Real estate, renovations and expropriations: the commission’s proposal has arrived. Here are some excerpts

In the end, the mountain of the Commission gave birth to a mouse of the directive on real estate, or rather a rather intrusive mouse, but less than feared. But beware that there are some big surprises.

First of all, the proposed draft can be found at this link, according to the Scenarios principle so we leave it to you to make your own idea if you want. If you read the draft you will notice how full of corrections it is at the last minute. There are whole parts erased, heavy and influential words, which were erased at the last second. Did a few phone calls from European capitals get the commission officials out of their bubble?

Let's see some interesting parts:

1. Public buildings will have to be renovated by 2030 according to the criteria of climate neutrality, i.e. classes A and B. We will see if they do.
2. Major renovations of existing buildings, regardless of their size, offer the opportunity to take cost-effective measures to improve energy performance. For reasons of cost-effectiveness, it should be possible to limit the minimum energy performance requirements to the renovated parts that are most relevant to the energy performance of the building. Member States should be able to choose to define a "major renovation" in terms of a percentage of the surface area of ​​the building envelope or in terms of the value of the building. If a Member State decides to define a major renovation in terms of the value of the building, values ​​such as the actuarial value or the present value based on the cost of the reconstruction, excluding the value of the land on which the building is located, could be used. So if it is restructured, depending on the size of the restructuring, the constraints of climate neutrality may be imposed. The choice is left to the states .
3. A national database of publicly owned buildings (therefore including public housing) is defined with the need for their classification by energy dispersion and a restructuring plan towards class A and B complete with verification of the five-year plan itself. A trivial question arises: Who will pay for the renovations?
4. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that minimum energy performance requirements for buildings or building units are set in order to achieve at least cost-optimal levels. The energy performance is calculated according to the methodology referred to in Article 43. The cost-optimal levels are calculated according to the comparative methodological framework referred to in Article 65. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that minimum requirements are set of energy performance for the building elements that are part of the building envelope and which have a significant impact on the energy performance of the building envelope when they are replaced or adapted, in order to achieve at least optimal levels in terms of costs. When setting requirements, Member States can distinguish between new and existing buildings and between different categories of buildings. So these are the regulations to which the new objectives will be subjected. Some exemptions will be possible for buildings inhabited less than four months a year or for those of worship, but buildings of a historical / artistic nature will NOT be exempted.
5. And now the more "acid" part. Art 8. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that, in the event of major renovations of buildings, the energy performance of the building or of its renovated part is improved in order to meet the minimum energy performance requirements set in accordance with 54 , insofar as this is technically, functionally and economically feasible. These requirements apply to the renovated building or property unit as a whole. Additionally or alternatively, requirements may apply to the refurbished building elements. 2. Member States shall also take the necessary measures to ensure that, when a building element which is part of the building envelope and has a significant impact on the energy performance of the building envelope, is adapted or replaced, the energy performance of the building meets the minimum energy performance requirements to the extent that what is technically, functionally and economically feasible. Therefore the renovations that will involve changes to the external parts will have to provide for the isolation of the building. States are expected to incentivize these interventions: are we going towards a permanent 110%?
6. Under Article 15, Member States support compliance with
   minimum energy performance standards by all of the following measures:
   a) provide adequate financial measures, in particular targeted ones
   vulnerable families, people affected by energy poverty or living in social housing conditions, in line with Article 22 of the Directive
   (b) provide technical assistance, including through one-stop shops;
   (c) designing integrated financing schemes;
   (d) elimination of non-economic obstacles, including fractional incentives; And
   (e) monitor social impacts, in particular on the most vulnerable.

The legislation therefore no longer provides for an objective expropriation, but a series of very strong constraints, to individuals and member states, to oblige, in any case, to carry out costly and no one knows how useful restructuring is. Climate change is the alibi that now allows a real cancellation of the rights of states and personal, practically it is the new leitmotif for the sovietization of societies. All this obviously amid the flattery of the media.

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The article Real estate, renovations and expropriations: the commission's proposal has arrived. Here are some extracts from ScenariEconomici.it .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/immobili-ristrutturazioni-ed-espropri-arrivata-la-proposta-della-commissione-eccovi-degli-estratti/ on Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:00:35 +0000.