The ever-increasing costs of energy, the severe erosion of our planet's resources, environmental pollution are more than enough reasons to take a serious interest in the energy class of your home.

Often, however, people, while attentive to other forms of energy saving and respect for the environment, underestimate the importance of the energy class of their home. Maybe I am careful to buy only high energy class appliances but they are unaware that the greatest waste and the greatest expenses can be determined by the house itself.

So it is important to know and understand the table of energy classes of housing.

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The energy class is calculated based on how much fuel is consumed per year for each square meter of heated surface.

The higher the class (e.g. class A vs class G), the less energy is needed to heat a square meter of housing.

A class F house consumes, per square meter, 5 times more than a class A house, but unfortunately still today in Italy 90% of the houses belong to a low energy class, (from E to G); this although there is no advantage in keeping a house in a low energy class: such a house is generally less comfortable (due to humidity, drafts, drafts, insufficient heating or cooling), the expense of heating and cooling it is high, its market value is lower than that of an identical high energy class house and the pollution it produces is significant, to the detriment of our children and grandchildren! To give a concrete example, in an year, an old house in Energy Class G can consume up to 15 liters of fuel, that is, in money, about € 25 of fuel per square meter, while a class A house consumes between 1 and 3 or about € 3 per square meter!

So a house of 100 square meters in class G will need well € 2,500 in fuel costs, while a class A will suffice € 300. All this without counting the greater well-being of a house without temperature changes, drafts, humidity , condensation as well as the great saving of natural resources on the planet, for our benefit and for our children.

Only in monetary terms, the economic advantage is clear: in a short time, the costs of buying a class A house or increasing the energy efficiency of an old building will be repaid and exceeded by saving on the bill.

The certificate that demonstrates that the house belongs and a high energy class allows you to take advantage of tax breaks (55% on personal income tax) and allows you to obtain state incentives on the energy produced by photovoltaic systems.

Today, the energy certification of your home, drawn up by qualified professionals, is mandatory for advertising real estate advertisements as well as for notarial deeds of sale and for rental contracts.

For example, the difference in price per square meter between a class A house and a class E house is € 450 per square meter, which translates into a difference of 45 thousand euros for an apartment of 100 square meters!

So building or buying a Class A house is a profitable investment both for the great saving of resources and money it entails, and for the greater value of the property compared to an identical but energy-efficient one!

For a truly thermally efficient home it is important to turn to serious and motivated professionals who are up to date on the most effective construction techniques and the best performing materials.

The energy certification of buildings is an evaluation procedure aimed at promoting the improvement of the energy performance of buildings in terms of energy efficiency, thanks to the information provided to the owners and users, about its energy consumption required to maintain certain internal environmental conditions. It is part of the measures aimed at protecting the environment, both for a consequent brake on the use of natural resources and for a desirable containment of climate-altering emissions. It is a document drawn up by a qualified technician, called energy certifier in jargon, which takes into account the architectural characteristics of the building, the elevations, the climatic zone, the view of the individual facades, the type of heating and all that can affect energy consumption. Several nations around the world have created devices capable of calculating the energy efficiency of buildings, both in summer and in winter: the European Union has issued a series of directives to give individual member states similar devices for energy assessment.

The parameters for calculating the energy class to which they belong take into account multiple factors: the insulation of the building envelope; of the technical and installation characteristics of water heating systems for sanitation and environments; the design and position in relation to climatic aspects; and finally the exposure of the property with respect to its geographical and climatic position. For those who have to buy a house, the energy class they belong to can translate into lower energy expenditure and an increase in property value.

Those who build or buy new properties are in luck, as they can ask for and enjoy extremely energy efficient houses.

The rest of the population, however, can still improve their home, perhaps managing to obtain a much higher class.

The energy redevelopment of a house represents a long-term investment that is repaid and surpassed by energy savings and an increase in the value of the property.

Lead an eco-sustainable life in the ris

To increase the energy class of your home, you need to act on several fronts:

- Heating, refrigeration and domestic hot water production systems. For example with independent heating, it is possible to evaluate the installation of a fireplace stove or to replace the old boiler with a high-efficiency 3-star or 4-star condensing boiler. The cost incurred will be repaid by saving on the bill. In the case of central heating, it is possible (and indeed now mandatory by law) to adopt heat metering, a system that allows each condominium to decide when and how much to heat their home, paying accordingly. Read a discussion on heating systems in comparison.

- Building envelope: i.e. the set of elements that separate the external environment from the internal one (walls, roofs and windows). To avoid the dispersion of heat in the winter season and of refrigerated air in the summer season, as well as to avoid sudden changes in temperature, drafts and humidity, it is necessary to carry out various actions aimed at thermal insulation. For example, the walls can be insulated with thermal coats made of materials such as sintered polyester and rock wool, insulating the false ceiling, installing efficient ventilation systems, installing the ventilated roof and replacing old windows with others with high energy performance, such as we explain in this post.

- Renewable sources: systems are installed that produce energy through wind or sun (wind or photovoltaic systems) which is used for the needs of the building and, if in excess, resold.