Energy Performance Certificate in Rome:
EPC and EPBD Advice

The Energy Performance Certificate is mandatory in three main cases. On the sale or transfer of a property — including a public-sector asset or a historic building — the EPC must be attached to the deed: its absence exposes the parties to an administrative penalty of between 3,000 and 18,000 euros. On letting, for example when a hospitality structure or a corporate property is placed on the rental market, the EPC must be handed to the tenant before the contract is signed, on pain of a penalty of between 1,000 and 4,000 euros. On new construction or major refurbishment, the EPC is instead a necessary requirement to obtain the certificate of habitability.

The EPBD recast Directive (Dir. 2024/1275/EU, also known as the 'Green Homes' Directive) does not impose a minimum energy class on the individual owner. In the final approved text, the improvement targets for the existing residential stock are set as national average targets — a reduction of at least 16% in primary energy consumption by 2030 and of 20-22% by 2035 — which each Member State must achieve through its own implementing measures, not as an energy-class deadline for every property: the rigid obligations in the initial 2021 proposal (class E by 2030, class D by 2033 for every building) were not confirmed. What is confirmed is the obligation for new construction, which the Directive raises to a new standard: the zero-emission building (ZEB), replacing the previous NZEB — mandatory for new public buildings from 2028 and for all new buildings from 2030. The deadline for Italian transposition expired on 29 May 2026 without the implementing decree being adopted: Italy, like other Member States, is behind schedule. Even in the absence of an individual obligation, energy performance remains a value factor for the property in a market increasingly attentive to energy class — a good reason to plan ahead, not a statutory deadline to comply with.

The EPC is valid for 10 years from the date of issue, provided no works are carried out that alter the building's energy performance. In the event of replacement of the heating system, installation of solar thermal or photovoltaic panels, insulation of walls or roof, or replacement of window frames, the certificate must be updated within the terms set by the applicable regional regulations. Every EPC must also be filed in the competent regional energy register: in Lazio, filing is done through the APE-Lazio portal (managed by ENEA on behalf of the Region), whose data feeds into the national SIAPE information system, also maintained by ENEA.

Improving the energy performance of a listed building requires a balance between energy performance and protection of the asset: the most invasive envelope interventions, such as external cladding or the full replacement of historic window frames, are often incompatible with the Soprintendenza's constraint. Compatible solutions include internal insulation with low-impact materials, replacement of heating systems with high-efficiency ones (for example radiant panels) and the optimisation of existing window frames with compatible double glazing. A preliminary energy audit (UNI CEI EN 16247-2), conducted together with the assessment of conservation constraints, identifies the interventions that genuinely improve the energy class without compromising the Soprintendenza's authorisation.

The EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) is a classification document: it records the building's energy performance on a scale from A4 to G, with a standardised methodology (D.M. 26/06/2015). It is required for sale and letting deeds. The energy audit, by contrast, is an in-depth analytical instrument: it identifies the building's energy flows, locates the points of loss, simulates different intervention scenarios with an estimate of costs and savings, and produces a plan of priority interventions. The audit follows the methodology of the UNI CEI EN 16247 standard (Part 2 is specific to buildings) and is the starting point for any serious energy refurbishment project.

Yes, with different logics depending on the profile. For a hospitality structure, the photovoltaic system directly reduces operating costs in a sector with high continuous electricity consumption — air conditioning, laundry, kitchens — and the sizing must be calibrated on the structure's actual consumption, not on a standard residential model. For a family office or an investor, a medium-scale generation plant (typically under one Megawatt) is an asset class in its own right: expected yield, permitting timescales, grid connection and the plant's useful life must be assessed with the same rigour as a property investment, not merely as a technical intervention. The Studio has designed photovoltaic systems of different sizes and purposes — from commercial roofs and industrial sheds to medium-scale generation plants — and can carry out the preliminary technical-economic assessment in both cases.

Yes, significantly and demonstrably. The Bank of Italy study 'The impact of energy class on house prices' (Questioni di Economia e Finanza no. 818, 2023) estimates, for dwellings in the highest energy classes, a price around 25% higher than those in the lowest class, all other characteristics being equal. The differential varies greatly from province to province and is more marked where the climate is harsher and heating weighs more heavily on running costs. The effect is set to amplify, for the regulatory reasons described above. Improving the energy class is therefore an investment with a double return: reduction of energy costs in the short term and protection of asset value in the long term. The Integrated Diagnosis of Studio Carlo Cassarino addresses this assessment in an integrated way with structural safety.