The Italian agency overseeing the preparatory work for the EU eco label for buildings has put forward the third version of the draft criteria. This is the last stage in the preparation phase and the commission will now consider whether to go ahead with an ecolabel.
The proposed ecolabel would apply to residential, office and school buildings in a first stage with the criteria divided into separate sets of requirements one for existing building and one for new buildings. The draft criteria take into account the adoption of the new European Performance of Buildings Directive.
Based on this latest draft, the commission will consult with stakeholders about whether to create such an ecolabel for buildings and what form this should take. ICSC has been involved in the working group looking at this issue but has been sceptical about the need for an additional EU label, given the successful building certification schemes that already exist and are well recognized in the retail property industry. ICSC will be preparing a draft response to the commission, calling on them to avoid any unnecessary duplication and to let market initiatives develop.
Any future ecolabel should be compatible and not contradictory to existing schemes.
Source: European Commission, ICSC
