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1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that minimum energy performance requirements for buildings or building units are set with a view to achieving cost-optimal levels. The energy performance shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology referred to in Article 3. Cost-optimal levels shall be calculated in accordance with the comparative methodology framework referred to in Article 5 once the framework is in place. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that minimum energy performance requirements are set for building elements that form part of the building envelope and that have a significant impact on the energy performance of the building envelope when they are replaced or retrofitted, with a view to achieving cost-optimal levels. When setting requirements, Member States may differentiate between new and existing buildings and between different categories of buildings.

These requirements shall take account of general indoor climate conditions, in order to avoid possible negative effects such as inadequate ventilation, as well as local conditions and the designated function and the age of the building. A Member State shall not be required to set minimum energy performance requirements which are not cost-effective over the estimated economic lifecycle. Minimum energy performance requirements shall be reviewed at regular intervals which shall not be longer than five years and, if necessary, shall be updated in order to reflect technical progress in the building sector.

2. Member States may decide not to set or apply the requirements referred to in paragraph 1 to the following categories of buildings:

(a) buildings officially protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historical merit, in so far as compliance with certain minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance;

(b) buildings used as places of worship and for religious activities;

(c) temporary buildings with a time of use of two years or less, industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings with low energy demand and non-residential agricultural buildings which are in use by a sector covered by a national sectoral agreement on energy performance;

(d) residential buildings which are used or intended to be used for either less than four months of the year or, alternatively, for a limited annual time of use and with an expected energy consumption of less than 25 % of what would be the result of all-year use;

(e) stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50 m2.