Heating and cooling (H&C) accounts for approximately 50% of the European Union’s (EU) total energy demand and remains significantly reliant on imported fossil fuels. Hence, addressing the decarbonization of the H&C sector is key to achieving a successful energy transition. At the EU level, several legislative instruments within the Fit for 55 package directly target the decarbonization of H&C, including the core directives on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and the energy performance of buildings. At the national level, EU Member States (MSs) have developed National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), which are the main framework for defining national energy transition strategies, including measures to address H&C. Within the EU-funded REDI4HEAT project, a guideline was developed to support the assessment of policy documents—particularly NECPs—regarding the robustness of their policies and measures for decarbonizing H&C. This assessment framework supports the identification of gaps and opportunities through six key Strategic Policy Priority (SPP) areas, offering a set of policy options that can be further elaborated into effective measures. The design of these policy measures is informed by the Knowledge Sharing Centre—an online repository of replicable and adaptable initiatives that can be tailored to the specific geographical, social, and economic contexts of each MS.

In the EU 28, the installed heating appliance stock is quite old, with an actual replacement rate of 4%. This is directly reflected in the average efficiency of the installed heating systems, where around 60% of the stock is rated with an energy class of C or D (the lowest classes of the energy label scale). The European project HARP aims at raising consumers’ awareness of the planned replacement of their old and inefficient heating appliances with more efficient and renewable solutions. In this direction, an energy labeling methodology for old appliances has been developed to rate the installed stock before the introduction of the EU energy label. The methodology has been developed for space heating appliances and water heaters, targeting two types of users: end consumers and professional users. The validation considered about 4600 space heating appliances and 800 water heaters built between 1972 and 2019. Three heating appliances and two water heaters were tested in the laboratory, confirming the reliability of the proposed methodology. The expected impact of defining an energy labeling methodology for installed heating appliances increases the current replacement rate of these appliances in the EU from 4% to 5%.

Extended abstract 3-291-26 Sustainable Local Heating and Cooling Plans (SLHCPs) are a novel planning instrument to steer the decarbonization of local heating and cooling (H&C) systems, prompted by the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). This is an ambitious goal, especially for South European authorities who face critical challenges, decentralized and low performing heating systems, inefficient buildings, increasing cooling needs and low financial availability. Plan4COLD methodology is a practical approach developed under the LIFE23-CET-Plan4COLD project to support municipalities in preparing SLHCPs aligned with Article 25 of the EED and related provisions in the Renewable Energy and Energy Performance Buildings Directives. The methodology is structured into five phases: Prepare the ground, Baseline assessment, SLHCP strategy and development, Roadmap and implementation, and Monitoring: Political commitment, dedicated governance structures, and early engagement of stakeholders and citizens, as preconditions for credible and durable strategies. It requires extensive context review to identify synergies and ensure consistency across governance levels. Data collection phase, that allows an evaluation of where the H&C system stands, identifying the energy demand, supply and emissions inventory, and assessing climate risks and vulnerabilities such as energy poverty. Integrated perspective focusing in three dimensions: urban planning, buildings and infrastructure, and behaviour change. The guiding principle is “energy efficiency first”: reduce H&C needs, serve remaining needs more efficiently, and decarbonise supply through renewable energy. In this phase a portfolio of measures is assessed and evaluated, building the vision for the decarbonisation of the local H&C system. A governance-oriented framework, translating the vision and measures into a Roadmap, including responsibilities, timeline, and budget. This renders into a locally anchored portfolio of measures, from planning instruments to regulatory and financial incentives and enabling actions that activate all dimensions. The KPIs are defined as well as the feedback loops timings to assess progress, impacts and shortcomings and periodically update the SLHCP. The Plan4COLD methodology demonstrates how EU‑level obligations on local H&C planning can be translated into actionable municipal policies, strengthening multi‑level governance and accelerating the energy transition. Read full Download presentation.