2023-11-13 17:48:32
Science fiction has always tried to imagine what they will be like houses of the future: managed by robots, with communications via holograms, sensors everywhere or, directly, converted into spaceships. But, in reality, there is a parameter that all future homes will have to meet is that they are climate-responsible. In fact, this is already a matter of the present, given the imperative need to reduce pollutant emissions to avoid an increase in the planet’s average temperature above 1.5 degrees.
In Spain, 20% of total energy expenditure comes from the housing stock. And within this percentage, 47% of energy consumption in a home corresponds to heating, according to data from the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE). It is therefore an area that can and must improve, especially now that winter is approaching. A gesture that would also mean savings for families on their bills. Fortunately, there are several strategies to reduce the energy consumption that a home needs to heat up. Some even start at the same time of their construction, as is the case of the bioclimatic house This video explains its main features:
The bioclimatic house, therefore, is one that is designed expressly to take advantage of natural resources to air-condition it, reducing the need for energy as much as possible. And it is not only about innovating, but also about recovering traditional construction techniques. The architect Juli Capella explains it clearly in the article ‘The house of the future: like the good ones of the past’ on the occasion of the celebration of the 45 years of El Periódico: “The new house will necessarily be ecological, like the popular architecture of old, which took into account the orientation, the cross ventilation, the sun, the views. […]. All housing will have to adopt the passive house concept, more efficient, zero energy, or even better, generator of energy surplus”.
Rehabilitate with energy criteria
Obviously, it is not possible to demolish and build the entire housing stock again, so the concepts associated with the bioclimatic house must be achieved above all through a tool that has been defined as key to achieving the goals of reducing emissions: energy rehabilitation. In this sense, of the 19 million first residences in Spain, half were built before 1980 and would need an update, as Capella explains. For that, European Next Generation funds have focused on this practice and entities such as BBVA make products available to their clients like the Energy Efficiency Loan, to tackle those reforms that reduce energy consumption. For example, the insulation of facades and the replacement of windowsamong other performances.
In fact, in around 25% of the heating that is spent in a house is due to the loss of heat through the windows. For this reason, installing more efficient ones that conserve heat and insulate from the cold will be an investment that will pay off in all seasons and that, in less than 10 years, will save more than 1,500 euros in energy In addition to implying a significant reduction in pollutant emissions. In the other hand, a correct insulation of the facades allows to counteract the excessive consumption of air conditioning due to poor construction. It can be carried out in several ways: with an insulating panel on the outside, with an air chamber inside the wall or with interior linings.
Solar panels and aerothermia
Another common element of an energy rehabilitation is to incorporate photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the building. These can be of two types. On the one hand, there are thermal solar panels, which aim to use the sun’s energy for domestic hot water or to power the heating. On the other hand, the photovoltaic panels designed for the self-consumption of electricity both in the common areas in the communities of owners and in the homes. Other usual actions are the renovation of the central boiler with another of sustainable origin, such as biomass; or the change of the old air conditioning systems for a high efficiency system, such as aerothermiaalso known as a heat pump.
It is a clean energy, as it transforms the energy stored in the form of heat outside to provide sanitary hot water, heating and cooling with high efficiency. And the fact is that every kWh that an aerothermia system consumes of electricity provides 4 kWh of heat. Another system that is gaining followers is geothermal energy, which takes advantage of the high temperatures of the earth’s subsoil to generate both cold and heat in a home.
Small gestures of sustainability
Finally, there is a strategy that does not require any kind of work or external action to reduce energy consumption from air conditioning: put into practice small sustainable habits. Which includes from purging the water radiators – the most common in Spanish homes – so that the presence of air does not diminish their effectiveness or dressing the home in winter with insulating elements such as carpets and thick curtains.
Another of the most effective and easy measures is to reduce the temperature on the thermostat. IDAE recommends, whenever possible, adjust the thermostat to 20-21 degrees and wear warm clothes to be at home, lower the blinds at night so that the heat does not escape and draw the curtains to avoid the cold from the windows. At night, it should be turned off or, in very cold areas or poorly insulated houses, adjust the thermostat to 15-17 degrees. As the public body reminds, for every degree centigrade in which the temperature of a building or a home increases, energy consumption increases by 7%, as does heating expenditure and CO2 emissions. And it is in our hands to prevent it.
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