New buildings in Malaga, Spain must use solar panels to supply residents with hot water
In Malaga solar panels will have to meet 70 per cent of a building’s hot water requirements – Planning permission can only be granted if plans allow for the use of renewable energy
Pilar R. Quirós
Source: SUR /Newspaper for southern spain
http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=9748
This autumn Spain has taken one step further towards the use of renewable energy. The new Technical Building Code, in force since September 28th, is quite demanding when it comes to new buildings. In fact, all the developers who have applied or apply for planning permission for a block of flats after that date have to produce plans for the construction of solar panels to supply the households with hot water.
The Code does, however, bear in mind the normal hours of sunshine in the different Spanish regions. In the case of Malaga, which is located in bioclimatic zone IV, along with Cadiz, Granada and Jaén, solar panels must meet 70 per cent of the building’s inhabitants’ demand for hot water. In the case of the building having heated swimming pools, the solar panels must cover 60 per cent of the building’s demands. Under normal conditions it is estimated that the average person uses an average of 30 litres of hot water a day, therefore an average household with four members requires 120 litres a day, explains Eduardo Rodríguez, the head of the Department of Thermal Motors and Machinery at the Malaga School of Technical Engineers.
The areas with the least sunshine, for example, La Coruña, will have to meet 30 per cent of residents’ hot water demands while buildings in Madrid will be expected to provide 50 per cent.
The regulation also affects buildings that are going to be renovated, unless the technical conditions of the construction prevent the installation of solar panels and the water heating system.
The water has to be heated to 60 degrees centigrade to avoid the spread of the Legionella bacteria, “although the risk of this is minimal in this type of installation”, points out Eduardo Rodríguez.
The inclusion of solar panels will increase construction costs by just one per cent. According to the Coordinator of the Andalusian Institute of Renewable Energy, Francisco Serrano, the new rules are quite ambitious, as they are encouraging and imposing the use of renewable energy. “At last there is a regulation that obliges us to use Spain’s solar resources, when our technological capability of using them is quite clear”, explains Rodríguez, who adds that the Germans install ten times more solar panels than the Spanish, with only half the solar resources. In fact in 2005 a million square metres of solar panals were installed in Germany, compared to the 100,000 square metres in Spain.
Experts calculate that the requirements of the new construction code will mean energy savings of between 30 and 40 per cent for each building and reduce carbon dioxide emissions through energy consumption by between 40 and 55 per cent. Therefore the new buildings will be doing their bit towards helping Spain meet the Kyoto protocol, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.
Generating energy
Businesses, shopping centres, industrial warehouses, factories, hotels and stations, among other buildings will all have to do their bit to reduce energy consumption, according to the new Technical Construction Code. This stipulates that new premises covering more than 3,000 square metres must be prepared to generate their own electricity through photovoltaic solar energy panels. Surplus energy generated by these businesses can be sold to the electricity company.
According to the European Union, between 30 and 50 per cent of the energy used in the illumination of offices, commercial buildings and recreational premises could be saved with more efficient technology. Therefore office buildings will have to be equipped with control systems that adjust the lighting to the actual occupation of the room at any one time and make the most of natural light.