The different Basic Documents on Energy Saving of the Technical Building Code are the result of the transposition of the successive Energy Performance of Buildings Directives in Spain. The greatest challenge faced by Spain and the European Union currently is moving from nearly zero-energy buildings to zero-emission buildings to eliminate the operational greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the whole-life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of buildings to the greatest extent possible. The objective of this work is to study and analyse how a zero-emission building stock can be achieved in Spain by 2050, highlighting the main changes and novelties contained in the upcoming Basic Document on Energy Saving of the Technical Building Code, such as the definition of zero-emission buildings and the promotion of solar energy use in buildings. In addition, in this work, total primary energy consumption limit values are proposed to achieve zero-emission buildings, and the installed power of photovoltaic solar systems and the electrical energy that can be generated under the proposed changes are calculated. In parallel, the Basic Document on Environmental Sustainability of the Technical Building Code has been developed. On the basis of this document, a whole-life-cycle global warming potential indicator of buildings is determined, and the characteristics that must be met by the building infrastructure for achieving the sustainable mobility are included. Finally, the latest advances and remaining challenges in energy savings and environmental sustainability within the Spanish building sector are presented.
López-Ochoa et al. (Mon,) studied this question.