it’s a necessity,” says Raquel Díaz, Project Director of the Green Building Council of Spain, whom I suspect stands to do very well out of this directive. “It is said that close to 85% of buildings will need rehabilitation if we want to meet the decarbonisation target of net zero by 2050,” she is quoted in the press as saying.

“Save the planet”

According to proponents of the directive, the EU housing stock is responsible for 40% of the block’s energy consumption and 36% of carbon emissions, which is why all buildings in the EU must be carbon-neutral by 2050 if we are to “save the planet” as activists are found of saying.

All buildings must have a ‘Global Warming Potential’ rating by 2027. This tries to calculate the environmental impact of a building over its entire lifespan, including “embodied emissions” linked to prior phases of a building’s existence, and all future emissions, not just current emissions. 

‘Building Renovation Passports’ will be introduced laying out a plan to improve energy efficiency allowing owners to spread the investment over time, and compliance with the plan will be mandatory. However, the draft directive does not establish penalties for non-compliance; that will be left to the member states.

By the 1st of January 2030 all homes must have an energy efficiency rating of E, and D by 2033. The Green Building Council of Spain estimates that more than 80% of buildings in Spain have a current rating of E or below because the Spanish housing stock is relatively old, with more than 50% of it built before 1980 when more modern building regulations were introduced. So complying with this draft directive would impose significant costs on the vast majority of owners in Spain, and many, if not most, will not have the money to spare unless it is heavily subsidised or paid for by public funds.

According to Peio Mendia of the Council of Building Administrators: “As of today it looks difficult, if not impossible, to reach the objectives set for 2030,” he says in comments to the Spanish press.