ALL HOMES for sale or rent must obtain a Certificado de Eficiencia Energética from 1st June 2013. The new law was enacted this morning by Spanish ministers in a Royal Decree on the Certification for Energy in Existing Buildings.
In short, the energy efficiency certificate is a document signed by a qualified assessor that contains information about the energy efficiency of a building according to the calculation method defined by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.
An Energy Efficiency Certificate (aka EPC) must be obtained before a property is marketed and the information must be included in all advertising. The certificate must also be produced at the signing of the contract of sale. Rentals, including holiday lets, must make a certificate available to tenants. Agents cannot legally offer properties for rent or sale without a certificate.
Those with property in the UK should be familiar with the certificate. The Energy Performance Certificate or EPC, as it is commonly known there, was introduced on 1st August 2007 into England and Wales as part of the Home Information Pack. When the requirement for HIPs was removed in May 2010, the requirement for EPCs continued.
"Homes consume 17% of all energy in the country and 38% of Spanish are not satisfied with the insulation in their homes” according to the Minister of Development, Ana Pastor. An Energy Efficiency Certificate analyses the energy consumption of a home and suggests possible improvements to make the building more energy efficient. The information contained in the certificate is summarized by a colour coded bar chart using a scale ranging from A to G, similar to labels found on white goods.
The most energy efficient homes are in band A and the least energy efficient in band G. Those properties in band A should have the lowest energy bills. The same A to G scale is used to define the impact a home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions. The average property in Spain is expected to be band E or F for both ratings. New houses with a good level of energy efficiency should be capable of obtaining a D rating, whilst some old properties will be in the lowest G category.
The Energy Efficiency Certificate is an initiative of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialised countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Within the treaty Spain is committed to reduce CO² emissions by 20% by the end of 2020.
According to the latest data published by the United Nations, Spain is number 20 in a list of countries by CO² emissions, producing just over 1% of emissions worldwide. China is number 1 followed by the United States.
Great information. Very informative. keep up sharing more information about this.
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