Four out of five homes in Spain are not efficient from an energy point of view, which makes housing the third cause of CO2 emissions, only behind sectors as powerful as transport and industry. The age of the Spanish real estate stock – more than 50% is over 40 years old – explains why Spain is in the group of European countries with the worst energy efficiency indices.

According to the European Commission, buildings are responsible for 36% of greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of energy consumption. Thus, the energy rehabilitation of homes and buildings is key to achieving the decarbonisation of the economy by 2050, one of the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Recently, the European Parliament has given the green light to a reform of the Directive on Energy Efficiency of Buildings that seeks to achieve that goal. But beyond rules and regulations, for the success of this common objective it is essential that citizens become aware and take action by investing in updating their homes. The European Next Generation funds offer an unparalleled opportunity to achieve this. The moment is now. This was one of the conclusions of the Diálogos forum in La Vanguardia that this week, in collaboration with BBVA, brought together a group of experts on energy efficiency. The panel of experts included the participation of Jordi Sanuy, Director of Building Quality and Housing Rehabilitation of the Catalan Housing Agency; César J. Pérez, director of Fin-Per; Víctor Carballo, director of Iberdrola’s Smart Climate; and Ingrid Fons, head of the private sustainability hub at BBVA Catalunya. The energy rehabilitation of homes is an urgent task, both for the savings it represents for the consumer’s pocketbook and for the benefits in social and environmental terms, they stressed. In addition to fighting climate change, having energy-efficient homes helps, in Sanuy’s words, to fight energy poverty and health problems, especially for the elderly, resulting from the lack of comfort in homes.

And that lack of comfort and well-being is determined by the age of the home. In Catalonia, according to data provided by Sanuy, there are four million homes. Of this total, three million are first residences, half of which were built between the fifties and seventies of the last century, when there were no energy regulations. The first standard that refers to thermal insulation dates, for example, from 1979. Given this panorama and through successive decrees, the Generalitat has been promoting energy rehabilitation. Currently, and thanks to the data obtained from the Technical Building Inspections (ITE) carried out in recent years in 80,000 buildings, it is inviting the owners of 130,000 homes to face this energy update. Catalonia will receive 480 million euros from Next Generation funds for this task, a figure that would make it possible to rehabilitate some 65,000 homes between now and June 2026. But for that, demand must be accelerated and multiplied “by 20”, he warned.

It is true that, to a greater or lesser extent, many citizens have been doing small actions to improve the efficiency of their homes, either by changing electrical appliances for more efficient ones, replacing the most consumption light bulbs with LED technology or improving the enclosures. Now it would be a matter of going further, achieving a reduction in consumption and reducing the use of non-renewable primary energy, mainly in air conditioning and domestic hot water. The representative of Iberdrola advocated improving the insulation and replacing the gas or diesel boilers with aerothermal energy, an air-water heat pump, with which results from one to four are being obtained. That is, for every kilowatt, one kilowatt is obtained with a gas boiler; with aerothermal energy four are obtained. In this way, savings of between 60% and 80% can be achieved in air conditioning consumption. For Carballo, it is time to act and, in addition, he stressed that the sector has the solutions to respond to all needs.

In the opinion of Fons, it is necessary to value that investing in energy efficiency “is attractive” and not only in environmental terms, it also “is savings for families in electricity and gas bills, increases comfort and revalues ​​the home ”. Energy rehabilitation is going at a better pace in single-family houses than in residential buildings, where it is necessary to unite wills and reach agreements between the neighbors. “It’s not an easy task,” Pérez said. But since all properties older than 45 years must pass the ITE, he explained that property managers in collaboration with the college of architects recommend that, if rehabilitation works have to be undertaken to correct deficiencies or pathologies detected in that inspection, take advantage of the moment to carry out energy improvement actions and make the building more sustainable. It is necessary to take advantage, Pérez said, of European resources and the financing lines of financial institutions and carry out the process in the hands of solvent experts. “Don’t be discouraged by the documentation and paperwork. They are complex, but the subsidies arrive ”, he added.

All the speakers agreed on the complexity of the process. Hence, alliances and cooperation between the different actors, the administration and the private sector, are essential so that this cumbersome paperwork does not become an insurmountable barrier for the citizen. “If the administration with the aid and subsidies, the technical part with its professional advice, and the banks with the financing, align ourselves, going hand in hand, everything will be easier,” stressed the BBVA representative, who remarked that the The entity wants, working with strategic partners, to help its clients beyond financing. “Our objective is to offer a comprehensive service, a turnkey service, which includes different solutions, from the ideation and execution of the project to the processing of European subsidies”, she declared. In this regard, he pointed out that the entity has energy efficiency loans to finance renovations in single-family homes, as well as an exclusive product for homeowners’ associations, for which reason he encouraged all customers to visit BBVA offices to find out about the different alternatives.

This side-by-side work between the administration and companies should allow, in Carballo’s opinion, to present turnkey projects, as Iberdrola also does, and gain agility when it comes to transferring aid to citizens, because word of mouth will work as a great speaker and will encourage more consumers to rehabilitate their homes energetically. Pérez expressed himself in similar terms, for whom “greater agility and simplicity in the processing of aid would be appreciated.”

As a representative of the administration, Sanuy admitted that the process is complicated and pointed out that it is not easy to make the process much easier because the “requirements are imposed by the European Union.” There are programs, he argued, that require up to 45 documents to collect the subsidy. “What we can do, and we are doing, is to improve processes with the collaboration of professional associations and with the agreements we have signed with the main financial entities,” he remarked.

In line with the rest of the participants, he considered that it is not easy to convey to the citizen this idea of ​​the need to invest in energy efficiency. “We are aware that the citizen goes to the administration to ask for help to paint the facade or install an elevator, but not for energy efficiency. Therefore, we have to go look for it,” said the representative of the Agència de l’Habitatge. Hence, he pointed out the importance of continuing to work on this social awareness, just as the representative of Iberdrola did. Fons also placed the accent on the necessary awareness of the citizen. “We now have less than 30 years to make society function without gas emissions, such as CO2 and methane. That is why it is so important to continue promoting this awareness, ”he stressed.

BBVA’s goal, continued the head of its sustainability hub for individuals, is to help the bank’s customers reduce their environmental impact and save on their bills by financing the rehabilitation of their homes. An intervention that also helps to revalue your property, since potential buyers see a property with energy efficiency as “a very good investment”. Carballo estimated the revaluation of the home subject to energy rehabilitation at 20%. Investing in energy sustainability is, ultimately, investing in the future.

Regarding subsidies, “European funds are a relevant and unique incentive for the sustainable rehabilitation of single-family homes and communities of owners”, highlighted Fons, who, however, stressed the great ignorance that exists in the society of this instrument and, therefore, urged the administrations to do “a powerful job” to get these European funds to the public.

Sanuy explained that the Next Generation can allow the sustainable rehabilitation of homes with subsidies ranging from 40% to 80%, percentages that are linked to the reduction in consumption (with 60% savings an 80% subsidy is achieved). %). The investments that are necessary to reach these reductions can range from 8,000 to 23,000 euros per home. Some subsidies that, on the other hand, are not taxed and, in addition, the non-subsidized part is deducted from personal income tax.