Across Europe, there’s an urgency to make buildings smarter and more efficient, while improving the quality and transparency of documentation. The updated Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is one of the main reasons why. It is not only for lower energy use; it also pushes owners and designers to think about how buildings are controlled, monitored, and prepared for future technologies.
EPBD defines minimum energy performance standards, renovation targets, and requirements for technical building systems such as heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting. It encourages the use of digital tools and control systems that can actively manage energy use, rather than treating buildings as static consumers. This very principle has been applied in the renovated building of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar (EIHP).
How these principles were applied in the design of the lighting system for the Institute’s building, and what the EPBD and the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) mean in practice, is explained in the VOLUM3 blog by Margareta Zidar from the EIHP, one of the key experts behind the nZEB renovation of the Institute’s office building, and Tomislav Kamenarić, Key Account Manager responsible for lighting projects at Signify, which provided EIHP with smart lighting solutions.
“EPBD is moving building energy and management systems from a voluntary or fragmented practice into an enforceable performance-driven framework. There are various levels to comply with, from applying building automation and control systems, to digital twins, the use of real-time analytics and predictive control algorithms. The building automation and control system is mandatory for large non-residential buildings, while a simplified level of monitoring and management is applicable to residential buildings,” says Zidar.
You can read the full VOLUM3 blog HERE, while more extensive educational materials on digitalization and nZEB standards, as well as the complete story of the renovation of the EIHP buildin, are available on the website of the nZEB Training Center..
