Energy efficiency regulation and requirements: comparison between morocco and spain

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019. With the aim of reducing energy dependence and promoting economic development, Morocco has recently issued an energy plan to integrate both sustainable development and environmental protection. This strategy gives a novel thermal construction regulation in Morocco, provided by the Moroccan Energy Efficiency Agency. In terms of energy demand, building sector is currently the second most energy-intensive economic sector in Morocco; after the transport sector, accounting for 33% of the total energy consumption in the country (25% for residential and 8% for tertiary). This paper compares two countries geographically very close, such as Spain and Morocco, in terms of energy efficiency regulation, norms and requirements, discussing the parameters taken into account in both countries to determine their building thermal comfort levels. In this way, BINAYATE package software, proposed by Morocco for implementation and control of Moroccan thermal regulations is used to estimate the energy requirement of an ordinary building and the gain obtained by the application of the Moroccan and Spanish regulations. In addition, economic and environmental improvements of the Moroccan situation from the Spanish experience are also discussed and included in the paper.