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European Union Directives

The Directive on the overall energy efficiency of buildings (EU Directive 2002/91/EC "Energy performance of buildings") requires an energy performance certificate for buildings. This will list total energy consumption for heating, hot water, air-conditioning, ventilation and lighting. All EU Member States have to incorporate equivalent regulations into national law by 2006. The energy performance certificate will also apply to existing buildings and can be used as a way of assessing energy efficiency. Renovating ageing lighting installations is therefore an investment that will pay for itself really quickly.

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) is currently preparing an extensive multipart set of standards in order to provide a common basis for measuring and calculating energy consumption in buildings. 


New Draft European Standard EN 15193 entitled "Energy performance of buildings - Energy requirements for lighting - Part 1: Lighting energy estimation" provides
a basis for calculating the energy consumption of lighting. 
European Union Directives
Germany
The law on Energy Saving (EnEG of 1.9.2005) will be followed, probably in 2007, by the Energy Saving Act EnEV which directly transposes the EU Directive. Assessment methods for energy consumption are summarised in the German tentative standard DIN V 18599 "Energy evaluation of buildings" of July 2005. Part 4 deals with "Available energy and final energy requirement for lighting".
More detailed information is available at www.deutsche-energie-agentur.de 
Great Britain
The "Building Regulations, Part L" include advice on concrete technical lighting measures in
order to light a building in an energy-efficient manner. On average, systems providing at least 45 lm/W must be installed on office, industrial and storage premises. Besides energy consumption, environmental factors and sustainability, factors relating to "Health and Wellbeing" are also explicitly taken into account in the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Programme). 
Austria
Work is currently underway under the auspices of the Austrian Institute for Construction Engineering (OIB) on a Federal harmonised OIB Guideline in order to implement the EU targets. Transposition into national law is not expected before 2007.
Further information is available at the Austrian Energy Agency at www.eva.ac.at 




Italy
The European Directive was incorporated by "Decreto Legislativo, No. 192" of 19th August 2005. 
Switzerland
In Switzerland, 13 % of electric energy is used for lighting. Swiss Standard SIA 380/4 "Electricity in buildings" was only recently republished. It specifies target values for lighting, air-conditioning and ventilation. The "MINERGIE" Association promotes a quality label for compliance with energy consumption figures for schools, offices and private buildings.
Further information is available at www.minergie.ch 
Belgium
The regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels have their own energy-efficiency regulations.
The "Energie Prestatie Regelgeving" has been implemented in schools and office buildings in
Flanders since 2006. Further information relating to Flanders
is available at www.wtcb.be and www.energiesparen.be;
for Wallonia and Brussels, see
www.cstc.be and www.wtb.be 
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