What the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive means for EV charging

Our perspective on the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

On December 15th, 2021, the European Commission published its proposal for a revised “Energy Performance of Buildings Directive” (EPBD), pushing for mandatory energy efficiency upgrades for buildings in the EU. This proposal is part of the EU’s green deal intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net-zero by 2050.

The EU is accelerating its transition to clean energy through legislative initiatives. Smart solutions to make our buildings and parking spaces energy-efficient already exist, but this proposal supports their deployment at scale. 

Using distributed energy resources, such as home batteries, renewable generation assets like solar panels and smart devices like EV smart chargers, we have a much better chance of achieving our goals. Not only would these solutions be cost-effective, but they would stabilise the grid, helping it adapt to fluctuations in energy demand and production.

Spearheading the transition to emobility

The directive supports emobility by introducing minimum requirements for EV charging points in car parks over a certain size and mandatory pre-cabling for smaller buildings. This is key to enabling home and destination charging in the EU.

Smart charging functionalities should be ensured in places where electric vehicles park for extended periods such as residences or places of employment. As the overwhelming majority of charging happens at home while cars are parked overnight when electricity is cheapest, the revised EPBD would strengthen the backbone of the EU’s charging infrastructure.

If approved, it would make charging more convenient, increase economic savings for EV drivers and accelerate emobility in Europe.

Legislative changes affecting EV chargers in buildings:

New (and renovated) non-residential buildings with more than 5 parking spaces: obligation to install one smart charging point and get all available parking spaces ready for EV plugs to be installed in the future (pre-cabling but no ducting infrastructure)

New (and renovated) residential buildings with more than three parking spaces: Mandatory pre-cabling for all available parking spots;

Existing buildings with more than 20 parking spaces: mandatory installation of one smart charging point for every 10 parking spaces by 2027 and pre-cabling of one in two parking spaces by 2033 if the building is occupied by public authorities;

Facilitation of charging point installation for residents in multi-family buildings, the so-called “right-to-plug”.

Increasing the uptake of electric vehicles is crucial to meeting our net-zero goals as stated in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive:

“Electric vehicles are expected to play a crucial role in the decarbonisation and efficiency of the electricity system, namely through the provision of flexibility, balancing and storage services, especially through aggregation. This potential of electric vehicles to integrate with the electricity system and contribute to system efficiency and further absorption of renewable electricity should be fully exploited.”

Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

How AMPECO can help

AMPECO welcomes this proposal as we believe it would benefit emobility. We hope it will be approved by the EU co-legislators and swiftly implemented in national legislation.

Municipalities, parking operators, energy utilities and real estate developers that would be required to offer home charging to residential parking customers can rely on our charging solution. Using EV smart charging, property owners could avoid expensive upgrades and added connections. More importantly, they could ensure optimal use of the grid and prevent overload with dynamic load management while energy providers could meet demand and improve efficiency reducing overall emissions.

Time will tell whether the proposal is ambitious enough to get us on track for a mass EV charging rollout or if more aggressive measures will need to be taken.