What the directive is, in general terms
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is the European Union framework for how buildings use energy. It sets the direction for member states. New buildings should need very little energy. Existing buildings are renovated over time. Attention is growing on the carbon embodied in materials, not only the energy used in operation.
A directive does not apply to a building on its own. Each member state transposes it into national building regulations. Those national rules are what a designer, a building-control officer or a planning authority applies. The categories of building covered, any exemptions for small structures, and the figures a wall must meet are set at national level. This article gives no dates, thresholds or numbers on purpose. A dealer who needs them should read the current national rules for the destination market or ask a local designer.
What the directive does change for a timber building dealer is the conversation. Customers, architects and building-control officers ask for evidence of thermal performance more often, and earlier. The dealer that knows what to ask its manufacturer for, and what the manufacturer cannot answer, is the one that keeps those projects.
Which timber buildings the conversation touches
Whether a given building falls under national energy rules depends on its size, its use and the local transposition. A small shed is treated differently from a habitable annexe or a residential home. The dealer does not decide this; the customer's local designer or building-control route does.
In the Eurodita range, the buildings most likely to meet these questions are the habitable ones: garden offices planned for use throughout the year, granny annexes, holiday-park accommodation, residential log cabins and glulam homes. Eurodita manufactures these as timber building kits at the Eurodita factory in Lithuania, since 1994, for dealers, distributors, developers and park operators. It supplies the kit and the documentation; the finished building is completed locally.
What a manufacturer can and cannot tell you
A wall thickness is a manufacturing dimension, not a thermal performance figure. A profile establishes no thermal, fire, structural or certification performance on its own. The finished wall depends on what is fitted inside it and against it: the insulation material, the vapour control, the linings and the finishes. Those are chosen locally, because national requirements differ.
This sets the boundary for every question a dealer asks a manufacturer. The manufacturer can describe the timber element it makes. It cannot certify a wall it does not finish or a building it does not complete. A manufacturer that offers a finished-building performance figure for a kit that is assembled and insulated on site should be asked how that figure was obtained.
Three things to ask your manufacturer for
1. Element-level thermal data, with its limits stated
Ask for whatever thermal data the manufacturer holds for the wall element alone, and ask what it covers. Eurodita holds preliminary thermal data for the solid log element on its own, by thickness. It describes the log element alone. It carries no glulam-versus-solid distinction, no twin-skin row, no roof, floor or glazing figure, and no pass or fail against any building regulation. It is data about a component, not a building.
For twin-skin walls the position is firmer. No U-value, R-value or thermal figure is published for any twin-skin build-up, because the cavity holds insulation that Eurodita neither specifies nor supplies. The four build-ups, 44-50-44, 44-100-44, 58-50-58 and 58-100-58 mm, are dimensions. A total wall thickness is not a thermal figure. The boundaries are on twin-skin wall build-ups.
2. Build-up documentation the designer can calculate from
A local designer calculates the wall as it will be built. To do that, the designer needs the build-up in full, not a thickness. Ask the manufacturer for the order documentation that states it. From Eurodita, the quotation package includes 2D CAD floor plans, elevations with dimensions and a window and door schedule. It also includes a technical specification of wall, roof, floor and material parameters. With the order come the assembly drawings and the technical data sheet for the model.
The specification states each layer the factory supplies: the wall family and profile, written in full, such as 58x130 mm solid or 135x260 mm glulam; the floor bearers and 28 mm floorboards; the roof structure and roof boards; and the joinery system, IV45, IV68 or triple-glazed IV92, with the glazing recorded on the joinery line. It also states what is prepared for insulation rather than insulated. The profile reference is on wall profiles.
Ask too what the documentation does not contain. Eurodita holds no own FSC or PEFC chain-of-custody certificate. Sourcing documentation is discussed only from the actual supplier and order paperwork for a specific project. Any document a destination market requires is confirmed per order at quotation.
3. A clear statement of the local designer's role
The third thing to ask for is not a document but a boundary. Who calculates the finished wall, who chooses the insulation, and who carries the approval? At Eurodita the answer is the same for every market. The buyer's designer or engineer calculates the wall as it will be built, with the chosen insulation and finishes. The calculation is made against the rules of the destination country. The approval route stays with the buyer's local team. Structural calculations, where a project requires them, are carried out by external specialist partners working from Eurodita drawings and technical data. Eurodita gives no guarantee of approval.
The Eurodita estimator can calculate insulation thicknesses during design, but that is design support, not supply and not a compliance result. The insulation material is selected and bought locally.
How this changes the dealer's own process
- Appoint the designer early. For any habitable building, name the local designer or engineer in the first enquiry. State the destination country so the documentation route can be confirmed before the design is finalised.
- Brief the wall in full. Write 58-100-58 mm, not "58 mm twin-skin". Keep joinery on its own line; 45, 68 and 92 are joinery systems, not wall thicknesses.
- Sell the structure, not the figure. Present the kit as a structure prepared for local completion. The performance figure belongs to the designer who specifies the insulation and finishes.
- File the order documentation. The order drawings, specification and packing list are the record. A designer asked for a calculation later can work from them.
What stays the same commercially
None of this changes how Eurodita supplies. Every order is quoted in writing, in EUR, excluding VAT and delivery, EXW Eurodita factory by default. Payment is half with the order and half before dispatch. The kit ships flat packed; assembly, foundations, utilities and insulation material are local. Documentation can carry the dealer's own brand where agreed. The supply terms are on the dealer programme page, and the quotation is explained line by line on reading a Eurodita quotation.
The directive adds a reason to get the documentation right and the roles clear before the sale. A dealer that does both can answer a building-control officer with a drawing set and a named designer rather than a thickness.
For a habitable building project in an EU market, send the country, sketch, wall profile and designer's requirements through the contact page. Eurodita will confirm what the order documentation can contain and return a written quotation with the drawings.
Frequently asked questions
Does Eurodita publish a U-value for its walls?
No U-value is published for any twin-skin build-up, and no finished-wall or building figure for any thickness. Eurodita holds preliminary thermal data for the solid log element alone, which describes a component, not a building. The finished wall is calculated per project by the buyer's designer.
Who calculates the thermal performance of a Eurodita building?
The buyer's local designer or engineer, working from the order drawings, CAD and technical data, with the insulation and finishes chosen locally, against the rules of the destination country. The approval route stays with the buyer's local team.
Does Eurodita supply insulation material?
No. Eurodita supplies the timber structure prepared for insulation. The insulation material and the insulation system are selected, bought and fitted locally, because national requirements differ.
Which documents can a designer work from?
With the quotation: 2D CAD floor plans, elevations with dimensions, a technical specification and the window and door schedule. With the order: assembly drawings, the assembly guide and the technical data sheet for the model. Certification documentation is not a default enclosure; any document a market requires is confirmed per order.