All houses in Spain must have at least one certificate of efficiency D in 2033. This rating would force most homes in Spain, especially those built before 1979, to make significant investments to comply with the regulations. More than 80% of Spanish buildings and homes currently receive an E, F or G energy rating, according to data from the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). The new one Building Energy Efficiency Directive (EPBD) —which is expected to be approved between the end of 2023 and 2024— also provides for all buildings to receive an A or B energy rating from 2040.
But experts doubt that such a rapid adaptation of existing buildings is possible. Carnation Rose, expert in the technical inspection of buildings and energy efficiency certificatesensures that for a building or dwelling to reach a energy rating D It requires a quality of construction and finishes that most homes in Spain suffer from. A large part of the housing stock in Spain dates from before 1980, when construction regulations did not require insulation or safety measures. energy optimization. “In Spain it is very difficult to involve the communities of owners to face the necessary expenses in reforms to improve the energy rating,” explains Claverol as one more problem for the fulfillment of environmental objectives in buildings. In the day to day of the certifiers, they analyze everything from the insulation of the walls or windows to the heating systems, for example. Granting a D rating requires technical analyzes of transmittance (amount of energy passing through the walls, heat losses) which most homes fail.
In Claverol’s opinion, having a heating boiler from before the year 94, for example, implies a drastic drop in the energy category of the home. He describes that the houses of the 60s or 70s do not have insulation in the walls and the heating systems involve emissions that condemn most of the properties to F or G ratings.
How to improve the energy rating?
For Claverol, one way to improve the energy rating of homes is to install high-efficiency heat pump devices, which due to their low emissions can improve deficiencies of another type to some degree. The enclosures, with glass with a 12-millimeter air chamber, are also valued. The investments made are recovered after some when the electricity or gas bill becomes cheaper and the comfort of the home is gained.
“All buildings must have a energy efficiency certificate A in 2050 or, what is the same, they must be zero emissions”, affirms Dolores HuertaCEO of Green Building Council España (GBCe), a non-profit association that promotes the transformation of the building sector towards a sustainable model of the building sector. It offers tools for the evaluation and certification of buildings.
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Brussels demands the so-called Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEPS), which includes intermediate objectives until reaching that goal of 100% of buildings being zero emissions in 2050. But in Spain more than 80% of buildings and homes receive an E energy rating , F or G due to its great constructive inefficiency. This percentage is above 82% in the Spanish regions with the highest percentage of very inefficient buildings, which are the Basque Country (86.52%); Canary Islands (85.48%); Balearic Islands (84.89%); Murcia (83.84%); Valencia (83.08%) and Cantabria (82.25%), according to GBC data. Before 1980, the regulations had not entered into force. building technology standards (NTE), while the Technical building Code that obliges builders to comply with minimum efficiency standards did not come into force until 2006. MEPS They propose for non-residential buildings that in January 2030 the worst 15% of the built stock be rehabilitated and in January 2034 the next 10%. This equates to the worst 25% of the park.
The so-called Building Renovation Passport It will be mandatory from the end of 2025. It will establish the way in which each building must plan its energy rehabilitation until it complies with the regulations. That passport must also include the building’s global warming indicator, which would be mandatory from January 2027 for large buildings and by 2030 for all buildings. It would be something like the business card of each building in terms of carbon emissions throughout its useful life.