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Exemplary Buildings: call for projects

Since 2007, the Exemplary Buildings calls for projects have focused on the construction or renovation of buildings that aim at excellent energy and environmental performance. Six calls for projects have led to the selection of 243 projects, representing 621,000 m² of exemplary building or renovation.

Context

The Brussels-Capital Region has implemented a bottom-up policy for energy efficiency of buildings. This policy uses various measures and incentives with the aim of closely involving the general public (of all social classes) in the drive to reduce energy consumption. Of all these different measures, the Exemplary Buildings project calls, started in 2007, have been particularly successful.

Goals of the project calls for Exemplary Buildings

The measure involves calls for projects for the construction or renovation of buildings that will eventually perform very well from the energy and environmental point of view. These buildings should demonstrate the technical and financial reliability of the solutions used, and thus have an exemplary role to play. The purpose of this programme is to encourage the building sector to engage in sustainable construction.
The Exemplary Buildings call for projects is aimed at anyone building or renovating in Brussels: individuals, government agencies, parastatal institutions or private companies (project developers, businesses, non-profit organisations, etc.). In order to qualify for the call the buildings must be located in the Brussels-Capital Region and their original main purpose should be one of the following: family dwelling, collective dwelling, collective facility, office, commercial premises or industrial premises. Both new construction and renovation projects are eligible.
Applications are assessed according to four criteria which are of equal importance: energy efficiency; environmental impact; cost-effectiveness and reproducibility; architectural quality and visibility. The winners receive financial support of €100/m² for the design and execution of the exemplary building: €10/m² for the designer (with a minimum of €5,000 and a maximum of €100,000 per project) and €90/m² for the project owner (with a maximum of €400,000 per project). The winners also receive technical support whereas the buildings and designers gain publicity. In exchange they engage to monitor the building’s energy consumption for five years.

Results of the six project calls for Exemplary Buildings

Since 2007, 243 projects of Exemplary Buildings have been selected. They represent 621,000 m² of exemplary building construction or renovation: 15,314 m² of family dwellings (2% of the total floor space of the exemplary buildings), 198,741 m² of collective dwellings (32%), 242,609 m² of offices and commercial premises (39%) and 164,421 m² of collective facilities (26%). The details per project call are given below.

The project calls for Exemplary Buildings: built or renovated floor space per category
Source: Brussels Environment, Department of Sustainable Building Promotion

The project calls for Exemplary Buildings: built or renovated floor space per category

Of all building types, 354,575 m² (i.e. more than 57% of the floor space of all exemplary buildings) was built or renovated to the passive standard. The low energy standard applied to all other buildings and in some cases even the very low energy standard, depending on the sector and type of project (construction or renovation).
The six project calls for Exemplary Buildings accounted for a total of 33.3 million euros of subsidies. The category of the family dwellings, which represent 66 projects, accounted for 4% of the awarded subsidies. The rest of the subsidies were awarded in almost equal proportions to the three other categories: collective dwellings (32% of the subsidies for 75 projects), offices/commercial or industrial premises (28% of the subsidies for 38 projects) and collective facilities (36% of the subsidies for 64 projects). An overview of the exact figures for each year is given below.

The project calls for Exemplary Buildings: subsidies awarded per year and per category
Source: Brussels Environment, Department of Sustainable Building Promotion

The project calls for Exemplary Buildings: subsidies awarded per year and per category

The Exemplary Buildings project calls have accomplished a real turnaround in the construction sector, enabling the Brussels Region to take the lead by approving ambitious legislation:

  • Since 2010, all new construction projects in the public-sector must meet or exceed the Energy Performance of Buildings’ (EPB) requirements inspired by the passive standard (adapted for adverse conditions) and all major renovation work must meet the very low energy standard.
  • From 2015 onwards the requirements Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) inspired by the passive standard (adapted for adverse conditions) will apply to all new dwellings and all major renovations will have to meet the very low energy standard.
     

 

 

Date de mise à jour: 29/05/2020