Further Information

Background

In November 2002, the European Parliament and Council adopted a Directive on the energy performance of buildings, which outlines a series of measures aimed at increasing the share of Renewable Energy Sources in the overall energy performance of buildings. In many buildings, there is a promising potential for reducing CO₂ emissions and saving energy by means of an integrated approach whereby traditional energy savings for the building envelope are combined with environmentally-friendly energy generation. This sort of energy generation is in many cases decentralised (operated on-site, for example using solar water and space heating and cooling systems, PV rooftop systems, and biomass fuels, as well as small scale CHP and heat pumps employing RES, in particular ground coupled heat pumps.

Objectives and scope:

This Key Action should help the Member States and candidate countries to encourage more production of heating, cooling and electricity from small scale RES applications in the building sector and, in this way, also help them to achieve their national targets. This key action addresses the potential benefits of integrating small scale RES installations into buildings, such as individual houses and apartment buildings, and covers not only electricity but, to an even greater degree, heating and cooling production.

The Target areas to be addressed are:

• Solar water and space heating and cooling
• PV electricity generation
• Biomass for domestic heating
• Small scale CHP and heat pumps

Expected results:

• Contribution to the general objectives set out in in the Buildings Directive.
• Improved knowledge of problems associated with the integration of small scale RES installations into buildings in order to provide more appropriate solutions.
• Increased share of heating, cooling and electricity from small scale RES applications in the building sector.