This executive order lays down the rules for energy certification of buildings as defined in executive order no 636 of 19 June 2012.
In Denmark, energy labelling is statutory when selling and letting buildings and also every five years for large buildings.
Energy labelling of buildings serves two purposes:
- The energy label should visualise the energy consumption of the building and thereby function as informative labelling when the building is sold or let.
- The energy label should give an overview of which energy-related improvements will be cost-effective to implement: their objective, implementation costs, and the savings to be made on electricity and heating bills.
Labelling is carried out by an energy consultant, who measures the building and investigates the quality of insulation, windows and doors, heating installations etc. Based on this, the energy consumption of the building is calculated in accordance with standard conditions for weather, household size, operation hours, habits of consumption etc.
The calculated consumption is a very precise indicator for the energy-related quality of a building; opposed to this is the actual consumption, which is highly influenced by both the weather and the habits of the users of the building. Some people save on heating while others boost up the heating with the windows open. Some families have teenagers living at home who use large quantities of hot water.
Therefore, the label shows the quality of the building, not how it is used, nor whether the winter was cold or mild.
The scale of the label spans from A to G and corresponds to that known from a number of energy-using products, e.g. domestic appliances.
Dwellings, public buildings and buildings for commerce and service are all covered by the regulations on energy labelling.