Legislation to foment the use of renewable energies and solar thermal energy in building construction: The case of Spain - Solar Energy Sciences and Engineering Applications - page 653

Figure 20.3.2 Solar collectors on a building rooftop (courtesy of Solaris S.L.).
articles pertaining to thermal renewable energy in the technical codes and regulations
for heating installations in building construction.
Building regulations in Spain are published in the Código Técnico de la Edificación
[Technical Building Code] (RD 314/2006). The Spanish Technical Building Code is the
legal framework that establishes the safety and habitability requirements of buildings.
It consists of seven documents. The basic document is the DBHE on energy saving 17 . Its
purpose is to foster the rational use of the energy in a building, which also signifies that
part of a building's energy consumption should come from renewable energy sources.
In what follows, Section 20.4 describes low-temperature solar thermal installations for
domestic hot water, and Section 20.5 analyses the Spanish Technical Building Code
regarding thermal solar energy in buildings.
20.3.4 Spanish regulations for thermal installations
in buildings
As a transposition of Directive 2002/91/EC , in 2007 the Spanish government enacted
the Reglamento de Instalaciones Térmicas en los Edificios [Regulation of Thermal
Installations in Buildings]. According to this regulation, thermal installations should
be designed, implemented, maintained and used so as to achieve a significant reduc-
tion of conventional energy consumption and, consequently, a parallel reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions and other atmospheric pollutants. This makes it imperative
to use energy-efficient systems, systems capable of recovering energy and systems that
generate energy based on renewables. The thermal installations should take advantage
of the renewable energies available, which must cover part of the building's energy
consumption.
The Spanish Regulation of Thermal Installations in Buildings explicitly states the
energy performance and safety requirements for thermal installations in buildings.
When these requirements are met, a building then complies with welfare and hygiene
17 Available at: http://www.codigotecnico.org/web/