BR18 already requires building automation above 290 kW. The 70 kW step returns to parliament this autumn.
Sections 298a and 298b of the Danish Building Regulations 2018 (Bygningsreglementet, BR18) require non-residential buildings with heating or cooling systems above 290 kW to have a building automation and control system: new buildings from the outset, existing buildings by 31 December 2025 where cost-effective. The EPBD 2024 package that lowers the threshold to 70 kW by 2030 lapsed with the March 2026 election and is expected to be re-tabled in autumn 2026. The Danish Technological Institute estimates the current rule covers around a fifth of Denmark's 799 million m² of building stock.
BR18 §§ 298a/298b deadline for systems above 290 kW
of Denmark's 799 million m² of building stock in scope, per the Danish Technological Institute
of household energy delivered as district heating
What BR18 asks a building to do
The system must monitor, log and benchmark energy use, detect faults, control heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and shading on demand, communicate with equipment from different manufacturers, and pass a documented functional test before the building is occupied. In BR18's own terms, the systems must work together as a unified BMS. Authority guidance points to EN ISO 52120-1 (formerly EN 15232) class B or better, and DS 469 requires room-by-room temperature control and balancing.
That last point is where Danish buildings fall short. The chair of KNX Denmark has said publicly that systems are rarely integrated into a unified BMS as BR18 requires, and that nothing gets done as long as nobody enforces it. Denmark has no periodic heating inspection regime to catch it either; efficiency advice runs through the energy label (energimærkning). Enforcement and the 70 kW step are arriving in the same period. Doing it later is a project. Doing it now is a line item.
Who is in scope
- Owners of non-residential buildings with heating, or combined heating and ventilation, above 290 kW
- Owners of buildings with cooling, or combined cooling and ventilation, above 290 kW
- Offices, retail, schools, institutions and logistics, existing stock included
- Multi-unit buildings, which must have individual remote-readable heat, hot water and cooling meters by 1 January 2027
- Exempt: existing buildings where the investment is not cost-effective, in practice a payback above 15 years
Not yet law: the BR18 amendment expected late 2026
- Threshold lowered from 290 kW to 70 kW, with existing buildings to comply by 1 January 2030
- Indoor climate monitoring and demand response added to the required functions
- A new section on monitoring and control for new and majorly renovated dwellings
- Automatic lighting control above 290 kW from 2028 and above 70 kW from 2030
- Zero-emission energy frames for new public buildings from 2028 and all new buildings from 2030; minimum energy performance standards for the worst 16% of non-residential stock by 2030 and 26% by 2033
Metering and billing duties in the same building
Individual heat, hot water and cooling meters are mandatory in multi-unit buildings where cost-effective. Every meter installed since 25 October 2020 must be remote-readable, and owners must convert or replace the remaining ones by 1 January 2027 (BEK 1383/2020). Where remote-readable meters exist, occupants must receive monthly consumption information (BEK 1168/2025).
Denmark has 100% smart electricity metering with data through DataHub and ElOverblik, and district heating tariffs reward low return temperatures. Bisly reads heat, water and cooling meters into the same system that runs the BR18 functions and optimises the substation, so the metering deadline, the monthly information duty and the return-temperature saving are handled by one installation.
Funding that applies to controls and monitoring
Programme status as at 4 September 2026. Budgets are exhausted quickly; confirm with the scheme before relying on them.
| Scheme | What is funded | Rate | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erhvervspuljen (Energistyrelsen) | Companies: energy savings including technical installations, controls, heat pumps and ventilation | DKK 0.20 per kWh saved per year; up to 50% for SMEs, 30% for large companies; minimum DKK 50,000 | 2026 round opened 2 March with DKK 217.7 million, open until exhausted |
| Håndværkerfradrag | Labour deduction for households, including installation of energy controls, heat pumps and ventilation | Up to DKK 9,000 per person | Open to 2028 |
| Energirenoveringspuljen | Homes with energy label D to G: insulation, windows, ventilation with heat recovery | Fixed grants, DKK 51.5 million in 2026 | Exhausted quickly; controls not eligible |
| Varmepumpepuljen | Replacement of oil, gas or pellet boilers with heat pumps | DKK 27,000 fixed | 2026 budget exhausted in May 2026 |
| Skrotningsordningen / Afkobling | Subscription heat pump replacing a fossil boiler; gas disconnection fee waiver | DKK 25,000; fee waiver | Final year 2026 |
Configured, not programmed
Bisly removes the engineering step from building automation. The design goes into a configurator, the installer follows the app on site, and the building comes up configured and documented. Same functions, same standards, a fraction of the specialist hours.
What that means for your building
Speed and certainty
The engineering hours come out of the project, so the price and the schedule stop moving. Fewer specialist hours, shorter commissioning, fewer return visits.
One system for the whole building
HVAC, lighting, shading, access and metering in one system, with third-party equipment integrated at gateway level. The same configuration repeats on the next site.
Compliant and measured on handover day
An EN ISO 52120-1 BMS with the continuous monitoring, logging and reporting the regulation asks for. The building meets its obligation when it opens, not in a retrofit three years later.
Why the Danish market rewards a measured approach
Denmark has the highest district heating share in Europe at around 40% of household energy, 640,000 almene dwellings with mandatory renovation funding through Landsbyggefonden, and 5 completions per 1,000 inhabitants. Substation control and heat cost allocation are core building functions here, not extras.
It is also an incumbent-heavy controls market. That is precisely why the labour argument lands: a system a local installer configures on site is not competing with the incumbents on device count. It is removing the engineering week they all depend on.
A unified BMS, configured on site
Bisly delivers exactly what BR18 asks for and what most Danish buildings lack: one EN ISO 52120-1 BMS at class B or better across HVAC, lighting, shading, access and metering, with monitoring, logging, benchmarking, fault detection and demand-based control in the base build, and a documented functional test at handover. District heating substations and third-party plant are integrated at gateway level, with the covered integrations listed before you commit.
Plant-room control lowers district heating return temperatures, which motivation tariffs reward, and delivers the documented savings Erhvervspuljen funds. Remote-readable heat, water and cooling metering with monthly consumption information is ready for the 1 January 2027 deadline. The system is already built for the 70 kW step and the demand response the next BR18 brings.
Because the building is configured rather than programmed, the payback question answers itself: fewer specialist hours put the delivered cost within reach of the building, and the handover date holds. Metering and visibility can go first, control second.
sites deployed across the Baltics, Poland and DACH
BMS functions in the base build, not as a later project
for HVAC, lighting, shading, access and metering
A phased path, starting with one building
You do not have to decide on a portfolio programme to discharge the obligation. Start with the building the deadline applies to.
- 01
Readiness assessment
We check what applies to your building, by which date, and what the system must be able to do. You get a written answer, not a brochure.
- 02
Metering and monitoring first
Continuous monitoring, logging, benchmarking and loss detection are the core of the requirement. A small decision that creates the measured baseline for everything after it.
- 03
Control where the numbers say it pays
Heating, ventilation, lighting and shading control are added building by building, configured on site by your installer rather than programmed by a specialist.
Find out where your building stands under BR18
A readiness assessment of one building: whether §§ 298a and 298b apply, what the system must do, and the path from metering to a unified BMS.
Other markets with a dated obligation
This page summarises national legislation for commercial orientation and is not legal advice. Thresholds, dates and exemptions should be confirmed against the official text and the competent authority for your building.