Soliclima news
Buildings in Europe will consume Zero energy starting in 2019
To those of us who were already in the renewable energy sector, it seemed, back in 2005, that an energy revolution was approaching before the 2006 Technical Building Code went into effect, which mandated by law, to include a series of measures in all new buildings, such as installing solar thermal energy to generate hot water, or high-performance lighting for the common areas. But that was only the beginning of the energy revolution.
The European parliament has approved a measure requiring, starting in December of 2018, that all new buildings in the continent, produce the energy they consume, themselves. To accomplish this, renewable energies such as solar energy and high efficiency devices like heat pumps to produce heating and cooling, will be applied.
European countries have until the end of 2010 to present their plan of action. To achieve these objectives, financial measures will be established, such as fiscal help, reduction of IVA (VAT) on goods and services related to renewable energies and energy efficiency, and direct subsidies.
The existing buildings will have to adapt also to the new energy model, but obviously, the criteria won´t be as strict as for new buildings and member States will be in charge of defining such criteria.
Just like the Technical Building Code also did at t he time, now too, a number of exceptions will be established, for instance, there will be buildings that are not going to be subject to this regulation, such as religious and historic buildings, homes smaller than 50 m2 and others.
At the same time, smart meters will be installed in all buildings, which measure, not only the energy consumption, but also when it increases.
