EU Water policy in debate - what's in it for buildings?

The European Commission organized already several public consultations and stakeholder meetings to gather feedback on existing EU Water policy and ways to improve the existing policy framework.  By the end of 2012, the European Commission should present the “Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources”, a document that should assess the implementation and achievement of existing EU water policy and propose actions to strengthen existing gaps.

On the building sector, it was already identified as an issue the fact that the design of buildings and water using appliances does not sufficiently factor in water efficiency. Some of the options to address the problem that are being discussed  include voluntary or mandatory  labeling of water using appliances, minimum water efficiency requirements for water using appliances, voluntary or mandatory performance rating for buildings, minimum water performance for buildings, mandatory installations of water meters in all buildings, adapting water tariffs.

The European Commission recently opened a new public consultation on Policy Options for the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources. You can submit your comments and feedback by 7th of June. More details here.

More info on the overall effort to reform the EU water policy