KLRI : KOREA LEGISLATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

I. Background and Purpose of Research

▶ Research Background

○ The global energy crisis has intensified since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with the energy supply chain crisis that occurred worldwide highlighting the problem of energy supply and demand instability

- The EU is promoting the REPowerEU plan, and major countries such as Germany and Japan are accelerating the energy transition through the expansion of renewable energy while strengthening energy reserves

- The global energy crisis is expected to continue depending on the international situation, including US-China-Russia relations

○  In the era of energy crisis, efforts to reduce demand along with stable supply are needed, but global energy intensity is expected to slow down

-  Energy intensity according to IEA in 2023 is 1.3%, which is less than the annual average improvement rate of 4.2% proposed by IEA to achieve carbon neutrality, which requires improvement in energy efficiency

- In particular, energy efficiency management in the building sector is of great significance, as buildings have long replacement cycles and require long-term improvements in energy efficiency

- Improving energy efficiency in the building sector is essential, as it accounts for 30% of global final energy consumption and 26% of energy-related carbon emissions

○ The IEA emphasizes energy efficiency as the first tool for the transition to clean energy, and countries are taking legal and policy measures to improve energy efficiency in the building sector

- The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), Germany's Building Energy Act (GEG), and Japan's Building Energy Conservation Law (建築物省エネ法) are being revised to promote various legislation

○ As a resource-poor country, demand reduction through energy efficiency is an important issue, but Korea still focuses on supply-oriented energy policies, and discussions on demand policies are relatively weak

- As the total energy consumption of buildings in Korea is showing a continuous increase, it is necessary to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency innovation in the building sector

▶ Research Purpose

○ To investigate and analyze the current status of legislation and discussions of international organizations and major countries related to energy efficiency in the building sector and draw implications

○ To propose improvement measures for domestic legislation to improve energy efficiency in the building sector from a long-term perspective to respond to the energy crisis and realize carbon neutrality

 

Ⅱ. Contents

▶ The importance of energy efficiency in the building sector to respond to the energy crisis

○ Energy efficiency means reducing consumption through technologies and methods that use energy efficiently as part of energy management, and focuses on reducing unnecessary waste in the energy consumption process without changing consumption behavior

○ Countries need to actively manage energy efficiency to fulfill their national responsibilities to ensure a stable supply of energy and to fulfill its joint responsibility with the international community to address the climate crisis

○ The energy crisis causes energy prices to rise, which in turn causes the building sector to face a sharp increase in energy costs, making it more vulnerable to the impact of the energy crisis

○ In addition, as energy concentration increases due to urbanization and energy consumption in the building sector expands, improving the energy efficiency of buildings serves as an effective means of reducing carbon emissions in the building sector

▶ Trends in global norms related to energy efficiency in the building sector

○ The IEA emphasizes that improving energy efficiency is a key strategy for energy security and responding to the climate crisis, and recognizes that improving energy efficiency in the building sector in particular plays an important role

- The 46 governments participated in the 8th Annual Meeting on Energy Efficiency agreed to strengthen energy efficiency measures to match the annual doubling of global energy intensity by 2030

○ The EU, through the European Green Deal and Renovation Wave, set out targets and means to improve energy efficiency in the building sector to help achieve the EU's energy efficiency and climate goals

- In May 2024, a significantly revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) came into force

○ Germany has established a strong policy and legal framework at the national level to meet international targets to combat the climate crisis

- It has strengthened building regulations to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and operates its legislation in a way that promotes the use of renewable energy

○ Japan is promoting the establishment of a legal system to strengthen energy efficiency in the building sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46% compared to 2013 by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

- Considering that the goal of improving energy performance in the building sector is to realize carbon neutrality, the country is also looking to expand the use of renewable energy in buildings

○ Implications from analyzing global norms for energy efficiency in the building sector

- Common discussions can be found, such as strengthening energy performance standards for new and existing buildings, emphasizing the combination of renewable energy with improved energy efficiency, and emphasizing the leading role of the public sector

▶ Legal challenges of energy efficiency management in the building sector to respond to the energy crisis

○ Preemptive reorganization of terminology in accordance with the scattered nature of energy efficiency management laws in the building sector

- Confusion in the application and interpretation of laws due to different definitions of green buildings in Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth for Coping with Climate Crisis and  the Green Building Construction Support Act

- Amendment of the purpose clause of the Green Building Construction Support Act to clarify that the Act aims to contribute to the creation of a comfortable living environment and the development of various green building industries in addition to the creation of green buildings in accordance with the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth for Coping with Climate Crisis

○ Establishing a legal basis for requiring exemplary roles of public institutions

- The "Regulation on Promotion of Rationalization of Energy Use by Public Institutions" is an administrative rule, but it imposes substantial obligations on public institutions and effectively enforces their implementation

- The obligations imposed on public institutions are transferred to laws such as the Green Building Construction Support Act, and the regulation shoud be reorganized to contain only advisory content that does not go beyond the scope of the law

○ Strengthening energy performance improvements for existing buildings

- Energy performance improvement for existing buildings has been mainly focused on the public sector, but it needs to be expanded to large-scale non-residential buildings in the private sector and support systems to promote green remodeling

○ Expanding utilizations of the building energy performance information disclosure system

- In addition to the real estate agent under the "Licensed Real Estate Agents Act" to guide the buyer or the lesses to check a building energy assessment report, consideration could be given to including building energy assessments report as part of the objects of brokerage to be checked and explained

○ Establishing a legal basis for expanding the use of renewable energy in buildings

- Considering that energy efficiency management in the building sector can ultimately contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality, it is necessary to strengthen the legal basis for expanding the use of renewable energy

 

Ⅲ. Expected Effects

▶ Establishing a plan to improve energy efficiency management legislation in the domestic building sector based on analysis of global norms

○ Energy efficiency management in the building sector is of high interest to the international community as it can contribute to reducing energy demand directly and realizing carbon neutrality indirectly

○ Based on the implications found through the analysis of global norms related to energy efficiency in the building sector in the era of energy crisis, it can be used as a reference for the development of domestic legislation such as the Green Building Construction Support Act