Our new report entitled “A state-of-play of building-stock data: A thorough policy analysis and mapping of existing tools at national and EU level”, developed in the context of the European Commission-funded LIFE project “OBSERVE”, has now been published. It provides the evidence base for developing national Building Stock Observatories (nBSOs) by clarifying what nBSOs must deliver under the evolving European Union (EU)’s policy framework and assessing how ready six focus Member States (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, and Spain) are to do so in practice.
The study maps the evolving EU policy landscape, including the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and the EU Governance Regulation, to clarify what nBSOs must deliver in order to support effective policy implementation and EU-level reporting.
In parallel, the report evaluates national building-stock data ecosystems through structured gap and Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis. The analysis covers nine thematic domains, including building-stock characteristics, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), renovation activity, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) inspections, nearly zero-energy and zero-emission buildings (nZEBs & ZEBs), Building Renovation Passports (BRPs), the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI), and energy poverty.
Findings show that the key challenge is not only whether data exist, but whether fragmented datasets can be transformed into interoperable, quality–assured, and repeatable monitoring pipelines that support national building renovation plans (NBRPs), minimum energy performance standard (MEPS) implementation, renovation-rate tracking, and EU-level reporting.
The deliverable concludes with integrated recommendations on phased and modular nBSO development, minimum interoperability requirements (shared identifiers, metadata, and exchange protocols), and workflow–based quality assurance and governance arrangements. These results directly inform activities on dataset architecture, data collection and governance workflows, and quality-control and monitoring mechanisms to be tested within the pilot Member States.
Read the full report here.
Stay updated on the latest developments about the OBSERVE project here.
Follow us on LinkedIn for news, updates, and insights on building-stock data ecosystems and EU energy policy.
