A private company is building their new corporate headquarters in Madrid, Spain. The Spanish Building Technical Code requires by law that all new and newly renovated buildings use solar energy via solar hot water installed onsite in order to supply the domestic hot water systems demand. This national requirement will achieve a 2,5% of onsite renewable energy for the proposed building. Additionally, Spanish National Decree (Regulation published by Executive Order) provides government subsidy to owners and investors that install solar photovoltaic arrays on their building roofs and supply the kW to the national grid. This renewable energy production is then supplied by the electric provider to meet local energy demand. The requirements of the credit states: Use on-site renewable energy systems to offset building energy cost. Calculate project performance by expressing the energy produced by the renewable systems as a percentage of the building annual energy cost [....]. We seek confirmation on whether the onsite production through solar photovoltaic systems for public grid supply meets the credit intent for EAc2. Can the subsidized price be applied to the calculations required for compliance with this credit intent?
The applicant is requesting clarification if an on-site installed renewable energy system that ties into the grid directly without connecting to the building meets the requirements of EA credit 2 and if the subsidized price can be applied to the calculations. 1. The owner of the on-site PV system (or the entity that has entered into a Power Purchasing Agreement to have PV installed on their property) is the key criteria here, not which side of the meter the energy seeps into. It should be noted that environmental benefits can only be claimed once. In cases where a building that hosts a PV system does not use the PV and/or the PV is fully financed, owned and sold to third parties, the host is not entitled to LEED recognition or REC value, unless the RECs are repurchased by the building owner. Only under such conditions of electricity generation using an on-site PV system, 100% of RECs need be repurchased when hosted on the same building. 2. No, subsidized price cannot be applied to the calculations. Applicable Internationally; Europe; Spain.