Introduction - Nearly Zero Energy Building Refurbishment - page 8

And if the concept NZEB is not easy to apply to new buildings, it will be much
more difficult to apply in existent buildings.
Besides, energy-efficiency refurbishment has a sociological dimension that
must be also addressed (Banfi et al. 2008 ).
The decision process is influenced by several factors like for instance the
household size, household income, age composition of the household members
and members' education levels each affect retrofit decisions (Gamtessa 2013 ).
Stieß and Dunkelberg ( 2013 ) mention that reaching homeowners not yet aware
of the benefits of such energy-efficiency improvements constitute a major chal-
lenge that requires the ''the implementation of coordinated campaigns at the local
level

with participating energy agencies, consultants, tradesmen, the local

authorities, and the local press''.
It is truth that the EPBD recast does not cover existent buildings; however, the
Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU) approved by the European Parliament
on 25 October 2012 , that each member states will have to transpose into national
laws until 5 June 2014, addresses this types of buildings (Articles 4 and 5).
According to Article 4, member states will have to define ''establish a long-
term strategy for mobilizing investment in the renovation of the national stock of
residential and commercial buildings, both public and private. This strategy shall
encompass:
(a) an overview of the national building stock based, as appropriate, on statistical
sampling;
(b) identification

of cost-effective approaches to renovations relevant to the

building type and climatic zone;
(c) policies and measures to stimulate cost-effective deep renovations of buildings,
including staged deep renovations;
(d) a forward-looking perspective to guide investment decisions of individuals, the
construction industry and financial institutions;
(e) an evidence-based estimate of expected energy savings and wider benefits.

A first version of the strategy shall be published by 30 April 2014 and updated
every three years thereafter and submitted to the Commission as part of the
National Energy Efficiency Action Plans'' .
As to Article 5 content, it requires that ''each Member State shall ensure that,
as from 1 January 2014, 3 % of the total floor area of heated and/or cooled
buildings owned and occupied by its central government is renovated each year to
meet at least the minimum energy performance requirements'' .
Many topics have been written about building refurbishment and some recent
ones even contain interesting insights on ''sustainable'' refurbishment. However,
some of those topics are not focused on energy efficiency, several others lack any
content on toxicity aspects or nanotech high-performance building materials, but
most of them have absolutely nothing on complex decision support systems. This
topic thus provides essential reading to everyone that deals with energy-efficiency
building refurbishment.