Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.2 Energy Management Inside Buildings
1.2.1 EU-27 Present Situation
As mentioned previously, the European Union has established an objective to reduce
its energy consumption and CO
2
emissions by 20% by the year 2020. In Fig.
1.2
the evolution of the final energy consumption by sector from 1990 to 2011 in the
European Union can be observed. In this figure, the industrial sector covers the
consumption in all industrial areas with the exception of the energy sector. In addi-
tion, transport makes reference to energy consumption in all types of transportation.
Finally, energy consumption in residential, services, agriculture/forestry and other
sectors covers quantities consumed by private households, commerce, public admin-
istration, services, agriculture and fisheries. In conclusion, the most representative
areas in 2011 in terms of energy consumption are industrial (26%), transport (33%),
residential (25%) and services sectors (13%). Therefore, the use of energy inside
buildings represents a key factor in reaching the objectives proposed by the European
Union within the
Europe 2020 strategy
in terms of climate change and energy.
These trends have led to the appearance of several European-wide regulations
which attempt to standardise the design and improvement of buildings to make them
energy efficient. One of the most advanced and easiest to understand regulations
in this field, is the
Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the energy performance of buildings
(2010/31/UE
2010
), which modifies
the directive 2002/91/CE (2002/91/CE
2002
). This directive promotes the Energy
Performance of BuilDings (EPBD
2013
) located within the European Union, taking
into account outdoor climatic conditions and local peculiarities, as well as indoor
climate requirements and profitability in terms of cost-effectiveness. To do this, the
regulation introduces the following minimum requirements (2010/31/UE
2010
):
The establishment of a common general framework for a methodology to calculate
the integrated energy performance of buildings and building units.
The application of minimum requirements to the energy performance of new build-
ings and new building units.
The application of minimum requirements to the energy performance of:
- Existing buildings, building units and building elements that are subject tomajor
renovation.
- Building elements that form part of the building envelope and that have a sig-
nificant impact on the energy performance of the building envelope when they
are retrofitted or replaced.
- Technical building systems whenever they are installed, replaced or upgraded.
The creation of national plans for increasing the number of nearly zero-energy
buildings.
Energy certification of buildings or building units.
