Although all offices must have at least energy label C since 1 January, there are still thousands of buildings throughout the country that do not meet this requirement. The first warning letters are flying out the door, but enforcement is not equally strict everywhere.
Only 57 percent of the office addresses that should have at least energy label C already meet this requirement. One in ten offices has an even worse energy label and no label at all is known for more than a third. This is evident from figures from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
There are a total of 64,000 office addresses that must comply with the label obligation. The owners of those buildings have known since 2017 that they must make their buildings more sustainable to at least energy label C. In that year it was announced that this obligation would take effect in 2023. Yet it has not yet ensured that offices are massively insulated and equipped with solar panels.
Anyone who does not comply with the label obligation may face fines and eventually even forced closure. But that is not yet the case five months after the obligation came into effect, according to a tour of NU.nl among municipalities and the environmental services that monitor some regions.
However, official warnings have already been sent throughout the country to some offices that do not comply with the obligation. But other municipalities do not yet have a clear picture of which offices must and do not have to comply with the obligation, or who the owners are. There, the warnings are still waiting and there are no fines at all.
Hundreds of warnings
The North Sea Canal Area Environment Agency, which supervises the labeling obligation in Amsterdam and seven other municipalities, has already sent six hundred warning letters. Office owners have until mid-June to explain why they do not have the correct energy label, or to submit a sustainability plan.
So far, about half of the owners have responded to that letter, says a spokesman. Anyone who has not yet submitted a plan to comply with the obligation next month will receive an order subject to periodic penalty payments. Nationally, it has been set at 2,000 euros per week, up to a maximum of 20,000 euros. For larger offices, the fine can be even higher, because otherwise it does not hurt enough.
In some places there is also no warning yet. “At the moment, it is being coordinated who will supervise compliance with this obligation,” says a spokesperson for the municipality of Vlissingen, for example. The municipality says it knows which offices are in violation, but has not yet sent warning letters.
‘Can’t send a thousand letters’
The Environment Agency for the Utrecht region (ODRU) monitors the label obligation on behalf of fifteen municipalities. The service has already had a lot of work figuring out which offices actually fall under the obligation.
The ODRU has now identified about a thousand offices that do not comply with the standard. “But I can’t send a thousand letters now,” says Rob Hosman, project manager for supervision and enforcement. “We have a limited budget and a limited number of people.”
Municipalities together receive 2.2 million euros per year from the government to supervise the label obligation. For smaller municipalities, this amounts to no more than a few thousand euros per year. That is not nearly enough to tackle all energy-wasting offices in one go.
That is why the ODRU will first warn the largest offices. In this way, the service hopes to prevent “a reservoir of enforcement procedures” that the regulator cannot handle. Hosman does expect that enforcement at larger buildings will serve as an example, encouraging smaller offices to become more sustainable.
Banks are also putting pressure on owners
In municipalities with less energy-wasting offices, it is easier to check everyone. For example, the municipality of Leeuwarden says it has 43 offices that do not comply with the label obligation. Of these, 22 offices do not yet have a plan to become more sustainable. “These are visited by a supervisor from the municipality,” says a spokesperson.
Some municipalities give office owners a little longer. In Amersfoort, office owners have until June 1 to submit a sustainability plan. But if they do not, “concrete enforcement” with penalty payments will not start until 2024, says a spokesman. Emmen also opts for a “mild approach” and gives offices extra time.
Even if the fines are not forthcoming, office owners are feeling increasing pressure from their banks to make buildings more sustainable. That is what real estate expert Claire van Staaij of ABN AMRO says. “I dare to say that the pressure from the financiers is almost higher than from enforcement.”
The banks foresee that office buildings will lose value if they do not meet the statutory energy standard. Many tenants also think energy label C is not economical enough and are looking for offices with at least label A. “We also urge customers to look further into the future,” says Van Staaij. “In 2050 we only want to have energy-neutral buildings.”
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