In December 2014, Trinomics together with Ecofys and TNO (and several local subcontractors) finalised a market study on the voluntary common EU certification scheme for non-residential buildings, in accordance with EPBD Article 11(9), for DG Energy, European Commission. The study gave an overview of existing voluntary schemes and aimed at analysing the demand for a European wide voluntary scheme. The findings were the following:

• The key factors for scheme selection among a variety of stakeholders were reliability, cost and international acceptance.
• The main added value of this voluntary EU scheme would be to allow a consistent comparison between non-residential buildings across the EU.
• It could also contribute to raising the ambition for building certification in some Member States.
• The study also shows that the voluntary EU scheme should build on CEN standards, start with a pilot phase (e.g. with offices), take a modular approach for energy performance only, and be applied both for public & private buildings, as well as new & existing buildings.
• Finally, it is recommended that the voluntary EU scheme should use a comparative label design, and that a third party should be responsible for the technical development of it.