Green Homes, Italy Has Ignored Another Deadline and is Under Infringement Procedure
On May 29, 2026, another European deadline has quietly passed, and Italy has missed it.
The EPBD 2024/1275 Directive — the so-called Green Homes Directive — was supposed to be implemented by that date. In other words, our country was to establish new operational rules regarding energy requirements for buildings, updating the APE (Energy Performance Certificate), solar systems, and incentive tools. None of this is yet on the table. For owners and all involved parties, the situation remains as it was: a regulatory void that makes it impossible to plan any serious energy renovation strategy.
This is not the first time similar news has emerged. By December 31, 2025, Italy was supposed to send the first proposal for a National Building Renovation Plan to the European Commission. It was never sent. Result: Brussels has already initiated an infringement procedure. The final plan is expected by the end of 2026, but at this point, is it worth betting on compliance with that date?
An Ambitious Goal, A Stagnant Country
The Green Homes Directive is ambitious by definition. The ultimate goal is a completely decarbonized European real estate portfolio by 2050: zero-emission buildings, reduced consumption, the end of fossil fuels in heating. The EPBD 2024 does not impose uniform and immediate obligations on each individual property, but sets common trajectories and delegates to member states the construction of national pathways. This is where Italy stalls.
For the residential sector, the Directive sets a reduction of average primary energy consumption of at least 16% by 2030 and 20-22% by 2035, compared to 2020 levels. The logic is to focus interventions on the worst buildings: at least 55% of the savings must come from renovating the 43% of the least efficient properties.
In simple terms: it starts with the most energy-hungry homes, those where the potential for savings is greatest and where families often live in energy poverty. The Italian implementation must establish how to identify these buildings, which data to use, and what incentives to link to the interventions. Decisions that do not exist today.
For offices, schools, shops, public facilities, and production assets, the Directive provides a system of maximum energy performance thresholds expressed in kWh/m² per year. From 2030, all non-residential buildings must fall below the threshold corresponding to 16% of the worst properties in the existing portfolio as of January 1, 2020. By 2033, the threshold drops to 26%. Again, without implementation, no rules are applicable.
The New ZEB: Zero Emission Buildings
Among the most significant innovations of the EPBD is the definition of Zero Emission Building (ZEB): a building with ultra-high energy performance, without operational emissions from fossil fuels. From January 1, 2028, all new public buildings will have to meet this standard. By 2030, the same rule applies to all new constructions. Energy needs can be covered by on-site renewables, energy communities, efficient district heating, or zero-carbon sources.
Updated APE and GWP Calculation
The Directive also redesigns the Energy Performance Certificate (APE). The new scale from A to G will be more harmonized at the European level: class A corresponds to zero-emission buildings, while G to the worst in the national portfolio at the time of introduction. The goal is to make the APE more comparable and useful in property transactions, rentals, and access to incentives.
Simultaneously, the calculation of Global Warming Potential (GWP) arrives, reflecting the building's emissions over its entire life cycle, including materials. Mandatory from 2028 for new constructions above 1,000 sq m, and from 2030 for all new buildings. A significant shift in perspective: it doesn't just evaluate how much the building consumes in use, but how much it has