More efficient buildings are a priority for the European Union (EU) in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This is because buildings themselves are responsible for 36% of total greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of energy consumption. Reducing these figures is the goal and, in order to achieve it, Portugal has new legislation that establishes the requirements applicable to buildings to improve their energy performance and also regulates the Building Energy Certification System (SCE), transposing Directive (EU) 2018/844 and partially Directive (EU) 2019/944.
The law that changed the country's energy certification landscape was published in the Diário da República (DR) on December 7, 2020. This is Decree-Law no. 101-D/2020, which updates the methodology for calculating energy performance, the criteria for energy certification of buildings and the obligations of the entities involved, thus changing - and greatly - the activity of the technicians authorized by ADENE - the Energy Agency. These three chapters of the decree-law only came into force on July 1, 2021, unlike the others set out in the decree-law which took effect on the date of publication.
It should be noted that, despite the changes, the “entry into force of this decree-law does not affect the validity of energy certificates and energy rationalization plans issued under previous legislation”, according to Decree-Law no. 101-D/2020.
New fine limits
The law authorizing the government to establish the requirements for access to and exercise of the activity of SCE technicians - qualified by ADENE - was also published in the Official Gazette. Law no. 60/2021, of August 19, 2021, also regulates the transitional regime for SCE technicians recognized under Law no. 58/2013.
This law also sets the limits for fines applicable to administrative offenses committed by experts. For carrying out the activity without a professional title and registration, technicians can pay 7,500 euros if they are natural persons and 55,000 euros if they are legal persons. In the case of non-compliance with the reservation of activities and professional duties, experts can pay fines of 5,000 euros (for natural persons) and 45,000 euros (for legal persons), the new law states.
Updating the SCE Manual
The new decree-law will not dictate the new rules alone, as it is complemented by specific regulations in the form of new ordinances and orders published on July 1, 2021. These together regulate - among other things - the contents and models of energy certificates and the requirements of building energy performance improvement plans (PDEE). All the orders already published are available on ADENE's website.
One of them - Order no. 6476-H/2021 - approved the updating of the Building Energy Certification System Manual, which brings the calculation methodologies used by experts closer to the normative benchmarks defined in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive designed by the European Commission.
This means that "for residential buildings, there will have to be an evolution from the seasonal calculation methodology to dynamic hourly simulation. For large service buildings and small service buildings with air conditioning, the use of dynamic hourly simulation will have to be maintained," writes ADENE in its Q&A guide on the new legislation.
Source: idealistanews