RENEWABLE ENERGY
1 January 2007Renewable energy is obtained from nature. They are to regenerate themselves, as the sun or the wind. Renewable Energy divided into:
The energy of the sun can be converted into electricity or heat, such as photovoltaic panels or solar thermal heating of the environment or hot water;
The energy of wind can be converted into electricity using wind turbines or aerogenerators;
The Energy Water can be converted into electricity by taking advantage of the rivers, tidal and wave, as an example the dams;
The Earth's energy can be converted into heat for heating the environment and water;
The integration of renewable energy in buildings is a challenge for which the objective is to design a building that allows the efficient incorporation of a system that captures the energy and become a source of energy that is useful for the building. Indeed the placement of, for example, solar panels on the roof of the building is not in itself a measure of energy efficient, because if we do not have in mind the efficiency of this building may not be sufficient to contain the energy, for example, lighting the more the rest of the systems. Hence the importance of integrated systems for renewable energy in energy efficient buildings that until this point have exhausted all possible strategies for passive design in their design or in their rehabilitation measures have been taken into account the rehabilitation of energy and energy efficiency.
Incentives to use renewable energy and the great interest that this issue raised in recent years is mainly due to the awareness of possible shortages of fossil fuels (like oil) and the need to reduce emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere, the GHG (greenhouse gases). This interest is due in part to the objectives of the European Union, the Kyoto Protocol and concerns about climate change.
The use of renewable energy such as solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, to produce heat and electricity from solar energy, is a way for which Portugal has a wealth of resources, comparing the availability hours of sun per year with other European Union countries. However, these should be considered as additions to the architecture of the buildings that should not overlook the use of passive design strategies, such as the use of solar orientation, natural ventilation, the thermal inertia and shading, among others. These strategies are a very advantageous solution due to favorable weather conditions for achieving greater sustainability in buildings in Portugal.
The promotion of energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in buildings has been made by the review and implementation of regulations, such as RCCTE and RSECE, and the approval of the creation of an Energy Certification System, to reduce consumption of energy and related emissions of CO2. Because the buildings sector in the average annual consumption of energy in Portugal represent, according to data from the early 2000s of the DGE, about 22% of final energy consumption in the country, in big cities where this figure rises to 36% . These numbers have increased about 3.7% in the residential sector and 7.1% in services.
