EU energy efficiency legislation for buildings and the new layout of the EU energy efficiency label were approved by the Industry Committee on Wednesday. These measures - which come in addition to the EU's 2008 climate change package - were agreed with the Council last year and are to be put to a final vote by the full Parliament in May.

The energy efficiency legislation aims to help consumers to cut their energy bills and the EU as a whole to hit its climate change target of using 20% less energy by 2020. Member States' building codes will require all new buildings to have near-zero energy consumption and boilers and air conditioning systems will have to be inspected regularly. Mandatory labels for household appliances and energy-saving products will help consumers to assess running costs.

Energy-saving buildings

All buildings built from the end of 2020 onwards must have high energy-saving standards and be powered to a large extent by renewable energy. Public authorities' building projects are to lead the way two years earlier. Part of the funding for these changes will come from the EU budget.

Where feasible, the energy performance of existing buildings will have to be improved during major renovations. When renovating, owners will be encouraged to install "smart meters" and replace heating, hot-water plumbing and air-conditioning systems with high-efficiency alternatives such as heat pumps.

Buildings account for around 40% of the EU's total energy use and are Europe's largest source of emissions, so improving their energy performance would help achieve CO2 emission goals. Simple measures, such as better insulation could reduce emissions by up to 80%. If, for example, conventional double glazing were replaced by low-emission windows, around €4 billion and 25 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved every year.

The committee backed this proposal unanimously, with 52 votes in favour.

Efficiency label for household appliances and other products

A new layout of the energy efficiency label for household appliances and other energy-saving products allows for additional classes (with "A+++" for the most energy-efficient products), but limits the total number of energy classes to seven. Furthermore, in future any advertisement promoting the prices or energy efficiency of fridges, washing machines or ovens will have to show the product's energy class.

The committee backed this proposal unanimously, with 51 votes in favour.

Next steps

Parliament will put both draft directives to the vote at its May session in Strasbourg. EU Member States must bring the energy performance of buildings directive into effect in their national laws by mid-2012. They must incorporate the energy label rules in their national laws within 12 months of the directive's entry into force, which is scheduled for mid-2010.