The measure is included in the national energy and climate plan put out for public consultation, as part of the strategy to refurbish the building stock and save energy. The aim is to motivate prospective buyers and tenants to prefer buildings that are energy efficient (which obviously have lower heating / air conditioning costs, etc.) Accordingly, to pressure property owners to invest in energy upgrading of their buildings .

At the same time, a network of measures is being promoted in order for the State to use, rent and buy energy efficient buildings. Specifically, the changes being promoted, as described in the ESEK, are as follows:

· After 31 December 2023 all buildings housing public authorities must be classified as energy class B or above according to the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

· Any new lease or purchase of a building or building unit by central government bodies, from 01/01/2021, should be near-zero energy consumption (energy class A and above).

· For each building or building unit available for sale or for rent from 01/01/2021, the energy performance index of the energy performance certificate will be declared in all commercial advertisements.

The plan envisages the renovation and replacement of 12-15% of the stock of residential buildings with new, almost zero-energy buildings by 2030 and the energy upgrade of an average of 60,000 buildings per year. "This specific goal will contribute to the radical upgrade of the building stock while giving a significant boost to the construction industry", emphasizes ESEK.

Overall, the improvement of the energy efficiency of the building stock is expected to lead to an increase in the domestic added value by 8 billion. euros and in creating and maintaining more than 22 thousand new full-time jobs.

Source: ecopress.gr