The latest Industry Ministry rules which require that all homes sold or rented in Spain have a "certificate of energy efficiency." This is a document that describes how efficient a home is regarding energy consumption and the cost could be around 250 euros for an average household. This requirement comes from Europe and is expected to be in force before 1 January 2013.
European legislation aims to promote energy efficiency in buildings and homes to care for the environment. So far in Spain a similar document is only required for new buildings or major renovations, but Europe requires that this certificate is owned by all the housing market, both for sale and for rent and whether it is new or a second-hand one.
The promotion of energy efficiency of buildings and houses part of the European priorities since 2002, is introduced in Spain in 2007 through Royal Decree 47/2007, but was only to be met by the promoters. Now the surprise is that it is his turn to individuals and likely cause a stir in the light of what happened in other European countries have already implemented the standard.
The directive requires that energy efficiency is also promoted to buildings and existing homes. Thus requires that each dwelling that is marketed in any state of the European Union, either for sale or rent, expect this energy performance certificate which is valid for a maximum of 10 years.
What does this mean?
From the entry into force of new regulations in Spain all owners wishing to sell or rent their homes should have available for buyers and/or tenant this "energy certificate". They exclude only the buildings and monuments protected, used as places of worship or buildings which are subject to a lease for less than four months a year, among others.
Thus, each house will have a label similar to those already used in appliances and indicates how efficient it is in terms of energy consumption. This label is currently used for new houses and classifies each property with a color code according to a scale ranging from category "a" (most efficient) to "g" (least efficient).
