Last week, changes to the Directive on improving the energy performance of buildings (Buildings Directive), part of the European Green Deal, were adopted. Its goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the energy consumption of buildings across the board European Union and gradual elimination of gas heating in favor of zero-emission solutions. According to the PiS MP Waldemar Buda This change will bring consequences especially for the poorest layers of society.
The end of the era of gas heating
Under new EU regulations, all residential buildings are to reduce energy consumption by 16% by 2030 and then by 20-22% by 2035. For public utility facilities, it is assumed that 16% of them will be renovated by 2030, and by 2033 this percentage is expected to increase to 26%. The changes are intended to accelerate the transition to zero-emission energy sources, such as heat pumps and photovoltaic installations.
Ultimately, it is expected that from 2030, all new buildings will have to be completely zero-emission. The problem is that many such installations are new, which will make their replacement an additional burden for property owners. As MP Waldemar Buda emphasized, such solutions may result in radical increases in the prices of building new houses – “Every block of flats, every new building will have to have a photovoltaic installation, it will have to have heat pumps. What does this mean from the point of view of house construction prices or apartment prices? Radical price increases.”
Financial blow to the poorest – end of fossil fuel subsidies
According to Waldemar Buda, the negative effects of the new regulations will be felt especially by people with the lowest incomes who currently use gas or coal heating. “Eliminating gas heating will hit the poorest people”. Additionally, from 2025, the government will stop offering any subsidies for fossil fuel boilers. “The poorest will pay even more (…) those who today have gas or coal stoves will pay. This will be an additional tax that will hit them. How big, we can expect it to be from a dozen to several dozen percent” – said the politician.
It is worth adding that by 2028 all offices will have to give up using fossil fuel boilers, and from 2030 this ban will cover all individual residential buildings.
