The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) has been adopted today by the European Parliament with two articles that urge Member States to consider fire safety in building renovations.
Fire Safe Europe (FSEU) sees the amendments to the directive as a strong signal from the European Union that energy efficiency must not come at the cost of fire safety.
Juliette Albiac, FSEU Managing Director, said “the revised proposal is an opportunity for national regulators to work on increasing fire safety in buildings. Energy efficient buildings must be fire safe: when improving a building’s energy performance, fire safety has to be taken into account, not weakened.”
The EPBD dates back to 2010 and, together with the Energy Efficiency Directive from 2012, is one of the main pieces of European legislation addressing the reduction of energy consumption of buildings.
A review of the EPBD directive had been launched in November 2016. Increased concerns regarding fire safety led the European Parliament Committees for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) to include fire safety in the text – in Article 2a paragraph 7 (page 27) and Article 7 paragraph 5 (page 28).
After the final adoption by the Council of the European Union, the directive will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Read the adopted European Parliament report here
Top image for illustration purposes only.
