Emissions in the residential sector are also quite high by international comparisons, with 1.3 tonne per capita v.v. Energy performance could be finther improved by increasing the rate of renovation of the building stock and indeed the government plans to encourage further energy-efficient building refiirbishments (IEA, 2009). These measures are welcome as they could usefully complement the price signal of a carbon tax. The 2002/2007 Energy Saving Ordinance has been amended to introduce stricter norms in 2009 (energy performance increased by 30%) and made energy certification of buildings compulsory w'hen they are constructed, sold, leased or rented out (in line with the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive). These subsidies are provided on a first-come-first-serve principle, suggesting high deadweight losses. Given that available resources are limited, such subsidies, in particular grants, should be targeted to low income households and credit constrained firms, which otherwise may not have the capacity to finance profitable energy-efficient investment.