Announcement concerning Directive 2010/31/EU – energy performance certificates for buildings (EPC)
Dear customers and business partners,
In most countries of the EU, another part of Directive EU 2010/31/EU regarding the energy performance of buildings is coming into effect in 2013.
Unlike in the case of the previous levels of regulation in this field, which focused mainly on the thermal and technical parameters of buildings and their gradual improvement, the policy implemented this year leaves the real world and brings us into the world of virtual reality, a world of artificial and complicated structures which enable the same house to obtain diametrically opposite evaluations.
For newly constructed buildings, artificial constructs of calculations completely separated from any economic as well as ecological relationships have gained in importance. From now on, the interests and preferences of the investor and economic advantages will not be important for the issuing of a building permit, and the ecological impact of the selected systems on the environment won't either. The newly selected crucial indicator for the evaluation of the acceptability or unacceptability of buildings is what is known as the indicator of primary non-renewable energy consumption (PEF).
During the construction itself of this indicator, the zero point was set completely differently for individual kinds of energy. While e.g. the zero point for electrical energy is the process of the burning of fuel in the power plant, and the efficiency of that process, plus distribution and all losses during individual stages which are also included in it, for other fuels the zero point is the energy source prepared for consumption at the place of consumption. All energy losses related to creation, mining as well as transport are completely omitted for other energy sources!
The economic dimension is completely missing here – the costs of the individual energy sources are not allotted any importance, e.g. the burning of gas in a standard power station has a substantially better PEF than electricity generation at a nuclear power station (of course, economically the complete opposite is true). However, the ecological aspect is also completely omitted as it basically doesn't matter, according the construction of the PEF indicator, whether the heat source in the power station is the burning of plastic, tyres, emission-free nuclear energy or perpetual motion – the PEF will always be the same. The burning of coal in local heating furnaces is thus made almost three times more advantageous in comparison with the use of electric energy and it is almost at the same level as the burning of natural gas!
This whole virtual game has no link to the economic advantages or disadvantages of the individual energy sources at a given location and it doesn't take into consideration the preferences of customers at all; however, it is of economic concern to us all with the increased bureaucratic load it imposes along with other excessively expensive tasks enforced by the state and its administration.
We have found ways to provide our customers with the comfort of electric heating in newly built houses even under these more difficult conditions and simple instructions will be made accessible on our web pages regarding the procedure to undergo in order to enable electrically heated buildings to pass the EPC evaluation and obtain a building permit. These instructions will be intended mainly for houses; however, we are also preparing a version for apartments. We will be prepared to provide a list of auditors who are familiar with these procedures as well.
Dear business partners, despite these complications which make our lives yet more expensive and limit our freedom of choice a little once again, nothing tragic is happening!
We are inquisitive and extremely playful people who love to think independently... so let's go and play together!
Cyril Svozil, CEO Fenix Group a.s., 7th May 2013
