Energy saving
Energy saving
Energy saving
Legislation
| Never as much as in recent years have political, economic and social debates been so centred on protecting the environment and on the impact this might have on the progress and development of society. This is how the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defines sustainable development: " Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". One of the essential conditions for guaranteeing present and future needs is without doubt energy availability, a crucial issue for European and global development policies. There are many critical issues which need to be tackled to resolve the energy question: the growing cost of the major resources, the uncertainty of supply, caused by the political instability of some major producers, consumption levels by large countries such as India and China and the greater need in terms of well-being and quality of life of the developing countries. These are all crucial issues alongside that of the environment and the need to dramatically reduce the volume of harmful emissions released into the atmosphere to avoid the greenhouse effect and global warming. Concern about climate change led more than 140 countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol which came into force in February 2005. Europe's commitment calls for an 8% reduction in emissions overall, Italy's contribution being 6.5%. The Contribution of the Construction Industry, European Directive 2002/91/CE EPBD The building industry is crucial to the containment of energy consumption given that it alone accounts for about 40% of European consumption and about 30% of CO2 emissions. In order to meet the Kyoto Protocol targets in 2002 the European Union issued the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPDB) Directive. The Directive calls for the limiting of waste by using a common method for calculating energy consumption, setting minimum efficiency requirements for new buildings and large renovations and introducing an energy certification requirement, based on the household appliances model, to encourage the market to reward more efficient buildings. The European Directive was implemented in Italy by Legislative Decree 192 of 19 August 2005 as amended by Legislative Decree 311 of 29 December 2006. The new legislation promotes the role of building insulation and specifies transmittance limit values for walls, floors and roofs (U in W/m2K, see tables), based on climatic zones. This provides a better understanding of the differences in performance of various materials, ensuring that we enjoy the benefits of using more effective insulation materials. One of the materials is rigid expanded polyurethane which with its low thermal conductivity enables the achievement of the required transmittance level with a reduced thickness. This is a benefit which ensures a better ratio of building volume to living area and reduces transport and installation costs thanks to reduced material volumes and weight. It should also be noted that achieving the same level of energy efficiency while using a smaller quantity and volume of material results in a building having a smaller impact on the environment. |
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