Évaluation en ligne
02 687 79 90 0477 45 44 28
FR
NL FR EN

Je veux acheter

Rechercher des propriétés Bientôt disponible Nouvelles constructions
Nous vous recherchons Immobilier discret Propriétés récemment vendues

Je veux louer

Rechercher des propriétés Bientôt disponible Management
Nous vous recherchons Récemment loué

Je veux vendre

Vendre avec l'immobilier Vermast Calculateur de valeur en ligne
Estimation gratuite à votre domicile

Plus de 30 ans
d'expérience

Notre mission Contact
Meet the team Nouvelles
Évaluation
Appelez-nous
02 687 79 90 0477 45 44 28

Retour à l'aperçu

From E-level to M-level: A New Challenge for the Housing Market

In recent years, the EPC certificate and the E-level have become established concepts in the world of energy-efficient housing. Today, EPC labels and standards such as E30 help determine how we assess a home’s energy performance.

 

A new factor may be added to this: the M-level. While the E-level primarily assesses a building’s energy performance, the M-level evaluates the environmental impact of building materials. It considers the entire life cycle of materials: from production and transportation to reuse and recycling. The lower the score, the smaller the environmental impact.

 

Sustainable and circular materials can offer an advantage in this regard, while materials that require a lot of energy and raw materials increase the score. This adds an extra ecological dimension to the way we build and renovate.

 

image-text

M-Level Aims to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Construction

 

The potential impact of the M-Level is significant. A study by VITO shows that more conscious material choices in new construction and renovation projects could reduce CO₂ emissions in Flanders by as much as 26 percent. The total environmental impact could even decrease by 41 percent.

 

This is relevant because the construction sector has a major impact on the environment. In Europe, the sector accounts for about half of raw material extraction and 36 percent of waste production. Greater focus on sustainable building materials and circular construction is therefore becoming increasingly important.

 

The figures make it clear that energy-efficient construction alone is not enough to meet the climate goals by 2050. The materials used to build homes also play an important role. The M-level could represent a new step in this regard.

 

The European guidelines are now on the table. In the coming years, the Flemish government will need to determine how the system will be implemented, monitored, and enforced in practice. Currently, the plan is to make it mandatory for new construction starting in 2030. It is not yet clear whether the M-level will also play a role in renovations at a later date.

 

How does the M-level affect a home’s value?

Homeowners who have invested in their home’s energy efficiency in recent years are increasingly seeing the benefits of that investment on the real estate market today. An energy-efficient home typically has lower energy consumption, better complies with current regulations, and is more attractive to buyers who want to limit their future energy costs.


 

Homeowners who have invested in the energy efficiency of their homes in recent years are increasingly seeing a return on that investment in today’s real estate market. An energy-efficient home typically has lower energy consumption, better complies with current regulations, and is more attractive to buyers who want to keep their future energy costs down.

 

Whether the M-score will have the same impact on property values and the marketability of real estate is, for now, more difficult to assess. The initial focus is on new construction, while its application to existing homes and renovation projects is more complex.

Furthermore, a low M-score does not currently provide the owner with an immediate direct financial benefit. For now, the added value lies primarily in the social and environmental impact of the material choices made.

 

That may change in the long term. Just as the EPC label plays a role in evaluating a home today, the environmental impact of materials could also become a more important criterion for buyers in the future. For now, however, this remains a development that remains to be seen.

 

text-image
image-text

Fewer Certificates, More Integrated Regulations

With every new regulation, the question arises as to whether yet another certificate or attestation will be required. Fortunately, according to current plans, this does not appear to be necessary for the M-level. That is good news for the real estate sector, where the accumulation of certificates, attestations, and obligations has long been a source of added complexity and costs.

 

However, the M-level does not automatically mean that construction will become cheaper. Sustainable and circular building materials can be more expensive, and their processing can also entail additional costs. The question, therefore, is to what extent building owners and investors are willing to bear those additional costs.

 

Careful implementation is therefore important. The goal of reducing the environmental impact of buildings must not lead to a further increase in construction costs or put greater pressure on housing affordability.

 

It is therefore important to integrate the environmental impact of building materials into existing processes and reporting as much as possible, for example within the EPB report. Treating energy efficiency and material use as completely separate issues would only make the regulations more complex.

 

The transition from E-level to M-level therefore primarily means that the real estate sector is evolving toward a broader definition of sustainable construction: looking not only at how much energy a home consumes, but also at the materials used to build it.


 

Van Der Schueren, B. (2026). From E-level to M-level: The Housing Market Faces a New Challenge, CIB Community. Retrieved September 10, 2026.