For a long time, a home's energy label was a formality when selling. That has changed. A better label means lower energy costs, a higher sale price, a more favourable mortgage rate with some lenders and, for landlords of homes with label E, F or G, a legal requirement from 2029: at least label D. At the same time, there are many misconceptions about what raises a label. Solar panels on a draughty house do not deliver the label the brochure promises, and a new central heating boiler changes virtually nothing about the label. In this article you can read how the label is calculated, which measures really count, in which order it is best to take them and why good advice beforehand yields more than the most expensive installation.
This is how the energy label is determined
Since 1 January 2021, the energy label for homes has been determined according to NTA 8800, the Dutch calculation method for the energy performance of buildings. A certified energy adviser visits your home, measures it and records which insulation, glazing, installations and ventilation are present. From that data, the software calculates the home's primary fossil energy use in kilowatt hours per square metre of usable floor area per year. That figure determines the letter: from A with several pluses for very efficient homes to G for homes without any significant insulation. The label is registered in the national database EP-online and is valid for ten years.
Important to know: the label says something about the home, not about your behaviour. How high you set the thermostat plays no role. What does count is everything that is demonstrably present. Insulation that the adviser cannot see or for which you have no proof, such as invoices or photos taken during the renovation, is estimated on the basis of the year of construction, and that estimate usually comes out low. So keep all documents relating to insulation work and ask your contractor to take photos before the insulation is covered up.
These measures make the biggest difference
The calculation mainly rewards reducing the heat demand: how much energy the home needs to stay warm. Only after that does the method look at how efficiently that heat is generated. In decreasing order of effect:
- Roof insulation. Heat rises; in older homes an uninsulated roof is the biggest source of heat loss. You can insulate on the inside between and under the rafters, or on the outside if the roof covering is being replaced anyway. A roofer often combines the latter with new tiles or a new covering on a flat roof.
- Wall insulation. If your home has a cavity wall, cavity wall insulation is often the measure with the shortest payback period. Homes without a cavity, roughly those built before 1920, need external wall insulation or insulated lining walls on the inside; that is more invasive, but the effect on the label is large.
- Floor insulation or insulating the bottom of the crawl space: less effect on the label than roof and walls, but a clear comfort benefit thanks to a warmer floor.
- Glazing. Replacing single glazing or old double glazing with HR++ or triple glazing counts heavily, certainly in homes with a lot of glass. Watch out for the frames: triple glazing is heavier and thicker and does not fit every existing frame.
- Draught-proofing and ventilation. Gaps and cracks around frames, roof penetrations and where the floor meets the outer wall let warm air escape. Sealing them helps, but an airtight home must have controlled ventilation. Mechanical ventilation with CO2 control or heat recovery counts positively in the calculation and prevents damp and mould.
- Hybrid heat pump or full heat pump. A hybrid heat pump takes over most of the heating from the boiler and delivers a substantial jump in label, provided the home is reasonably well insulated. In a poorly insulated home the boiler still runs for many hours and the effect is limited. First have a heating engineer or installer assess whether your radiators are large enough for a lower flow temperature.
- Solar panels count in the calculation because they reduce the fossil energy that the home buys in. But they change nothing about the home's heat demand and so do nothing about draughts, cold walls or a high gas bill in winter. On paper, panels partly compensate for poor insulation; in practice they do not. A solar water heater for hot tap water counts as well.
What hardly counts: a new HR (high-efficiency) boiler replacing an old HR boiler, smart thermostats, LED lighting and new radiators. Those are fine investments for your comfort or your bill, but they are not label measures.
The right order: first the building envelope, then the installations
Virtually every energy adviser uses the same order, known in the world of sustainability as the trias energetica: first limit the energy demand, then use sustainable sources and use fossil energy as efficiently as possible. Translated to your home: first insulate the roof, walls, floor and glazing and ensure good ventilation; then choose a heat source that suits the new, lower heat demand; and finally install solar panels for the remaining electricity use.
The order matters for three reasons. Firstly, a heat pump sized for an uninsulated home becomes far too large and too expensive as soon as you do insulate later. Secondly, insulation measures can get in each other's way: external wall insulation after fitting new frames means doing the junctions twice. Thirdly, the government has set a Standaard voor woningisolatie (home insulation standard) that indicates when a home's envelope is good enough to go gas-free; that standard looks only at the insulation and not at panels or installations. If your home meets the standard, it is ready for any heat source.
Where possible, combine insulation with planned maintenance. A roof that is being re-covered anyway is the moment for external insulation; a wall that is being repointed or painted, the moment for cavity wall insulation; a new bathroom, the moment for floor insulation and a ventilation duct. That saves scaffolding costs and disruption. How to plan a renovation in phases is explained in How to prepare for a renovation.
Why a better label carries ever more weight
Letting. Under the Dutch central government's plans, owners of rented homes with energy label E, F or G must bring those homes up to at least energy label D by 1 January 2029 at the latest. According to the government, there will explicitly be no ban on letting: the municipality supervises and can require a landlord who does not comply to improve the home after all. Exceptions are planned, including for listed buildings and for apartments where the VvE (owners' association) rejects the necessary work on the building. In mid-2026 the scheme was still before the Tweede Kamer and Eerste Kamer (the Dutch House of Representatives and Senate) for review; check the current status on rijksoverheid.nl before you make decisions. Apart from that, the energy label already counts in the woningwaarderingsstelsel (the points system for rented homes): a better label earns points and therefore a higher maximum rent, a poor label costs points.
Selling. When selling, a valid energy label is mandatory; without a label you risk a fine from the Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate). Research by estate agents and banks consistently shows that homes with a green label sell faster and fetch a higher price than comparable homes with a red label, although the effect differs by region and type of home.
Mortgage. A number of lenders offer an interest rate discount for homes with a good energy label or for a renovation that demonstrably improves the label, and the lending standards allow extra room for energy-saving measures. The conditions differ per bank; ask your mortgage adviser about them and calculate the effect over the full term.
Energy bill and comfort. The most direct benefit is that an insulated home uses less energy, is more evenly warm and stays cooler in summer. Which grants and loans can help with this is explained in Sustainable renovation: grants and options.
Energy adviser and maatwerkadvies
Before you request quotes, it is wise to have a maatwerkadvies (tailored energy advice report) drawn up by a certified energy adviser. Unlike when recording a label, the adviser looks ahead: which measures suit this home, in which order, what they yield in energy savings and label steps, and how costs and savings compare. Such a report prevents you from taking measures that yield little, and gives you a well-founded list of requirements for the quotes. In many cases there is a grant scheme for a maatwerkadvies; you can find the current conditions at the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency).
An independent starting point is Verbeterjehuis from Milieu Centraal (the Dutch independent information centre on energy and the environment). There you enter the characteristics of your home and see which measures are suitable, roughly how much they save and which schemes apply. Use it as preparation for the conversation with the adviser and the contractor, not as a replacement for it.
Finally, do not forget the rules. Insulation on the inside and solar panels within the roof surface usually need no permit, but external wall insulation that changes the appearance, a heat pump on a listed building or panels in a protected townscape may require a permit, and noise requirements at the property boundary apply to the outdoor unit of a heat pump. For more on this, read When do you need a permit for a renovation.
On VerbouwPro you post your insulation or installation job free of charge, and contractors, roofers and installers from your area respond with a verified profile and reviews. In your job description, state which label you have now and which measures from the maatwerkadvies you want carried out; tradespeople who are used to sustainability work will ask about that themselves.