Open letter to the Members/Substitutes of the ITRE Committee (vote on energy efficiency, repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC)

The reached agreement on the new Directive on Energy Efficiency, a fragile opportunity for a sustainable future

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

Tomorrow, you will vote on the reached agreement between the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament concerning the new Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)1. This agreement represents an historical opportunity for the European Union (EU) to improve its energy efficiency and to set course towards a sustainable future.

The road towards the agreement concerning has been long and bumpy, but in the end, real progress has been achieved on several issues, for example concerning buildings and energy services.

eu.bac, the European Building Automation and Controls Association, for these reasons, welcomes the agreement and would therefore kindly ask you to support it.

For eu.bac, the key to the new EED has always been how much could be gained, rather than how much would be spent. The proposed measures in the new EED will miss the 20% energy efficiency target, by only achieving 17%, but this represents already a great step in the right direction. After all, the gains do not only concern increased energy efficiency and a reduced energy dependency (energy imports last year amounted to some €400 billion) across the EU, but also the creation of sustainable growth and sustainable jobs in all of the Member States.

eu.bac stands ready to ensure that Member States thoroughly implement the provisions that have now been adopted. Building automation and controls are tried and tested technologies, which are already available on the market, that are cost-efficient and that have short pay-back times (3 to 5 years). Furthermore, the potential reduction with the introduction of building automation and controls in thermal and electrical energy consumption is substantial across all building types. It is in other words a win-win solution – now Member States only need to act.

We hope that you will take into account our opinions before deciding in which direction your vote will go.

We remain at your disposal.

Best Regards,
Peter Hug (eu.bac , Managing Director)

1 Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on energy efficiency and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC (COM(2011) 370 final)

About eu.bac

eu.bac is the European Building Automation and Controls Association. It represents some 95% of the European manufacturers of products for home and building automation. For a full and updated overview of our membership, please see www.eubac.org

More importantly, eu.bac members’ products and services manage over half of the energy demand in the European Union, reducing waste, reducing demand and increasing efficiency. By providing distributed intelligence, eu.bac members’ products and services ensure that the built environment is ready and able to respond to smart grid signals, demands and supplies.

eu.bac, has developed its own robust certification scheme, eu.bac CERT, which assures that technologies (products and systems) in the area of building automation and controls are in conformity with European Directives and with European Standards. The eu.bac CERT mark is the symbol that represents energy efficiency, quality and reliability.