Europe’s Energy Efficiency Plan welcomed

10 March 2011

eu.bac, the European Building Automation and Controls Association, has welcomed the Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 (EEP) published this week by the European Commission

This plan confirms the significant role of intelligent building automation and energy management. It underlines the target of saving 20 percent of energy by 2020 and presses strongly for taking advantage of current savings opportunities. eu.bac’s president, Jean-Yves Blanc sees the growing relevance of home and building automation: "This is a great chance for private and public building owners to benefit from our industry. We enable immediate energy savings with the best available technology."
eu.bac is the largest European industry platform dedicated to realizing energy efficiency in buildings. It represents 95 percent of the European manufacturers for home and building automation products. The Association has joined forces for the development, standardization and application of intelligent building technologies. With high performing practical solutions, eu.bac also meets both ecological and economic needs. A growing dialogue in the political and economic arenas supports the implementation of the new perspectives.
eu.bac’s European-wide quality assurance system actively contributes to achieving the energy saving targets of the EEP. Products with eu.bac certification save more energy than any European standard require. Further potentials for minimizing energy consumption in buildings are expected from an overall system certification that eu.bac is developing to complement single device certification.
The EEP recognises the refurbishment of public buildings as a primary requirement. It is proposed that public authorities refurbish at least 2 percent of their buildings each year and are encouraged to systematically use energy performance contracting (EPC).
eu.bac has anticipated the growing need for EPC with the establishment of eu.ESCO – the European Association of Energy Service Companies. The eu.ESCO is focused on energy services and enables contracting without up-front capital costs. Energy savings can be verified, guaranteed and reported by using a special method for measurement and calculation. In this way the public authorities are supported in achieving the EEP savings targets.
The EEP demonstrates that EPC is on the rise. Public authorities have been using the contracting for more than 20 years. Thousands of public buildings, universities and schools have been modernized. A series of the initial European EPC projects was realized in the City of Berlin. 85 properties were equipped with energy management solutions. The CO₂ emissions were reduced by 25 percent per year – which is roughly 16,200 tonnes – and the annual energy cost savings are a total of 2.848 million Euro.
More information can be found at
www .eubac .org and www .euesco .org