What can "energy efficient" mean for a flat in Georgia?
In Georgian sales material, "energy-efficient" and "eco" are marketing words. Brochures mention efficient materials or low-emission glass, but on 3 November 2026 we found no Tbilisi or Batumi listing that gave an energy class. The phrase alone tells you nothing you can check.
Two legal acts give it a measurable meaning. Georgia's 2020 Law on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, adopted on 21 May, creates certificates with a class from A to G. Government Resolution No 354 of 13 July 2021 caps heat loss through walls, roofs and windows. For a buyer, one date links them: whether the building permit was applied for before or after 30 June 2022.
What does the A to G class actually say?
Article 2(თ) of the law defines the class as "an easily understood measure of a building's energy efficiency expressed in Latin letters from A to G inclusive". The certificate that carries it must show the building's assessed efficiency next to the minimum required values, so an owner or tenant can decide on a sale or letting, plus cost-optimal recommendations for improvement (Article 7(2)). It is valid for 10 years (Article 7(9)). Since 31 December 2025 the law also names the owner of "part of the building", such as a flat, among those who must arrange it (Article 7(4)-(5)).
What the letters mean in numbers is left to a Government act on certification (Article 7(1)). We could not find that act in force, so we cannot say how many kWh per m² a year separate class B from class C. Anyone quoting such a band should name its source.
Who may sign a certificate, and who may not?
Only an independent expert may certify (Article 9(1)). The law excludes the building's designer, the developer or builder, suppliers of its energy equipment, the firm that maintains it and installers of energy-saving measures (Article 9(6)). A certificate signed by the developer's own side does not meet the law.
Government Resolution No 107 of 8 April 2025 says who qualifies: individuals certified by an accredited body, accredited legal entities, experts on World Bank, EBRD and similar projects, and bodies or persons authorised in EU or OECD countries. Until 31 December 2026 inclusive, anyone who has issued at least 3 certificates in the last 6 years may also apply.
The expert must file each certificate with the Ministry within 10 working days, and the Ministry enters it in its register within 5 working days (Article 10(5)-(6)). The law says the expert list is published on the Ministry's website (Article 9(5)), but on 3 November 2026 we found neither list nor register online. Ask the expert for proof of registration.
Must a sale or rent advert show the class?
Yes, when a certificate exists. If a certified building, part of one or a certified unit is offered for sale or rent, the class or indicator from the certificate must be included in the advertisement (Article 7(8)). Leaving it out costs the owner GEL 200, doubled for a repeat (Article 15). The separate fines for having no certificate are on our building specification page.
So a listing without a class proves nothing, because the duty applies only once a certificate has been made. A listing that does print "Class A" should be backed by a certificate from an independent expert; without one, it is a sales claim.
Are certificates being issued in practice?
On paper, certifying new buildings and flats sold or let has been required since 30 June 2023 (Article 20(5)). The Energy Community Secretariat, which monitors Georgia's energy laws, reported in December 2025 that by-laws exist for the calculation software, expert accreditation and the registry of certificates, while the "remaining by-laws, which also transpose new requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, have been drafted but await formal adoption". Its 2023 report listed the certification rules among the drafts. On 3 November 2026 we found no later adoption in the official legal database, though we cannot rule it out.
A second question comes from Law No 4311 of 27 June 2024, in force since 31 December 2025. Its transitional Article 2(1) says that until 1 January 2028 "this Law" does not extend to buildings whose permit application was filed before 30 June 2022, except those owned or used by administrative bodies. Read literally, "this Law" is Law No 4311 itself, so only its own changes are paused; the duty to certify existing flats sold or let (Article 7(3)) was not amended. A wider reading is possible; a lawyer should confirm.
Which dates decide the rules for your building?
Ask the developer when the building-permit application was filed, not when the permit was issued or work began.
| Date | What it marks |
|---|---|
| 30 June 2022 | Resolution No 354 limits bind permit applications filed after this date; earlier ones are "existing" buildings under the 2024 amendment |
| 30 June 2023 | Certification duties, including for flats sold or let, take effect |
| 31 December 2025 | Law No 4311 changes in force; appliance energy labels mandatory |
| 31 December 2026 | Transitional rule on who may certify ends |
| 30 September 2027 | Buildings of administrative bodies applied for later must be nearly zero-energy |
| 1 January 2028 | Law No 4311 changes reach buildings applied for before 30 June 2022 |
| 30 September 2029 | Every building applied for later must be nearly zero-energy (Article 6) |
The nearly zero-energy rule does not bind where it would not be cost-effective over the building's life, and no flat on sale today falls under it. If a developer calls a building "nearly zero-energy", ask which certificate or calculation shows it.
How well insulated are Georgian homes today?
