Episode 2 of Can Adrian Electrify his Home for Free? explores a key – and often underused – tool in home renovation and electrification: the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
What is an EPC?
An EPC is an official document that assesses and rates the energy efficiency of a building on a scale from A (very efficient) to G (very inefficient). It provides an estimate of a property’s energy consumption, heating needs, carbon emissions and expected energy costs. Crucially, it also includes recommendations for improving the building’s performance, such as upgrading insulation, replacing windows, modernising heating systems or installing renewable energy technologies.
Across Europe, EPCs have become an important tool for informing homeowners, buyers, tenants and policymakers about the energy performance of buildings. They are required when a property is sold, rented or newly constructed and increasingly play a role in determining access to renovation support schemes, green financing products and public incentives. In many ways, the EPC serves as a roadmap for improving a home’s efficiency and reducing both energy bills and emissions.
Importantly, an EPC is not based on the behaviour of the occupants. It does not measure how much energy a family actually consumes, how often they heat their home or how long they spend in the shower. Instead, it evaluates the physical characteristics of the building itself under standardised conditions. Factors such as wall, roof and floor insulation, window quality, heating and hot water systems, ventilation, building orientation and overall heat loss are taken into account. The objective is to provide a consistent assessment of the building’s intrinsic energy performance, regardless of who lives there.
This distinction is particularly important because it means that improving an EPC rating generally requires investing in the building itself. Better insulation, improved airtightness, high-performance windows, efficient heating systems and renewable energy technologies all contribute to a higher rating. As a result, EPCs have become a useful benchmark for tracking renovation progress and identifying the most impactful upgrades.
In the case of Adrian, the EPC represents the starting point of his electrification journey. When he purchased his house in Brussels, the building received an EPC rating of F, placing it among the least energy-efficient. Such a rating is not uncommon for older Belgian homes, many of which were built before modern energy performance standards existed. An F rating typically indicates significant heat losses, outdated building components and substantial opportunities for improvement.
Adrian’s objective is ambitious: to improve the property’s energy performance sufficiently to reach at least a C rating, and potentially even a B rating, through a combination of renovation measures and electrification technologies. Achieving this will require a careful assessment of which interventions deliver the greatest impact relative to their cost. Questions such as whether to prioritise insulation, window replacement, a heat pump, rooftop solar panels or a combination of measures become central to the renovation strategy.
What does a better rating represent financially?
In Brussels, improving a building’s EPC rating can also unlock significant financial benefits. The regional government offers incentives for homebuyers who commit to improving the energy performance of their property within a defined timeframe. Buyers who undertake substantial renovations and improve their EPC by several classes may qualify for reductions in registration fees (droits d’enregistrement), effectively lowering the overall cost of purchasing the property.
In Adrian’s case, he committed to improving his home’s EPC rating by three classes within five years. This commitment translates into a reduction of approximately €9,000 in registration fees, a substantial contribution towards the renovation budget. In effect, the region is rewarding homeowners who invest in improving the energy performance of the building stock, creating a direct financial incentive for renovation.
The benefits do not stop there. A better EPC rating can also reduce long-term financing costs. Increasingly, banks and mortgage providers offer so-called “green mortgages” or preferential lending conditions for energy-efficient homes and renovation projects. These products recognise that energy-efficient buildings are generally less costly to operate, more resilient to future energy price fluctuations and often retain their value better over time.
For Adrian, this creates an additional incentive to successfully complete the planned renovations. If he achieves the agreed EPC improvement target within the required timeframe, his mortgage interest rate could decrease from 3.25% to 3.05%. While this reduction may appear modest, over the lifetime of a mortgage it can result in meaningful savings, further improving the economics of the renovation project.
The EPC therefore serves multiple functions in Adrian’s electrification journey. It provides a diagnosis of the building’s current performance, helps identify the most effective renovation measures, unlocks public financial support and can even reduce borrowing costs. More broadly, it illustrates how building performance certificates are becoming an increasingly important tool in Europe’s efforts to decarbonise buildings, reduce energy demand and accelerate electrification.
In the next episodes, Adrian will begin evaluating which specific renovation measures can deliver the greatest improvement in his EPC score – and whether the combined savings, subsidies and financial incentives can bring him closer to his ultimate goal: electrifying his home at little or no additional cost.
Have a question? Drop it in the comments on LinkedIn or YouTube, or get in touch with the Electrification Alliance directly. As Adrian puts it: we’ve got you covered.