Assessment regarding the impact of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) on the residential market is largely inconclusive; while the majority of hedonic analyses have found EPC ratings to be correlated with prices, opinion-based research has found a negligible impact on prices and other marketing variables. Using the opinion of qualified real estate agents, this paper explores whether, in Spain, EPC labels play any role in housing marketing, as well as the policy changes required to foster efficient dwellings. The results reveal a large misunderstanding of the EPC labels, since they are seen as a global home-quality indicator, while their impact on residential marketing is quite poor. Apparently, both supply and demand place a small interest in energy performance, although it is slightly larger for sellers/buyers in relation to lenders/tenants. In any case, EPC labels are far from blurring the energy information asymmetry, since most of the buyers/tenants are informed of the EPC rating after having selected their home. Overall, the EPC scheme has a poor reputation exacerbated by inaccuracies, unintelligible units to express the financial and environmental implications of energy efficiency, and an apparent weak supervision. These findings stress the need to improve the scheme; in doing so, realtors suggest the need for some companion policies.

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Legislative initiatives regarding universal accessibility promote the elimination of architectural barriers. This is a positive measure as it aims to ensure equal rights and opportunities for disabled people, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006). One of the challenges facing society today is the determination of reasonable accommodation, a concept that encompasses those necessary modifications and adjustments which do not impose a disproportionate burden. For this purpose, technical, economic and social aspects shall be taken into consideration, as required by legislation. This paper proposes reasonable accommodation in residential buildings, taking into account the different options for its attainment, by applying a multi-criteria analysis based on a wide range of objective indicators of three types: technical, social and economic. This proposal was one of the objectives of the R + D + i Project called “VIVable-From accessible housing to sustainable housing: The essence of reasonable accommodation”. From VIVable, the fuzzy multi-criteria assessment method for determining reasonable accommodation may be totally extrapolated to other uses. At the same time, the proposed method may also be extrapolated to other countries where basic requirements for universal accessibility in buildings and equal rights of persons with disabilities are standardized.