Very few are. Geostat's household energy survey, covering 1 May 2021 to 1 May 2022, asked which parts of each home were thermally insulated.
| Element | All Georgia | Urban |
|---|---|---|
| External walls | 4.8% | 4.8% |
| Ceiling | 5.2% | 4.6% |
| Floor | 4.0% | 3.9% |
| External windows | 48.0% | 55.3% |
In towns, roughly 1 household in 20 lived behind insulated walls, while about half had insulated windows. The stock is old: 65.1% of households lived in homes completed in 1951-1990, and under 2% in homes completed after 2010 (our sum of the table rows).
A World Bank study of March 2021 logged indoor temperatures from mid-February to early March 2019: about 18-19 °C in the afternoon and evening and about 14 °C in the early morning. 85% of the sample had neither wall nor roof insulation, and the study notes that un-upgraded Soviet-era blocks "require substantially more energy to heat" than later ones. See also Soviet block or new building.
How much heat does a modern envelope save?
We found no measured comparison of a Georgian Soviet block with a post-2010 one, only a model. In a report on its Tbilisi Urban Regeneration Energy Efficiency Project (second phase, about 2020), the World Bank modelled a typical 8-storey Tbilisi block in use since 1966. Its walls have a U-value of 1.64 W/m²K and its windows 4.57.
The retrofit case brings walls to 0.38, the attic floor to 0.30 and windows to 1.8 W/m²K, exactly the Resolution No 354 limits for Tbilisi, and adds heat-recovery ventilation. It is the closest sourced picture of a flat built to today's minimum, but it models a renovated Soviet block, not a new building. By our arithmetic, the old wall loses about 4.3 times as much heat per m² as the limit allows, and the old window about 2.5 times.
| Use | As built | At Resolution No 354 values |
|---|---|---|
| Heating | 147.1 | 51.5 |
| Ventilation | 35.3 | 16.0 |
| Hot water | 32.8 | 32.8 |
| Total, all uses | 231.7 | 116.1 |
Heating need falls by about 65%. Per m² of heated area (our division of the report's figures), new windows save about 45 kWh a year, wall insulation about 43, ventilation about 18 and attic insulation about 10. The baseline assumes full heating; in Geostat's survey 43.2% of households heated 30 m² or less.
What could that mean for a gas bill?
Our own calculation for a 60 m² Tbilisi flat heated fully by a gas boiler, with every input shown:
| Step | Soviet-standard envelope | Resolution No 354 envelope |
|---|---|---|
| Heating need per m² | 147.1 kWh | 51.5 kWh |
| For 60 m² | 8,826 kWh | 3,090 kWh |
| Gas at 8.83 kWh per m³ | about 1,000 m³ | about 350 m³ |
| Cost at GEL 0.53971 per m³ | about GEL 540 | about GEL 189 |
The difference is about 650 m³ of gas, or about GEL 350 a year (about USD 135 at the National Bank rate of GEL 2.5973 on 3 November 2026). Hot water is unchanged by insulation.
Limits: 8.83 kWh per m³ is the minimum calorific value of gas, so our m³ and lari are at the upper end; the World Bank figures are delivered energy, so we added no boiler efficiency; many owners of old flats pay less because they stay colder; and Law No 1903 of 28 October 2026 allows tiered household gas tariffs, so prices for heavy users may change (see heating an apartment).
In Batumi the saving is much smaller: the heating season is shorter and Resolution No 354 allows weaker walls and windows. We found no Batumi energy study and no Georgian data on air-conditioning use.
Are there grants or green mortgages for efficient flats?
On 3 November 2026 we found no state or Tbilisi City Hall subsidy for insulating a flat or facade; the City Hall repair programme for homeowners' associations covers roofs, lifts and pipes, with no insulation line we could find. The Energy Community Secretariat wrote in December 2025 that Georgia "currently lacks dedicated financial support schemes for energy efficiency measures targeting energy-poor households". EU and KfW programmes we found target public buildings such as schools.
Loans exist. The EBRD's Green Economy Financing Facility lends up to USD 54 million through Georgian partner banks, including TBC and ProCredit, to residential and commercial clients for efficiency and renewables. Current household terms we could not confirm.
We found no published green-mortgage discount at TBC Bank or Bank of Georgia. In February 2021 ProCredit Bank Georgia announced "attractive conditions (standard -0.5%)" for buildings certified under EDGE, a voluntary international green label separate from the A to G certificate; whether this still applies, or covers flat buyers, is not confirmed. Ask your bank, and get any discount in writing.
What do appliance energy labels add?
