To do this, countries should improve MEPs for existing buildings and implement policies to increase the rate of energy performance renovations. Factoring in energy performance at the building-design and construction stage is highly cost effective and needs to be at the forefront of building energy efficiency policies. All IEA member countries should periodically set stronger energy efficiency requirements for buildings. But only Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have energy efficiency requirements that are approaching the optimal 30-year least life-cycle cost level.