On 17 September 2026 the Ministry of Energy tabled the Regulation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Bill 2026 before the House of Representatives. It will replace the current 2006–2020 laws and transposes EU Directive 2024/1275 into Cypriot law. The deadline for transposing the directive already passed on 29 May.
One important caveat up front: this is still a bill, not a law. It will be examined by the parliamentary Energy Committee, and its wording, timelines and transitional provisions may still change. But the direction is already clear — and anyone planning construction or renovation today should factor it in now.
The bill is built around a single long-term goal: by 2050, turn the country's entire building stock into a zero-emission stock. To get there, it establishes a National Building Renovation Plan and a general methodology for calculating the energy performance of buildings and building units.
For new buildings the bar rises: today's nearly zero-energy standard (NZEB) will be replaced from 1 January 2030 by a zero-emission requirement. The bill also covers solar installations on buildings, e-mobility infrastructure, regular inspections of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, and independent control of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs).
Minimum energy performance requirements are not limited to new construction. They also apply to existing buildings undergoing major renovation — and to individual envelope elements that are replaced or retrofitted: walls, roofs, floors.
The practical meaning is simple: if you insulate a façade or a roof, the result must meet the requirement for that element, not merely be "better than before". Specific values will be set in secondary legislation, but the trend of recent years is clear — requirements only ever tighten. Anyone designing insulation to the bare minimum today risks falling below the new standard within a few years.
| Building type | What the bill provides |
|---|---|
| New buildings | Zero emissions from 1.1.2030, replacing today's NZEB |
| Major renovation | Mandatory compliance with minimum requirements |
| Envelope element replacement | Requirements for every element replaced or added |
| Residential stock | A national trajectory for progressive renovation |
| Non-residential buildings | Minimum energy performance levels for existing buildings |
| All buildings | Life-cycle carbon footprint calculation |
For existing non-residential buildings — offices, shops, hotels — minimum energy performance levels are introduced. In practice, the most energy-hungry properties will eventually have to be upgraded, or they will become harder to let and sell. For commercial property investors, this is a direct liquidity issue.
For homes the approach is softer: instead of hard thresholds, a national trajectory of gradual renovation. The state will steadily bring the housing stock up, relying on grants, technical assistance and financing mechanisms that the bill also provides for. But the logic is the same: a home with a low energy rating gradually becomes a less liquid asset.
One of the most notable innovations is the calculation and disclosure of a building's global warming potential over its entire life cycle. What counts is no longer only how much energy a home consumes, but also the carbon footprint of the materials it is built from — and how often they will need replacing.
Such a calculation cannot rely on marketing promises; it needs verified data for each material — Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). MULTIPOR mineral boards have a valid EPD under the European standard EN 15804: its figures can be plugged directly into the future mandatory calculation.
The whole cycle matters, not just the moment of production. MULTIPOR is made of sand, lime, cement and water: at the end of a building's life it is inert mineral waste that does not turn into fossil CO₂ on disposal. And because the board lasts as long as the building itself, the calculation does not have to include re-manufacturing, removal and replacement of the insulation. For a developer already thinking about 2030, this is an argument that will soon be expressible in numbers.
The energy class depends not only on the insulation but on the wall itself. Our experience in Cyprus: a house of ordinary brick insulated with 100 mm of MULTIPOR reaches class A. A wall of thermal brick with the same layer reaches A+, and with 75 mm, class A.
In other words, even a house from the 1980s or 1990s, built long before any standards, can be brought up to the level required of new buildings today — with a margin for future tightening.
Grants are available now — but not indefinitely. The 3rd call of the "Εξοικονομώ – Αναβαθμίζω" (Save – Upgrade) scheme is open: €20 million, a base grant of 60% (80% for vulnerable groups), up to €32,000 per home. Applications are accepted while funds last — and they are being used up fast.
Conditions: at least 60% savings in primary energy and an initial EPC issued after 15 May 2026. Insulating the building envelope is the most direct route to that 60%.
For developers: projects to be delivered closer to 2030 should be designed now around the logic of zero emissions and carbon footprint. Long-life solutions with a mineral composition reduce the risk that a property is already outdated by the time it is sold.
For homeowners: a renovation done today with a margin will not need redoing tomorrow. And while the grant scheme is open, a significant part of the insulation cost can be recovered — provided you apply in time.
Sources: Regulation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Bill 2026 (House of Representatives, 17.09.2026); InBusinessNews, 22.09.2026; Cyprus Law Chambers, 29.09.2026; Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry; Xella / MULTIPOR-Cyprus data.