Public places, as well as your own home, are places where most of your day-to-day life takes place. These can range from the flat or house where we live, the office where we work, the commercial centre where we work, the shopping centre where we shop, the school where we study or the bar where we meet friends. These are the places where we spend a large part of our time and are therefore essential places to go beyond the fight against climate change and increase the promotion of energy savings.
All together, buildings consume 40% of the EU’s energy and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, created mainly during their construction, use, renovation and demolition, according to European Commission statistics. In Spain, this figure varies, as it is somewhat lower than in the EU, but it is still high, as it accounts for 30% of the country’s total energy consumption and is responsible for approximately 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
This massive consumption is mainly due to the fact that 75% of the EU’s building stock is energy inefficient. Most of the energy consumed in this environment is wasted. Therefore, in order to save energy and combat climate change, it is necessary to promote the sustainable construction and renovation of buildings to increase their energy efficiency.
How to ensure the energy efficiency of your home
The energy efficiency of a building is assessed by considering the energy required for its operation and the average performance of the system providing this energy, focusing mainly on the following axes:
- Air conditioning and air-conditioning consumption: heating and cooling.
- Consumption of systems covering the hygienic and sanitary needs of buildings: indoor air ventilation and hygiene and hot water production for domestic use (hot water).
- Analysis of systems covering the needs of artificial lighting in buildings.
Once the need to reduce energy expenditure has been calculated, various actions are carried out to achieve this, including the following:
- Upgrades of energy-consuming systems: heating, air conditioning, ventilation, lighting, household appliances. The aim is to replace them with others that are more efficient and emit less CO2 into the atmosphere.
- Integration of renewable energies in all possible areas of construction. Various types can be used, including solar heat, geothermal heat and air heat.
- Improved insulation and waterproofing, i.e. the protection provided by the building against the passage of water and air.
- Thermal bridging, d. h From a place where heat is easily transferred into the building. B. Window.
- Renewed lighting with LED system.
In short, the importance of energy efficiency in buildings is now a clear necessity; its realisation is a matter of proper planning and requires a large investment, but these are very beneficial in the long run.
