The energy rehabilitation of buildings, the key to revive the economy
In Full Phase 0 of the de-escalation plan, there are still many unknowns regarding the Government’s plans to revive the economy. The restrictions are still harsh, but they will be relaxed over the weeks, establishing the date on which we would return to the “new normal” in the calendar in late June.
Experts take stock and estimate that Spain will take between 2 and 3 years to recover from the crisis caused by Covid-19. Based on this uncertainty, many companies are putting their focus on the environment as an engine to create jobs and revive the economy.
Along with environmental alternatives, another sector that may also be key is that of infrastructure rehabilitation. During this crisis, having to stay in the house for so many days, the deplorable state of many of these homes was revealed, so it is not ruled out that citizens are considering reforming them. The poor condition of the houses is due to the fact that close to 60% of them were built before 1980, when the insulation was deficient and measures aimed at improving energy efficiency were scarce.
Bringing together the restoration of homes and the commitment to more sustainable solutions, we find the energy rehabilitation of buildings as a growing business.
What does it consist of?
The energy rehabilitation of a building consists of modifying the structure of a house in order to increase its energy efficiency. In this way, it is possible to reduce its consumption, with the consequent advantages:
- Reduce the cost of the electric bill.
- Reduce CO2 emissions.
- Make a more responsible consumption of energy.
- Increase the value of the home.
- Gain in quality of life and health.
First, an Energy Audit of the Building is carried out to find out the current situation of the structure. Once completed, each building has an energy rating, which is valued with a letter between G (least efficient) and A (maximum efficiency) depending on the energy performance of the building. The result obtained will mark the future measures that will be carried out.
Energy rating scale
Its viable?
The key to getting out of any crisis is to identify which sectors have the greatest potential to reactivate the economy in each country.
The approach of focusing attention on the energy rehabilitation of buildings is not a random proposal. Last April, a group of economists from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) carried out a study that determined the ecological production capacity of each country under the name of Green Complexity Index. This study promoted Spain as one of the countries with the greatest potential to benefit from a green economy, thanks to its projects linked to renewable energies and water conservation technologies.
In the current context and with these data in hand, it is not unreasonable to bet on the energy efficiency sector as a measure to create new jobs. In this way, not only would the economy in our country be reactivated, but the emissions of greenhouse gases would be considerably reduced, at the same time that the quality of life of citizens would improve.
Currently, in Europe there is already a Commission initiative “Renovation Wave” whose objective is the recovery of the economy through the energy rehabilitation of the European real estate park. Through these projects, it seeks to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency systems, which will generate millions of jobs in the short term. We must not forget that we are talking about sectors that, in many countries, have not had such exponential growth, so these projects would be the perfect opportunity to not only revive the industry after the Covid-19 crisis, but to start betting on serious about these alternative energy sources and improve your competitiveness.
