EU Agrees Buildings Energy Standards, Product Labeling
By Alessandro Torello in the Wall Street Journal, November 18 2009
The European Union late Tuesday agreed on new energy-saving standards for all buildings constructed after 2020, which will also have to be partially powered by renewable energy.
"Public authorities will lead the way two years earlier and part of the funding for these changes will come from the EU," the parliament said in a statement, after lawmakers representing the full assembly and Sweden, on behalf of the EU governments, agreed on the issue in a move to cut the bloc's energy import dependence as well as its greenhouse gas emissions.
Existing buildings will have to respect the same standards after "major renovations," the parliament said.
