The concern of the authorities from Brussels for the establishment of a harmonized framework for the regulation of energy consumption at EU level dates back for nearly a decade and a half. During this interval, the experts from various prestigious institutions in Europe collaborated for reaching the most accurate definition of this concept. The approach is extremely complicated, if one takes into account the heterogeneity between the EU states manifested in a variety of ways, such as, for example, the climate, the consuming habits or the purchasing power of the population. However, European Commission officials were able to finalize the legislative efforts in this direction and proposed to the Parliament from Strasbourg a coherent document, generally called "The Energy Efficiency of Buildings Directive" (EPBD). The first version was published in 2002 and, since then, there have been several improved versions. The latest of these was adopted on 19th of May 2010 under the name of the directive 31/2010/EC. Most experts believe that the "odyssey" of the energy regulation at Community level is far from being completed. In the coming years, new additions to the current legislation are foreseeable, in conjunction with the socio-economic and political developments. Although such a perspective may seem abnormal, it is more likely since the gaining of independence from the import of resources by EU is an assumed goal of community officials. Moreover, the concern to limit the "carbon footprint" has become more than a simple slogan, and the accent put on renewable energy reveals the real intentions of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Today, more than ever, the objectives defined in the 20/20/20 European Union emissions reduction plan are about to be implemented in practice, despite several currents of opinion suggesting that such a strategy would generate automatically an unsustainable increase of the energy prices. Specialists have already contradicted quickly this "theory", demonstrating that virtually all amounts of money which energy manufacturers and other major polluting factors are liable to pay and which they transpose into the final cost of electricity are completely offset by the massive reductions of the trading. For further information and a detailed analysis of the current TOP-Agenda Constructiilor issue click here!