Publications

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) aims at promoting energy efficiency in the residential sector by allowing prospective buyers and renters to compare dwellings in terms of current and potential energy performance. Yet, the impact of the EPC on the purchase and renovation decisions is limited. The research hypothesis is that the framing of the information is an important determinant alongside the calculation method and the training of the ...

The articleiscomposedasadiptych.First,ageneralframeworkofcriteriatoevaluatetheperformance of renewableenergysupportsystemsiselaborated.Itisbuiltaroundthemaincriteriaeffectiveness, efficiencyandequity.Allthreearemulti-layeredandspecifyingthecontentsofthevariouslayersiscase dependent.Second,theframeworkisappliedondetaileddataabouttheFlemishtradablecertificates supportsystem. ...

The energy performance certificate (EPC) is an information provision tool that enables prospective buyers and renters to compare dwellings in terms of energy performance. Besides, the EPC encourages the uptake of the recommended energy efficient renovation measures. Therefore, in order to be effective, dwellers have to able to understand and interpret correctly the two key elements of the certificate: the energy performance indicator and the ...

The EU member states have implemented energy performance of buildings (EPB) minimum requirements for new constructions, while in Flanders an additional property tax incentive is offered if higher standards of energy performance are achieved. The current paper aims to investigate whether the property tax incentive played a role in encouraging additional investments in energy efficiency in new constructions. It also aims to understand the ...

The energy performance certificate (EPC) is mandatory in the EU, aiming to enable prospective buyers and renters to compare dwellings in terms of energy performance. Flanders intends to improve its current EPC, by adding a label to the existing coloured scale and EPC score. Our research aimed to inform the Flemish Energy Agency by testing before releasing the new version of the certificate, thus being an example of behaviourally informed ...

In Europe buildings are responsible for 36 per cent of the total CO2 emissions, therefore policies promoting energy renovation of the residential stock play an important role in tackling climate change. The mainstream approach is based on the principle that information provision and the economic incentives are enough to overpass underinvestment in energy efficiency upgrades of the dwellings. The present research challenges the assumptions of ...

To prevent climate change from progressing rapidly, greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced drastically. The built environment represents a large share of the energy use and has therefore a great potential in overcoming this challenge, by increasing the energy efficiency and integrating renewable energy sources. It is important that these measures are studied on a district or city level to include the synergy effects that result from the ...

There are several programs that allow you to calculate the theoretical energy consumption of a dwelling, like the Epact software and the EPB-software. The Epact-software assigns an Energy Performance Certificate to an existing dwelling. The EPB (Energy Performance and Inner-Climate)-software can only be applied to newly-constructed buildings. Up until last year, the Energy Advice Procedure (EAP) was also an option. In this dissertation, the ...

In Flanders (Belgium), the government decided to subsidize the additional costs of 24 pas-sive school buildings as pilot projects. Performance requirements were set, showing strong correspondence to the requirements for passive houses. However, the characteristics of school buildings differ strongly from those of residential buildings. Furthermore, they are affected by the use and typology of schools. Depending on regional customs and ...