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The purpose of this aricle is to present the results from a Swedish legal research project – the REKO project – and to analyse how its findings are relevant for EU member states facing the implementation of the amended Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.We have identified that a major obstacle to renovating towards a sustainable built environment involves unclear legal construction, including which buildings are protected or designated as culturally valuable, and when a legal pre-assessment is needed. We find that this obstacle is being compounded by an overall problem in the lack of relevant knowledge among property owners, energy experts, and decision-makers. We can conclude that the interpretation of the law regarding the protection of heritage values and the requirements for energy efficiency measures is quite clear. However, it is difficult for the property owners and the average person to understand how these different sustainability goals relate to each other. A clarification in the law may therefore be needed, not least in order to ensure legal certainty for property owners. Additionally, in light of the amended directive, clarification in the law may be necessary to specify that energy requirements must be adjusted if they risk harming the heritage value in a way that is prohibited. 

Sverige har, genom att skriva under flera olika internationella avtal, åtagit sig att skydda vårt kulturarv för nuvarande och kommande generationer. I den svenska lagstiftningen finns också flera regler som syftar till att skydda kulturvärden. Bland annat får inte byggnader som är särskilt värdefulla ur bland annat kulturhistorisk synpunkt förvanskas. Ändringar av alla byggnader ska ske varsamt. Hur kommer det sig då att kulturvärden fortsatt går förlorade?

Cultural values are integrated in most of the national and international goals formulated to reach a sustainable future. According to the Swedish legislation the cultural environment is a public interest that must med weighed against other public as well as private interests in planning- and building processes. However, with the increasing attention to climate issues and the ambition to decrease the use of fossil energy sources, the preservation of the cultural environment may come into conflict with energy issues. The article describes how today’s legal complex has developed and elaborates on its deficits when put into practice. The results point towards improved law enforcement. We also suggest measures that need to be taken in order to adopt an holistic approach on energy efficiency issues and the assurance of adequate knowledge in the planning and building processes in order to reach a sustainable manage of the built environment.  

Cultural values in the physical environment are explicitly protected by international agreements and their preservation for future generations is specified as a goal of sustainable development. According to Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention, environmental organisations have the right to appeal decisions and omissions by authorities relating to the environment. This article examines whether this legal obligation applies in different situations where cultural values in the physical environment may be affected. In order to determine whether such values are covered by this right, the legal concept of the environment is analysed. We then examine how cultural values in the physical environment are protected according to the national law, as well as how rules for environmental organisations’ right of appeal have been implemented and applied by Swedish courts. We conclude that cultural value in the physical environment is an environmental issue in the sense of the Aarhus Convention and thus covered by the right of appeal. In addition, we argue that decisions that “relate to the cultural en- vironment” should be interpreted extensively and that it can be difficult to distinguish cultural values in individual objects from their surrounding envi- ronment and landscape. Decisions that affect individual objects of cultural value can therefore often be covered by the right of appeal according to the Aarhus Convention.