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Article 2 of 16 · Buildings and real estateBENG for non-residential buildings: a guide for businesses
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BENG stands for Bijna Energieneutrale Gebouwen, the Dutch near zero energy requirements that apply since 2021 to all new buildings, including non-residential buildings such as offices, schools, healthcare buildings and shops. The requirements consist of three indicators with separate limit values per building function. You demonstrate compliance with a calculation according to NTA 8800 when applying for the building permit.
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BENG for non-residential buildings: scattered information versus Energy Intelligence
Anyone commissioning a new office, school building, healthcare location or distribution centre in the Netherlands faces the energy performance requirements from the design phase onwards. The permit is not granted without a sound calculation. For clients and facility managers this takes getting used to: the requirements steer choices about building shape, insulation, installations and the roof, long before construction starts. This article explains how the requirements work for non-residential buildings and what to watch for in the process.
- The three BENG indicators are: the maximum energy demand of the building, the maximum primary fossil energy use and the minimum share of renewable energy.
- The limit values differ per building function: an office, school, healthcare building or shop each has its own requirements; for mixed-use buildings a weighted combination applies, based on the floor area per function.
- Compliance is demonstrated with an energy performance calculation according to NTA 8800 when applying for the environmental permit; the building must also be delivered accordingly.
Insight
Traditional approach
Information is scattered across portals, documents, invoices or separate spreadsheets.
Modern approach
Data, context and interpretation are brought together into a clear decision picture.
Decision-making
Traditional approach
Choices are made based on averages, assumptions or occasional analyses.
Modern approach
Scenarios, KPIs and current measurement data make the trade-off more concrete and repeatable.
Follow-up
Traditional approach
Actions often stay non-committal or disappear into separate reports.
Modern approach
Follow-up actions, monitoring and reporting are linked to the same energy data.
How do the BENG requirements work for non-residential buildings?
The requirements apply to new buildings for which the environmental permit was applied for from 1 January 2021 onwards. They consist of three indicators. The first limits the energy demand of the building itself: how much energy is needed for heating and cooling, regardless of the installations. The second limits primary fossil energy use, which also includes installations, hot water and lighting. The third requires a minimum share of renewable energy. Each building function has its own limit values: an office is assessed differently from a school, healthcare building or shop, because the use differs. If a building combines several functions, for example a distribution centre with an office section, the requirement is determined as a weighted combination of the functions by floor area.
- Three indicators: energy demand, primary fossil energy use and share of renewable energy.
- Each building function has its own limit values; lighting counts in the energy use of non-residential buildings.
- For mixed-use buildings a weighted combination applies, based on the usable floor area per function.
- The requirements apply to new buildings with a permit application from 1 January 2021 onwards.
What does this mean for the design?
The first indicator rewards a compact, well insulated building: less facade area per square metre of floor means less heat loss. Insulation, airtightness and solar shading have therefore become design choices, not finishing touches. The second indicator steers towards efficient installations, such as a heat pump, heat recovery from ventilation air and efficient lighting. The third indicator requires renewable energy on or at the building, in practice usually solar panels on the roof. Non-residential buildings with large roofs, such as halls and distribution centres, have a natural advantage there. Overheating deserves separate attention: large glass surfaces and internal heat loads increase the cooling demand, and that cooling counts in the energy performance. Steering early on orientation and shading prevents costly corrections later.
- Compact design and good insulation lower the energy demand of the building shell.
- Efficient installations and lighting reduce primary fossil energy use.
- Rooftop solar panels are the common route to the required share of renewable energy.
- Cooling counts in the energy performance: orientation and shading limit the cooling demand.
- The Dutch TOjuli indicator for overheating formally applies to dwellings, not to non-residential buildings.
What should you watch for in the process?
You demonstrate compliance with an energy performance calculation according to NTA 8800 when applying for the environmental permit. That calculation is binding: if the design changes during construction, the calculation must change with it, and at completion the building must match what was calculated. Also watch the allocation of functions: the limit values follow the building function, so an incorrect or changed allocation changes the requirements. For a later change of function or renovation of an existing building, the new-build requirements do not apply; the rules for alterations do. The requirements also have limits: they apply to new buildings and say nothing about actual consumption in use. A building that complies on paper can still be used inefficiently in practice.
- The NTA 8800 calculation belongs with the permit application and is binding for completion.
- Design changes during construction require an updated calculation.
- The building function determines the limit values; check the allocation of functions early.
- Alterations and changes of function of existing buildings fall under different rules than new construction.
- The requirements assess the design, not the actual energy use after occupancy.
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