Flanders imposes a renovation requirement for all non-residential buildings with a new owner as of Jan. 1, 2022. Large non-residential buildings must also use at least 5 percent renewable energy within the five years of purchase starting Jan. 1, 2023.
Flanders wants non-residential buildings - such as commercial and office buildings, commercial and hospitality establishments, sports complexes, schools, healthcare institutions and government buildings - to be carbon neutral by 2050. That is, CO2 emissions will have been reduced to zero by reducing energy needs on the one hand and filling the remaining energy needs with renewable energy sources on the other. The energy performance certificate for non-residential buildings (EPC NR) will, from 2023, reveal whether the building meets the long-term goal, or at what "distance" from the long-term goal the building is. An energy label - on a scale from red (poor) to green (good) - reflects the building's energy performance. By the way, as of Jan. 1, 2025, this EPC NR will become mandatory for large non-residential buildings.
Due to the renovation obligation, all non-residential buildings that change ownership (Buildings transferred by notarial deed into full ownership, long lease or right of superficies) must comply with a minimum package of measures within 5 years:
Kleine niet-residentiële gebouwen (< 500 m²) moeten bovenop het minimaal maatregelenpakket vanaf 2022 binnen de vijf jaar na de aankoop ook een energielabel C of beter behalen. Voor grote niet-residentiële gebouwen – de focus van Ingenium – wordt vanaf 1 januari 2023 de lat nog hoger gelegd. Aanvullend op het minimaal maatregelenpakket moeten zij over een minimaal aandeel hernieuwbare energie van vijf procent beschikken.
In our vision of a carbon-neutral building stock by 2050, full electric concepts (heat pumps, PV, V2G,...) are central. Of course, a phased approach is possible between now and 2050. But the new regulations of the Flemish government do require us to take the initiative quickly.
We start with an audit of the building, mapping out energy generation, installations and energy consumption. This way, we detect the major consumers and can make proposals to reduce the general consumption and increase the share of renewable energy, first to the obligatory 5 percent, and later to completely fossil-free by 2050.
Specifically, we consider whether the current installations and methods of generation are still usable in the future. Then we make a study of the sustainable techniques that can be used in the building. This can be done by connecting them to the existing installation or by adapting the installation to make this possible. We look at whether we still need to use the gas grid or whether we can already work with heat pumps (air-water or via geo- or riothermal energy).
A similar path is being followed for the cooling system. We will check the lifetime of the delivery systems, and then investigate the possibility of combining cooling with heating by exchange through a heat pump.
After this audit and feasibility study, we can also design the - modifications to existing or completely new - installations, follow up the execution on site and provide commissioning from delivery.
Our offer always starts from a detailed cost-benefit analysis based on the total lifetime cost (TCO) of the installations.
Ingenium advised the Vlaams Energie en Klimaatagentschap (VEKA) in the development of the new regulations. We examined how to increase the share of renewable energy in a number of our projects as a test case. We then made recommendations to VEKA on how this could be done in concrete terms, including setting up monitoring requirements and inspection protocols.
(Some source material from the Flemish government was used to prepare this text).
Want to know more about the renovation obligation and the impact on sustainable energy supply? Contact our expert Raf Deherdt on 050 40 45 30 or raf.deherdt@ingenium.be.
