When researching the purchase of a car, one of the first questions on the list is how much (but also what) it burns. In fact, as fuel prices rise, so does this specific question rise in the hierarchy. It was only a matter of time before the same applied to the process of buying or building a property. Even the most skeptic realized after the outbreak of the energy crisis that the cost of use is just as important as the cost of acquisition when choosing a primary residence. In short, figuring out how to finance the purchase of a primary residence is not enough. It must also ensure how the heating, cooling and electricity bills will be paid, especially in an uncertain environment where data changes from one moment to the next.
The specifications of the “house of the future” have already begun to be recorded and also to be implemented in practice. It is the house that consumes less fuel or electricity, while it can produce the energy it needs. It allows the user to monitor in real time the operation and prevent handling errors, with the ultimate goal of reducing the cost of living without discounting comfort and – ultimately – protecting the environment.
Everyone wants to live in this house. But the question is how feasible is its acquisition. There is an inviolable rule in the market: the more energy (and therefore money) saving the property ensures, the higher the cost of its acquisition. The construction of a square meter now costs even 2,000 euros, without including the price of the land or the builder’s profit. So here is the question: how many will be able to secure the “ticket” to live in the “home of the future”?
A+ rated house
If someone tries to build his own house today, he will realize that the building permit “carries” a series of obligations, while the electrification of the property is achieved only if these obligations are fulfilled. Having infrastructure to connect to the natural gas network has been mandatory for many years, even if there is no pipeline running through where the property is located. It is also mandatory to have access for people with special needs, which must be verified by the building inspector who will give the final approval. However, where in recent years many additions have been made – and more and more will be made as time goes by – it is in the area of energy upgrading. Essentially, everything that is built now must be classified in energy class A. And this obligation covers both properties that are built from scratch, but also additions or extensions to existing buildings. Securing A in one’s home is not at all easy and certainly not cheap at all. Because climbing into the top energy classes requires a series of costly investments. What are the main ones?
1. The insulation of the shell with the most modern specifications, in order to ensure protection from the external weather conditions, whether we are talking about cold or heat. The thermal facade is now necessary to reduce energy consumption.
2. The installation of energy efficiency frames, which of course has become more or less self-explanatory in the new buildings of recent years.
3. The installation of heating and cooling sources that ensure limited gas emissions and energy savings. The existence of an infrastructure to connect to natural gas may be mandatory, but the choice of energy source is – for now – the right of the owner. Attention; for now. In two to three years it is planned to ban the installation of oil burners in new buildings, while the replacement of this fuel in existing buildings will also be launched. That is why the heat pump is now gaining ground in new constructions, which is being promoted at pan-European level as the most economical source of heating, cooling and hot water production, despite the fact that it works with electricity.
4. The installation of a solar water heater for the production of domestic hot water – which can also work in addition to the heat pump to cover winter and summer needs – but also the installation of a photovoltaic system to produce all the electricity required for all the needs.
5. The installation of fiber optics throughout the house to ensure that devices are connected to the internet without the risk of interruptions or drops in connection speed. A house that is always online informs the owner about how much the photovoltaic is producing or whether the water heater has been left on, even if he is on the other side of the Earth.
How will we live?
And what does life in the home of the future look like in practice? The description that follows concerns the most tangible changes. That is, it may not make much sense to someone if the refrigerator will connect to the Internet or if it will send a notification to the mobile phone in case the milk has run out. It may also be of minor importance whether the house will be operated by voice commands or whether special sensors will open and close awnings and curtains depending on the light, the position of the sun and the difference in temperature inside and outside. There are also the more “tangible”:
1. A house with the specifications mentioned above (solar, heat pump and strong insulation) can consume even less than 28 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year per square meter, as long as it is classified in the energy classification A+, unlike a house of a low category (e .g. G), which can reach up to 190 kilowatt hours per square meter. Suppose a kilowatt hour has a final price of 25 cents? 28 kilowatt hours will cost 7 euros per square meter and 190 kilowatt hours 47 euros. We are talking about saving 40 euros per square meter on an annual basis or 4,000 euros a year for a 100 square meter house.
2. The photovoltaic produces even this reduced energy that it needs, so that the electricity bill contains only the municipal fees and other charges that we pay for the electricity networks. And the batteries that accompany (or can accompany) a photovoltaic investment can ensure further reductions in usage costs even during the night. In the future, batteries will ensure uninterrupted electricity supply even when the grids face damage due to weather conditions.
3. Possible surplus power generation from the photovoltaic can be used to charge the electric car, resulting in zero or significant reduction of the family’s transportation costs as well.
It is clear that with the energy class A property the owner secures many thousands of euros a year from heating oil, electricity or even motor fuel bills. But the question is how much does the “dream” cost? And, in real terms, how many can implement it by overcoming financial or even objective difficulties?
How much;
The amount of investment required is very high, especially in the last period when an explosive cocktail was created: an increase in interest rates (and therefore the cost of money on the one hand), an increase in building materials and also the value of land on the other. In real terms, an apartment that will meet the specifications of category A+ can cost more than 350,000-400,000 euros depending on the surface, an amount that the vast majority cannot secure, since even if they resort to the bank borrowing, will face an exorbitant installment due to the increase in interest rate. There is always the solution of renovating an old property (ideally using a subsidy program like “save”), but again there is the issue of skyrocketing building material prices at a speed much faster than income growth.
Apart from economics, there are also objective reasons. Especially in the large urban centers of apartment buildings, the agreements in the general assemblies for the installation of photovoltaics, for the external thermal facade of the building or for the changes in the heating system seem like elusive dreams. The mosaic of interests and financial possibilities rarely leaves room for agreements, with the result that all owners are ultimately exposed to the risk of the next energy crisis.
The – fairly safe – prediction is that as time goes on the pressure to turn to the home of the future will become greater and greater. And if now the states – including the Greek one – subsidize to steer the owners in this direction, in a few years from now they will start to establish disincentives for the use of energy-intensive properties. Will the enforcement of ENFIA be based not on the value of the square footage, but on the energy class? A new tax on heating oil and other fossil fuels? A new environmental fee to satisfy the “polluter pays” rule?
The following scenario is thus created: those who can afford to acquire the house of the future also secure the benefit of saving or zero energy costs, while those who cannot, remain exposed to the risk of the next increase in the price of oil or of electricity. Consequently, the house of the future will become the cause for inequalities to be widened rather than mitigated, as the rule “money will go to money” will be applied.
