Buildings: construction and renovation under the EU Taxonomy

Buildings account for roughly forty percent of EU energy consumption, which is why the renovation wave and energy performance regulation sit at the centre of EU climate policy. The Taxonomy translates that into asset-level tests that lenders, funds and developers can apply: mortgage books, green bonds backed by real estate, Article 8 and 9 property funds and development financing all lean on these criteria.

The three activities serve different moments in the asset lifecycle. New construction must beat the national nearly zero-energy building requirement by a margin (with air-tightness testing and life-cycle carbon reporting for larger buildings). Major renovation must either meet the applicable major-renovation standard or deliver a substantial primary energy demand reduction (on the order of thirty percent). Acquisition and ownership qualifies for top-performing stock, evidenced through EPCs (broadly class A, or demonstrably within the top fifteen percent of the national stock for pre-2021 buildings). Because the evidence is standardised, buildings are among the fastest activities to assess at scale.

Each lifecycle stage has its own test, all rooted in measurable energy performance. In summary:

Summarised for orientation; the assessment itself applies the full criteria text of the Delegated Acts as amended.

• Energy performance certificates (EPCs) or national equivalent
• Primary energy demand calculations; NZEB benchmark comparison for new builds
• Before/after energy assessment for renovations
• Air-tightness test results and life-cycle GWP calculation (larger new builds)
• Construction waste management records and materials declarations
• Climate risk and vulnerability assessment (asset or portfolio level)

Buildings assessments are evidence-led and fast: the tests reduce to documented energy figures against known benchmarks, so our questioning targets the EPC or energy calculation, the applicable national NZEB baseline, and the DNSH items above. For portfolios, the same logic applies asset by asset, which is exactly the use case our forthcoming portfolio mode is designed for.

Censatim is an expert-built EU Taxonomy assessment tool: describe the asset or activity in plain language, upload supporting documents, and answer a short set of targeted questions. The result is a criterion-by-criterion view with an In-line / Partial / Not aligned / Undetermined rating and a confidence level for each dimension. See the full methodology.