OBSERVE EU PROJECT
Published March 9, 2026 | Version v1
Project deliverable Open

Report on the state-of-play of building-stock data: A thorough policy analysis and mapping of existing tools at national and EU level. Deliverable 2.2. OBSERVE project

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Technoeconomics of Energy Systems laboratory (TEESlab), Department of Industrial Management and Technology, University of Piraeus, Karaoli & Dimitriou 80, Piraeus 18534, Greece
  • 2. ENEA Casaccia Research Center, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma RM, Italy
  • 3. Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy, Amsterdam Sloterdijk Teleport Towers Kingsfordweg 151, Amsterdam, 1043GR, Netherlands
  • 4. ROR icon Eurac Research
  • 5. R2M Solution, 3275 D2085, 06330 Roquefort-les-Pins, France
  • 6. ROR icon Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
  • 7. EDMO icon Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology
  • 8. Energetski institut Hrvoje Požar, Savska cesta 163, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 9. Euphyia Tech LTD, Nicosia, Cyprus

Description

This deliverable, developed in the context of the European Commission-funded LIFE project “OBSERVE”, provides the evidence base for developing national Building Stock Observatories (nBSOs) by clarifying what national BSOs 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 deliverable combines EU and national policy mapping- 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- with a policy-driven indicator framework aligned with the EU Building Stock Observatory (EU BSO) and the reporting templates established under the Implementing Regulation (EU 2025/1328). It then evaluates national building-data ecosystems through structured gap and SWOT analyses across nine thematic domains, including building stock, energy performance certificates (EPCs), renovations, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system (HVAC) inspections, nearly zero-energy and zero-emission buildings (nZEBs/ ZEBs), building renovation passports (BRPs), smart-readiness indicator (SRI), and energy poverty, and seven analytical dimensions (availability, interoperability, granularity, timeliness, quality assurance, governance, and future development), with findings triangulated through policymaker input.

Across countries, the evidence shows that the core challenge is not only whether data exist, but whether fragmented datasets (e.g., EPC registries, cadastres, inspections, permits, incentive schemes, and statistical sources) 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. EPC infrastructures typically provide the most mature backbone, while renovation monitoring and emerging EPBD domains (BRPs, SRI, and ZEB-related monitoring) remain less operationalised.

The deliverable concludes with integrated recommendations on phased and modular BSO development, minimum interoperability requirements (shared identifiers, metadata, and exchange protocols), and workflow-based quality assurance and governance arrangements. The 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.

Files

OBSERVE_D2.2_FINAL.pdf

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Additional details

Funding

European Commission
OBSERVE - Support for setting up natiOnal Building Stock obsERVatoriEs 101167643
Ministry of Environment and Energy
Green Fund (GRFU)