Benchmarking: creating a platform to measure building energy efficiency and performance

The European Energy Performance of Properties Analysis (EEPPA) project is developed by Knight Frank LLP in cooperation with: The Climate Group, The Institute for Sustainability and The Valencia Institute of Buildings. Following more than a year of extensive research and consultation, the market and the property industry responded positively to the need for the creation of a pan-European EPC index and tool.

The EEPPA tool will provide extensive market knowledge to target building energy retrofit opportunities across the whole of Europe. Moreover, it will create a new platform that will be available to a wide range of users to access energy performance information for any property of their choice as long as an EPC is available.
EEPPA benefits
The products and services that will be developed and delivered by the EEPPA tool will be designed to support the delivery of two major European Directives; the European Performance of Buildings Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive. The aim is to create further jobs in the green building sector and save significant amounts of carbon emissions in Europe.
©Zackblanton, 2015, used under license from Shutterstock.com
EEPPA uniqueness
The EEPPA tool will be unique because of the impact it will have on government policies across Europe. Many European cities and regional governments have shown interest in supporting EEPPA because they believe the tool will help them to better understand the energy performance of their built environment, their energy needs, and where significant savings could be achieved. The main value of EEPPA lies in the EPCs, which give basic information on the energy performance of properties, following a site level assessment. EPCs will constitute the underlying foundation of the EEPPA tool, the raw material of the index. This information, which is available across the whole of Europe, will be exploited in order to deliver high level and detailed intelligence, and help towards the transition to low carbon emissions and efficient cities. Several energy programs available were investigated, and demonstrated the uniqueness of EEPPA compared to other initiatives in the final report, which is currently being published.
Developing the EEPPA platform
At the moment, each country with a national database has a budget for the creation and the maintenance of their database, which can be very costly in some cases. Instead of just using the data for commercial use, we propose to partner with database holders and offer a shared ownership model so that revenues from EEPPA are redirected towards national databases. This will ensure better maintenance and reduce the central cost associated with management of EPC databases in each European country at no upfront costs to them.
More than 1,200 different organizations were consulted, and 95% of the respondents have been favorable to the development of the index. Local councils are particularly interested in using the services offered by the EEPPA platform to target opportunities and develop green building policies.
©OVG Real Estate ©OVG Real Estate
On the technical side, the various types of databases available have been examined (not just EPC databases) in order to identify state of the art data management tools and processes. This allowed the project team to identify what features should be exploited in order to make the EEPPA platform viable.
Securing a sustainable future
The next step is to request further funding from Climate KIC or other similar funding in order to make progress and build the tool, together with new partners by the end of 2016. There is no doubt this is a huge challenge for our industry, but a necessary one to secure a sustainable urban future in Europe.
The European Energy Performance of Properties Analysis (EEPPA) project is developed by Knight Frank LLP in cooperation with: The Climate Group, The Institute for Sustainability and The Valencia Institute of Buildings. Following more than a year of extensive research and consultation, the market and the property industry responded positively to the need for the creation of a pan-European EPC index and tool.
The full article is in Europe Real Estate 2015 reference book. Purchase the book in the webshop.
The full article is in Europe Real Estate 2015 reference book. Purchase the book in the webshop - See more at: http://europe-re.com/digital-revolution-connected-airport/49571#sthash.yBPlQsod.dpuf
The full article is in Europe Real Estate 2015 reference book. Purchase the book in the webshop - See more at: http://europe-re.com/digital-revolution-connected-airport/49571#sthash.yBPlQsod.dpuf

About Knight Frank
Knight Frank LLP is the leading independent global property consultancy. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank and together with its New York-based global alliance partner, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, operate from over 370 offices, in 43 countries, across six continents and has over 13,000 employees. The Group advises clients ranging from individual owners and buyers, to major developers, investors and corporate tenants. Knight Frank Sustainability and Energy provide a wide range of energy efficiency optimization and compliance services to large property owners and occupiers across Europe.
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