According to Article 5 of Directive 2010/31/EU, the European Commission must estab-lish a comparative methodology framework for calculating cost optimal levels of minimum ener-gy performance requirements for buildings and building elements. Member States must take 46 necessary measures to ensure that minimum energy performance requirements are set within the parameters of the established cost optimal level and subsequently, Member States are not re-quired to set minimum energy performance requirements that are not cost effective. Therefore 47 the Commission Delegated regulation EU No. 244/2012, requires the setting of minimum re-quirements to be set from either a macroeconomic perspective regarding investments in energy
The Building Regulations 2010. Conversion of Fuel and Power in New Buildings Other Than Dwellings Docu
44
-ment L2B: 2013 Edition Incorporating 2016 Amend-ments. Depart-ment of Communities and Local Govern-ment, 2016. Article 3.25 p.10.
Parejo-Navajas, Teresa. Volume 5 1 Issue I Article 14. A Legal Approach to the Improvement of Energy Efficien
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-cy Measures for the Existing Building Stock in the United States Based on the European Experience. The Seattle Journal of Environmental Law. May, 31, 2015
DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 19 May 2010 on
46
the energy performance of buildings, OJ 18.6.2010 L 153/13
DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 19 May 2010 on
47
the energy performance of buildings, OJ 18.6.2010 L 153/13. Article 4 (1)
efficiency, or a strictly financial perspective that only considers the investment itself. Further, Regulation 244/2012 (2) states that national minimum energy performance requirements should not be more than 15% lower than the outcome of cost optimal results of the calculation taken as the national benchmark. The key legislation used by the Commission to establish this compara-tive methodology include the Energy Performance of Buildings Direccompara-tive (EPBD), the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewables Directive, and the Eco-design and labeling Directive. 48
The UK was one of five Member States (France, Estonia, Germany, Portugal) that set minimum requirements for energy performance of new buildings that were more ambitious than the cost optimal level for their country. The UK was also one of 11 Member States whose 49 compliance with Regulation/244/2012 on cost optimal level was set at no more than above 15
%. The compliance of the UK with EPBD, Regulation/244/2012, and Directive 2009/EC on 50 Labeling and Building Design for new buildings were considered by the European Commission to be more ambitious than the minimum requirements. This is in part, due to the fact that prior 51 to the issuing of the EPBD regulation, the UK already had set challenging energy standards for new buildings through part L of the UK building regulations. Part L of the UK building regula52 -tions requires that, designers consider the range of op-tions they have available to them including, decentralized renewable energy sources, district block heating, combined heat and power and heat pumps, and all new buildings including dwellings must follow the Target CO2 Emission Rate (TER). Considering that the primary intention of Directive 2009/EC on labeling and de53
Boermans, Thomas. Assessment of the Cost Optimal Calculations in Context of the EPBD (ENER/C3/2013-414).
48
November, 19, 2015 p. 2.
European Commission. Report From the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Progress By
49
Member States in Reaching Cost Optimal Levels of Minimum Energy Performance Requirements. Commission (2016) 464 finial. Brussels 29.7.2016.
See, 49. Report from Commission. Section 5.2. Brussels 29.7.2016
50
See,49. Report from Commission. Section 5.1. Brussels 29.7.2016
51
Bramhall, Jonathan. Recast of the Energy Performance of Building Regulations. Department of Communities
52
and Local Government. Impact Assessment, 08.11.2012. IA No. DCLG1051.
The Building Regulations 2010. Conversion of Fuel and Power in New Buildings Other Than Dwellings Docu
53
-ment L2A: 2013 Edition Incorporating 2016 Amend-ments. Depart-ment of Communities and Local Govern-ment, 2016.
sign was to establish a Community wide eco-design requirements for energy related products, already having these standards included in domestic building regulations, really gave the UK a leg up in terms of potential amendments needing to be made to building codes and standards. 54
DIRECTIVE 2009/125/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 21 October 2009
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establishing a framework for the setting of eco-design requirements for energy-related products. Official Journal of the European Union L285/10 (31.10.2009).
III. U.S. ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES A. Federal Level
Policy and programs enforced at the state level, have been the most effective means for reducing energy consumption in the U.S. for the past several decades. However, there are feder-al regulations in place that enforce energy efficiency requirements as well. For instance, the En-vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) are two federal agencies that have joined forces in facilitating energy efficiency measures in states all across the U.S via the creation of the State Energy Efficiency Action Network (SEE). In regards to public buildings, the SEE is designed to help states achieve maximum cost effective energy efficient renovations in buildings by 2020. The SEE aims to do this via the use of energy audits and retro-commissioning practices . Other recent federal regulations include the establishment of mini55 -mum efficiency requirements for appliances as well as types of equipment used by industries.
Prior to this, the late 1970’s was when the majority of federal laws regarding energy efficiency, were created with the adoption of the Clean Air Act (CAA) . During this time, significant in56 -vestments were made in the development of energy and research, the development of financial incentives and grants, and finally the setting of energy efficiency standards. In 1976, attempts were made to set national building energy efficient standards but it was opposed by the building industry. Thus the 1976 legislation was transposed into voluntary guidelines that states may or may not choose to follow. In 1990, the acid rain trading program amended the CAA creating more ambitious requirements for the energy sector in reducing CO2 emissions and remains the most recent federal legislation to be implemented at the national level . 57
As mentioned earlier in the previous section, had the United States ratified the Kyoto Protocol, this would have constituted the most ambitious federal energy efficiency law in history
EPA and DOE Join States to Speed Energy Efficiency Progress in the United States, DEPARTMENT OF ENER
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-GY (Feb. 2, 2010), available at http://energy.gov/articles/epa-and-doe-joinstates- speed-energy-efficiency-progress-united- states.
Benedick, Richard. Ozone Diplomacy:New Directions in Safe Guarding the Planet. Harvard University Press,
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1998.
Leggett, Jeremy. The Carbon War: Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era. Rutledge, New York, New York.
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2001
as treaties are the supreme law of the land. In December 2015 the U.S. did ratify the Paris Cli-mate Agreement which some would argue is a significant leap towards more ambitious national climate laws. However, some attendees of the Pairs conference claimed that much of the origi-nal language in the Paris agreement had to be altered before President Obama would agree to it.
For instance, changing the words “shall” to “should” was a must because in U.S. national law, the word “shall” is mandatory where as “should constitutes a recommendation . From a legal 58 perspective, the U.S. ratification of Paris agreement constituted a very successful set of national recommendations rather than legal requirements. Despite the drawbacks at the national level for green buildings, there are two policy instruments that are available; "National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Vision for 2025: A Framework for Change," 2008, and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program, funded for the first time by the American Re-covery and Reinvestment Act (ReRe-covery Act) of 2009. The former constitutes a set of recom-mendations for 2025 building targets that 120 organizations thus far, have agreed to comply with.
These recommendations are not binding and therefore compliance with its measures is not mandatory . The later provides states and local governments with information about how to ob59 -tain funding and develop strategies for energy efficiency projects . 60
Asselt, Harro. Lecture on the December 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. January, 16,
58
2016.
National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Vision for 2025: A Framework for Change, EPA (November 2008),
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http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/documents/suca/vision.pdf.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC AS
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-SISTANCE https://www.cfda.gov/index?s=program&mode=form&tab=core&id=lfbO0162365c82d9b123b52-ca3a6ce43f (last visited Mar. 30, 2015).