Can consumers count on energy performance certificates? Mystery shopping in Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia

There is a clear need for energy renovation in the European housing stock. It is estimated that 75% of European buildings are currently insufficiently insulated. Scaling up housing retrofit works is key to meeting our decarbonisation targets, but also the best option to reduce energy bills and increase people’s comfort.

The political awareness about the importance of housing renovation has greatly increased over the past years and the issues of energy and housing are increasingly seen as closely intertwined, as shown by the appointment of a European Commissioner responsible for both matters.

One crucial step in any housing renovation project is the establishment of a clear diagnosis about the 
energy performance of the property. The main tool to do so is the ‘Energy Performance Certificate’ (EPCs).

Given their important role in housing policies, EPCs have to be reliable and trustworthy. Unfortunately, many studies and investigations have revealed significant shortcomings in the way EPCs have been implemented.

That’s why BEUC, together with its members in Slovakia, Italy and Slovenia, decided to conduct a mystery shopping exercise. The results, detailed in this new report, examine whether consumers can genuinely rely upon EPCs to assess the energy performance of their home and what potential improvements they could make.