Most Spanish homes are neither designed nor built to deal with extreme weather events, such as the successive heat waves recorded this summer of 2022. And it is not for lack of air conditioning units. Its lack of adaptation is due to the fact that the majority of homes built in our country (in the transition and during the ‘boom’ before 2008) did not have the legal obligation to comply with technical standards (the so-called ‘Technical Building Code’). ‘) to prepare households well for inclement weather.
Pulling energy and emitting more emissions that contribute to global warming with heating and cooling systems were the only solutions until a decade ago. Now there is a regulation that requires taking into account the energy cost of a building, but only for the most recent ones. Consequence? Most constructions are not efficient.
Thus, and in the face of a climate change scenario that is underway, reversing this situation is imperative. The need to undertake the energy rehabilitation of homes is in the social debate and in the economic plans of governments.
The maximum exponent of this reality is the European aid for the rehabilitation of houses in order to have to consume less energy in summer or winter. To them are also added local aid and incentives to carry out works that insulate and improve the comfort of buildings.
Dolores Huerta, an architect since 1999 linked to sustainable building throughout her career, is the new CEO
Green Building Council Spain (GBCe), association of companies and experts specialized in construction aligned with the environment and its care. Recently appointed to her position, she reviews the impact of construction in Spain and the tools we have at hand to change our way of inhabiting the world.
-What requirements must a home meet to deserve the surname ‘sustainable’?
-That it has a low environmental impact (referring to low C02 emissions), that it is efficient in the use of energy and water, that it has the smallest carbon footprint possible (both in the use of energy and materials), that provides health, that does not make us sick and that makes us less vulnerable to climate change. This has to do with the quality of the air that is breathed inside, its light, its acoustics… Those things that make us feel good are also part of this concept. And as a last point, that it recovers in some way the space and the biodiversity that it occupies, letting the green grow inside and outside of it. Any house rehabilitated with these criteria will be sustainable.
-What is the environmental cost of the construction as a whole?
-It has cost us to have them, but fortunately today we already have figures. The sector is responsible for 30% of global carbon emissions, a third of energy expenditure and consumes up to 50% of the materials that are extracted go to the construction sector. To this we must add a very high percentage in the generation of waste.
-About emissions, what are they due to?
-Much comes from the use of buildings. We have a stock of buildings (housing and non-housing) that are very old and very inefficient. They were all made (after the dictatorship and in the ‘boom’ before 2008) before it was realized that they needed a lot of energy; it was built as if energy were free. And that is where a large part of the emissions are. The sector is aware that rehabilitation has become a priority. Although the first urgency refers to the conservation problems of many of them, energy rehabilitation can improve buildings and make them more efficient and useful.
housing reform
“European funds for energy rehabilitation are a bargain. With a little ambition you can reach up to 80% of the investment»
-And the rest, the construction itself?
-It has to do with the extraction of materials and construction products, which are many. It’s like with cars. If you compare the current ones with those of 20 years ago, the ones of now are much bigger. It also happens to the houses we build now: they have to meet these high environmental and quality requirements, which makes their CO2 footprint very large. Right now, in general, people are not very aware of it and it is not measured. Nor has it been proposed in any sector strategy, private or public, that it be built in another way.
-Now in the midst of a heat wave, with the energy crisis and the saving measures that are coming, the quality of the houses is evident. European funds allocate money for energy rehabilitation and thus consume less energy to heat or cool them. How do you rate its acceptance and application?
-We find ourselves with the whiting that bites its tail: in society there is a concern to be sustainable, but few of us have the solutions in hand. In addition, some proposals go through changes that we do not like (less car, less meat…) and we tend to look the other way because a change in lifestyle generates rejection. In the case of rehabilitation it also happens: Who wants to get involved in works and above all agreeing with the community? These are changes that do not generate massive support. In my community, for example, it has taken us a year just to come to an agreement. Society needs time to process the changes, but the speeds that citizens need are not in step with the bureaucratic process. These European funds for rehabilitation come with a very limited time. They can be spent until 2026 but can only be requested until the end of 2023. Until now, there has been a delay in opening the windows except in three autonomous communities. Thus, there is the perverse effect that there are paralyzed works pending subsidies. As for the funds themselves, they are a bargain. Right now, if you have a little ambition, you can cover up to 80% of the investment, the next day you start saving and over time the house can be revalued.
-You mentioned the generation of waste. Has recycling come to construction?
-The circular economy is the other great challenge of the sector. That is, not to depend on natural materials, because they are finite. As is now the case with energy, there may be a crisis with sand and other materials. Against these, the city itself is the new mine: waste of all kinds can be recycled to generate new materials for urban planning. This is stated theoretically but little advanced in practice. And it is where we have to focus in these years. From the strategic and regulatory level, to the instruments that professionals need. The manufacturing companies have been getting their act together, but I would tell you that they are a minority that work with these strategies.
respectful materials
“We know that cement is not the best material from an environmental point of view, but it is cheaper and is the most versatile for laying foundations; there is no natural substitute”
-Speaking of materials, cement is one of the most polluting. When will his ‘reign’ end?
-It’s not just the cement. In construction we have three large families of pollutants: steel, aluminum and glass are the great heavyweights. If we talk about cement, it is still used for its versatility and because it is a cheap material, although we are aware that it is not ideal from an environmental point of view. This will take time to change if it is also taken into account that there are few alternatives for building foundations, which do not have a natural substitute. Much more R+D+i is needed to generate concrete and cement with less CO2.
-Why is wood not being used more for the structure of buildings? Is it so expensive?
-It is not so much because of its cost: there are woods that are beginning to come in price. The first thing to consider is where you buy that wood. We bought all of it from Finland and Austria and that makes it very expensive. Spain has exploited wood to make biomass and until now there were hardly any companies dedicated to manufacturing wood for structures. Now there are three large Spanish firms that are beginning to do so and, with this, they can change things, although it will take time. Without a doubt, the wooden structure is the best, the most valuable. The building weighs less and minimizes the impact of the foundation, which must be made of concrete.
-What innovative ‘green’ materials do you see as possibilities for the future?
-The ashes make the best concrete in the world. Don’t throw away all that ash: it’s worth its weight in gold! But the truth is that there is no material on the scale demanded by the voracious society in which we live. Yes, low-emission concrete and steel or cements with less clinker (the main component of cement, obtained from calcining clay, calcite and other compounds) are investigated. But what we must do is not wait for the future, but use the least polluting technology at all times. And of course continue researching in R+D+i. Large producers have to lower their process emissions, both in the chemical transformation of C02-emitting materials, and in their energy use, and switch to renewables and hydrogen as quickly as possible. As for materials based on nature, they have the opposite challenge: clay, straw, cork… have to be industrialized. Right now they do not respond to a sector that does demand them.
circular economy
“The city will become the mine itself; materials can be recycled to be used in the works and thus reduce the use of finite natural resources such as sand»
-The solution to sustainability involves making all those new houses, sometimes exclusive for an elite, with an environmental certificate of excellence?
-Well, many are not for the elite. There is everything. There are efficient and quality VPOs in the Basque Country at official housing prices. On the other hand, there are standards that certify many aspects (tightness, thermography, etc.) with quality design and execution that result in homes that are like a Ferrari. But sustainability is about striking a balance. The materials must be used as very precious goods; build as little as possible and rehabilitate much more; because with this you recover houses and part of the city. Today true wonders can be done in rehabilitation and thus take advantage of the carbon investment that has already been made in everything that was built.
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