The road to nearly zero energy buildings. Case of study: Spain. Comparison between CTE HE 2006 and 2013 in a simulated model

Abstract

Achieving Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs) is a main goal for the European Union, in order to reduce energy consumption in the building sector. NZEB means a building that has a very high energy performance. Its energy requirements should be covered by renewable sources, produced on-site or nearby [1]. It could be possible if building were turned into a “small power generating station”, or reducing consumption with passive building proposals. However, we think that it is worth looking for a balance between energy consumption and generation for every building, following this simple equation: Consumption = demand – generation The European regulations have already begun to indicate deadlines to implement NZEB requirements in buildings. Therefore, Spanish legislation related to energy efficiency and renewable energy generation in buildings has been recently updated, CTE HE [2]. This paper provides a comparative analysis for the new requirements (2013 CTE DB HE compared with previous 2006 regulation, revised in 2009). This study was performed by using a computer building model, including its geometry, building materials, usage profiles and installations. Thus, we could compare the characteristics of the different regulations, and we could evaluate the progress toward the NZEB concept.