With the EU closing in on a major revision to perhaps the single most important legislative driver for decarbonisation of buildings, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), we spoke to the architect of the proposed changes, Ciarán Cuffe, who gave us some fascinating insights. It was a chance to talk about thinking big and the challenges associated with instituting large-scale change.

A veritable sustainability, built environment, and political polymath, Ciarán is the Green Party MEP for Dublin and rapporteur for the European Parliament on the next recast of the EPBD.

Originally published in 2002, the EPBD is the reason we have EPCs/BERs/DPEs, for all their flaws and benefits. It’s also the reason we have the nearly zero energy building (NZEB) standard as a mandatory requirement for new buildings across Europe since 2019.

But the original directive and previous recasts have left certain problems unresolved, and Ciarán told us about work to update the directive to ensure it can help to drive meaningful change in decarbonising the European building stock.

It's worth noting that Ciarán's not just a politician too. He’s a qualified planner, architect, lecturer at Technological University Dublin, and a former Minister for Planning in the Irish government.

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