The energy rehabilitation of buildings is today a reality. Faced with the climate crisis and the need to reach the decarbonization figures set, the energy consumed in buildings is emerging as one of the main focuses in which to act.
Buildings account for 30% of the final energy consumed in Spain, as stated the PNIEC (Comprehensive National Energy and Climate Plan). The cause is that more than half of the park of residential buildings in the Spanish State is before 1980. At that time, buildings were not required to incorporate insulation, which is why there is a great energy demand for to air-condition the buildings nowadays.
This energy waste has been treated during the last decades due to social and economic issues such as energy poverty and the vulnerability of a sector of the population that has difficulties to assume the expense of heating their home, as well as the high price of electricity and gas bills. It is estimated that around 10% of the population lives in conditions of energy poverty and the figure increases when we talk about significant difficulties in paying the corresponding monthly bill. However, it has not been until the urgency of the country’s decarbonisation has been confirmed, that buildings and their energy rehabilitation have been identified as a priority focus to be addressed. And it is that the figures indicate them as a sector with great potential for improvement. Thus, the buildings that have carried out the rehabilitation works have reduced their bills by 50%-60%, with the consequent energy savings and an increase in quality of life. Such is the capacity for action that the recently approved Climate Change Law has included it among the main lines of action in line with the improvement in energy efficiency. The European Green Deal sets the goal: to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Currently the state rehabilitates at a rate of 30,000 homes a year, but should increase it to 300,000 homes per year to reach the objectives set. That is why the different administrations and entity, but mainly the Efficiency Fund Energy, have expanded the resources to finance a substantial part of neighborhood investments and avoid the barrier that said disbursement supposes.
In addition to energy rehabilitation, there are other aspects that are being worked on to reduce the footprint of buildings, from the most operational to the structural ones, which aim to generate a paradigm shift in the way we understand our home : promotion of the installation of renewable energy systems in buildings to promote community self-sufficiency, changes in electricity tariffs to promote consumption in off-peak hours, efficient household appliances and boilers, promotion of the recovery of common areas for cleaning and of food production or the naturalization of buildings. Everything so that the buildings and the people who live inside begin to function as emission-neutral systems with the capacity to minimize and compensate the impacts generated.
Sarah
Environmental Scientist