Sunny Spain

[Fista]

This was on Mr. Something Something's Myspace blog, thought I'd share it. It's pretty cool stuff, I've heard about it before as my mother/sister-in-law and nephew live in Madrid. It is apparently sunny there 350 days of the year or something, so this makes a lot of sense...

[color:blue]Hello friends,

Check out the article below for some uplifting news from Spain. If the Spanish government can make solar panels mandatory on new and renovated bulidings why couldn't (y)ours do the same? Let's put the public good back in public hands. Help us spread the word and put some pressure on the people in office.

Hope you're well.

Peace and blessings.

/Johan

PS. Thanks to Boiling Frog Media for this news item - www.boilingfrog.ca

PS II. Thanks to everybody who came out to our shows in Quebec and on the East Coast; we hope to see you again soon.

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Spain requires new buildings use solar power

Homes must use it for hot water, commercial sites for electricity

Reuters Updated: 5:32 a.m. HT, Nov 13, 2006

MADRID - Solar panels are now compulsory on all new and

renovated buildings in Spain as part of the country's efforts to bring its building rules up to date and curb growing demand for energy, ministers said on Monday.

Until now Spain's building standards have dated from the 1970s and have done little in seeking to improve energy efficiency.

"We have to make up the time we have lost," Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said, inaugurating a seminar on the new technical building code.

The code will come into force fully next March but the energy saving element was implemented on Sept. 29.

This means new homes have to be equipped with solar panels to

provide between 30 and 70 percent of their hot water, depending on where the building is located and on its expected water usage.

New non-residential buildings, such as shopping centers and

hospitals, now have to have photovoltaic panels to generate a

proportion of their electricity.

Solar power has not yet taken off in Spain, largely because

subsidies have been directed at wind energy, and it provided a

negligible amount of the country's electricity in 2005.

Other measures in the new building code enforce the use of better insulation, improve the maintenance of heating and cooling systems and increase the use of natural light.

"The new standards will bring energy savings of 30 to 40 percent for each building and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy consumption of 40 to 55 percent," the Environment and Housing Ministries said in a joint statement.

The Housing Ministry is trying to rein in the amount of new

building, although it is Spain's local and regional governments that

are responsible for planning permission.

"In the last decade we have built the equivalent of a quarter of all

the urban area that existed until then," Housing Minister Maria

Antonio Trujillo told the seminar.

The building standards code should limit the damage of continued new construction and is the most significant legal change for the sector in the last 30 years, she said.

The construction lobby Asprima estimates that the new requirements will increase building costs by between 8 and 12 percent.

Trujillo said that was "absolutely untrue" and that the extra cost

was 1 percent, which would be offset by the energy savings achieved.

[livingstoned]

hehehe when I saw the topic I actually thought that was the name of your new cat :blush:

[livingstoned]

and yes I do realize it might not make sense given the spelling but regardless it made me giggle when I opened it.

[Fista]

hehehe when I saw the topic I actually thought that was the name of your new cat :blush:

No, but that's a good one!