Under Georgia's Law on Energy Labelling No 5688 of 20 December 2019, which follows EU Regulation 2017/1369, labelling rules for air conditioners, fridges, space heaters, boilers and heat pumps for water heating circuits up to 70 kW, water heaters, dishwashers, lamps and ventilation units apply from 31 December 2025 (for example Resolutions No 330 and No 364 of October 2024).
If a developer supplies a boiler, air conditioners or a ventilation unit with the flat, ask for the model and its label. Windows were not in the lists we found; a window's heat loss comes from the maker's declaration, not a statutory label. How the rules treat stock already in shops before that date we could not confirm.
What can a buyer check before signing?
Ask for the legal items; do not assume them. While the certification rules are incomplete, a developer may honestly have no certificate.
- Permit application date. Filed after 30 June 2022 means the Resolution No 354 limits apply and the 2024 pause does not.
- Assessment and certificate. Off-plan, ask for the future energy-efficiency assessment and write the certificate into the contract for commissioning. If none exists, note the reply.
- The signer. Not the developer, builder, designer or equipment supplier; ask for the expert's registration.
- A class in the advert. Ask for the certificate behind it.
- U-values in the annex. Walls, roof and windows, plus insulation material and thickness.
- Insulation on site. At a frame visit, look for boards on external walls before plaster, and at balcony slabs and window openings.
- Ventilation. Ask how fresh air enters each room; in Batumi read about humidity and mould.
- Resale bills. Ask for 12 months of gas and electricity bills. Geostat's urban household used 1,345 m³ of gas and 2,002.7 kWh a year in 2021-22. Our suggestion, not a legal right.
After buying, see putting the utility accounts in your name.
Risks and exceptions
- Trusting the word "efficient". Without U-values or a certificate it is advertising.
- Assuming a certificate exists. The rules that would make certificates routine were still awaiting adoption in December 2025.
- A certificate from the wrong person. One signed by the developer's side does not meet Article 9(6).
- Mixing up the dates. A permit applied for before 30 June 2022 is not bound by today's heat-loss limits.
- Insulation without ventilation. A sealed flat with no fresh-air path invites condensation and mould.
Frequently asked questions
Do Georgian flats have an energy class from A to G?
The law provides for one, defined in Article 2(თ) and printed on a certificate valid for 10 years. On 3 November 2026 we found no listing showing a class and no published class bands.
Must the seller give me an energy certificate?
The law says so for flats sold or let, but the Government certification rules were still awaiting adoption in December 2025. A 2024 amendment pauses its own changes until 2028 for buildings applied for before 30 June 2022; whether it pauses more is unclear. Ask, and have a lawyer check your case.
Can the developer certify its own building?
No. Article 9(6) excludes the developer, builder, designer, equipment suppliers and maintenance firms of that building.
How much can insulation save on heating in Tbilisi?
In a World Bank model, heating need fell from 147.1 to 51.5 kWh per m² a year. Our calculation for a 60 m² gas-heated flat gives about GEL 350 a year at the 2026 tariff.
Is there a grant or green-mortgage discount?
On 3 November 2026 we found no state or City Hall insulation grant and no published retail green-mortgage discount; EBRD-backed green loans exist through partner banks.
If you plan to let the flat, see running costs of a let flat; to price new windows or insulation in a flat you already own, try the renovation cost calculator.
Sources
- Law of Georgia on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, No 5900, Parliament of Georgia, 21 May 2020, consolidated text (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Law No 4311 amending the Law on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, Parliament of Georgia, 27 June 2024 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Resolution No 107 on the certification of energy auditors, independent experts and inspectors, Government of Georgia, 8 April 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Resolution No 354 on minimum energy-efficiency requirements for buildings, Government of Georgia, 13 July 2021, as amended (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Resolution No 330, technical regulation on energy labelling of household space heaters, Government of Georgia, 3 October 2024 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Resolution No 364 on energy labelling of space and combination heaters, Government of Georgia, 23 October 2024 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Energy labelling workshop, Business Association of Georgia, 26 December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Annual Implementation Report 2025, Energy Community Secretariat, December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Georgia Annual Implementation Report 2023, Energy Community Secretariat, 1 November 2023 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Energy Consumption in Households, National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), 2022 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Tbilisi Urban Regeneration Energy Efficiency Project - Second Phase, World Bank, about 2020 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- State of Underheating in Georgia and Estimation of Associated Economic Costs, World Bank, March 2021 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- GEFF Georgia facilities, EBRD Green Economy Financing Facility (accessed 3 November 2026)
- GEFF in Georgia newsletter, Q1 2023, EBRD Green Economy Financing Facility, 2023 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Green Building Finance Programme with Sintali-SGS, ProCredit Bank Georgia, 10 February 2021 (accessed 3 November 2026)
Change log
- - Explainer published from the Law on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, Law No 4311, Energy Community reports, Geostat and World Bank studies.