September 2020 

Almost half of the new constructions have "AA" or "A+" certification

Superior energy efficiency seems to be a growing concern on new construction, with 49% of this new property in the pipeline in the last year and a half (January 2019 to May 2020) having a class "A" energy certification or "A +". 

In absolute terms, this means that of the 53,706 new construction that was subject to licensing in this period in Portugal, 22,563 have one of these stamps. More specifically, 23,276 are pre-certified in category "A", this being the energy class that adds the largest volume of properties in the entire new construction pipeline, assuming a weight of 43% of the total. 

Another 3,277 houses added with the maximum category of "A +", equivalent to 6% of the new construction pipeline of the last year and a half. Even so, it should be noted that the "B" classification continues to add almost as many houses as "A", concentrating 21,457 units in the period under analysis, that is, 40% of the residential portfolio of new works. 

In addition, the "B-" category, which is the minimum allowed for new construction works after 2013, maintains a weight of almost double the maximum "A +" category. The pipeline of new construction for the last year and a half includes 5,685 units with energy pre-certificate "B-", that is, 11% of the total (vs. 6% with the "A +" class).

Property Rehabilitation

In construction works (rehabilitation), the scenario is different, showing a clear predominance of energy classes "B" and "B-". In the period under review, a pipeline of 12,672 dwellings resulting from rehabilitation projects in the country was accounted for, 35% of which are pre-certified with energy class "B" (4,395 homes) and another 32% with "B-"(4,028 homes) ). There are also about 1,700 properties of this type of work (14%) that have energy pre-certification lower than "B-".

Thus, and now looking at the higher energy classes, it can be seen that "only" 17% of the rehabilitation fires in licensing bet on the "A" class, totalling precisely 2,217 units. With the maximum class "A +", only 2% of the fires of this type of work in the pipeline are pre-certified, amounting to 313 homes.

In general terms, the residential promotion in the country presents a balance between the houses that are classified in the energy categories "A" and "B", which add, respectively, 25,493 (38%) and 25,852 dwellings (39%) of the pipeline since January 2019. The bet on maximum certification is still timid, concentrating 3,590 units, equivalent to 5% of the portfolio and almost three times less than the 9,713 units (15%) with pre-certification "B-". 

Looking at the activity in 2019, which totalled 47,148 new dwellings, it can be seen that the segmentation of the residential pipeline by energy class is similar to that accumulated - 6% are "A +", 40% "A", 38% "B" and 14% in "B-". However, 2020, although it is not possible to compare because it reflects a period of only five months, it seems to present a slightly different trend, with classes "A" and "A +" losing some expression. 

In this period from January to May 2020, in which 19,230 new dwellings were subject to licensing, 5% were pre-certified in the "A +" category and another 35% in "A". Class "B" started to aggregate 41% of the houses in the project, with another 16% allocated to the energy class "B-".