One year from now, after 31 December 2020, only nearly zero-energy buildings will be eligible for an occupancy permit in Hungary. The new regulation will affect many people, which is why we decided to address it here.
Firstly, buildings will require additional thermal insulation, and secondly, 25% of a building’s entire energy consumption, including heating and cooling, will need to be covered using renewable energy generated on the premises or its immediate vicinity..
From now on, this requirement will also be included (highlighted) in the building permits. Though in our project management and construction supervision experience, the designs of our property development partners have been developed along these lines for the past couple of years, it can come as a challenge for a large number of small enterprises and private individuals.
If, for example, you have had the finished plans for a building for three years, but no money or main contractor, it is impossible to predict what will happen unless you can complete construction by the end of this year. The extent and form of fines for violations are not yet known. We believe a logical solution would be to extend the deadline for obtaining an occupancy permit for approximately half a year. This being an EU regulation, violators will be liable to pay an environmental fine amounting to millions of HUF, adjusted to the value of the building. In all probability, the fine will need to be paid in order for the developer to be able to construct the building designed and approved in 2014 mentioned in our example.
Though the regulation for non-compliant buildings are not developed in detail yet, it will have implications both for private individuals struggling to build their family homes with a loan, as well as office and residential buildings completed after the deadline. The requirement applies to all buildings fit for human habitation, and therefore doesn’t apply to garage buildings for example, which don’t need heating. Further exceptions include certain special industrial buildings, such as foundry and forge shops, with sufficient process heat to dispense with heating. Only new buildings are subject to the regulation, reconstructed and converted buildings are not.
25% of the energy consumption will need to be covered using heat pumps or larger solar panel systems. For larger buildings, solar panels might be an option, because they can be used to cover hundreds of square metres. In contrast, solar panels installed on the rooftops of family houses can only cover a fraction of a home’s energy consumption, requiring the use of heat pumps, which, however, cannot be subsequently installed. In addition, a thick layer of thermal insulation needs to be placed underneath the floor of the building, and external thermal insulation also needs to comply with stringent technical specifications.
The issue has become highly topical. Though the implications are not yet known precisely, the requirement is inescapable – it was one of the preconditions for obtaining EU funds, amounting to millions of euros every day, from 2004. Thermal insulation regulations needed to be tightened gradually over a course of 15 years. It was accomplished: In 2006, Decree 7/2006. (V. 24.) of the Minister without Portfolio on the establishment of energy characteristics of buildings was issued in 2006, which marked the beginning of the tightening.
The process has reached its final stage. The loophole will close at the end of this year, and everyone affected by the more stringent regulations will need to make a move in time.