Analysis of Energy Efficiency Measures and Retrofitting Solutions for Social Housing Buildings in Spain as a Way to Mitigate Energy Poverty

Aranda, Juan; Zabalza, Ignacio; Conserva, Andrea; Millán, Gema

doi:10.3390/su9101869

Cited by 50 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(42 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…An analysis of energy efficiency measures and retrofitting solutions for social housing buildings in Spain as a way to mitigate energy poverty was recently published by Aranda et al Indeed, they reported that energy simulation tools have proven to be affordable, fast, and convenient for assessing the energy-saving potential of each measure implemented in a building. However, the real savings values are usually 20-30% lower than the simulated results, mainly because simulated demand is calculated to meet standard thermal comfort conditions, which are not always met in this type of housing due to its economic limitations [29]. Another paper dealing with an early-1950s building presents a measurement campaign to investigate the building's characteristics and its vulnerability.…”

Section: Building Retrofittingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrofitting an Existing Office Building in the UAE Towards Achieving Low-Energy Building

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Retrofitting an existing building can oftentimes be more cost-effective than building a new facility. Since buildings consume a significant amount of energy, particularly for heating and cooling, and because existing buildings comprise the largest segment of the built environment, it is important to initiate energy conservation retrofits to reduce energy consumption and the cost of heating, cooling, and lighting buildings. However, conserving energy is not the only reason for retrofitting existing buildings. The goal should be to create a high-performance building by applying an integrated, whole-building design process to the project during the planning phase that ensures that all key design objectives are met. This paper presents a real case study of the retrofitting of an existing building to achieve lower energy consumption. Indeed, most of the constructed buildings in the UAE are unsuitable for the region, which is characterized by a very harsh climate that causes massive cooling loads and energy consumption due to an appropriate selection of design parameters at the design level. In this study, a monthly computer simulation of energy consumption of an office building in Sharjah was carried out under UAE weather conditions. Several parameters, including the building orientation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, external shading, window-to-wall ratio, and the U-values of the walls and the roof, were investigated and optimized to achieve lower energy consumption. The simulation shows that the best case is 41.7% more efficient than the real (original) case and 30.6% more than the base case. The most sensitive parameter in the retrofitting alternatives is the roof component, which affects the energy savings by 8.49%, followed by the AC system with 8.34% energy savings if well selected using the base case. Among the selected five components, a new roof structure contributed the most to the decrease in the overall energy consumption (approximately 38%). This is followed by a new HVAC system, which leads to a 37% decrease, followed by a new wall type with insulation, resulting in a 20% decrease.

show abstract

Section: Building Retrofittingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrofitting an Existing Office Building in the UAE Towards Achieving Low-Energy Building

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Investments may consider building-envelope retrofitting and heating-equipment replacement, but only the former translate into energy-poverty alleviation and indoor-comfort improvements [61]. These investments should be undertaken by the public entity that owns the dwellings [31], and the improvements should be included in a holistic programme of refurbishing and improving social housing, as noted by Swan et al [62]. …”

Section: Energy Poverty: An Empirical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The actual energy consumption and simulated energy performance of a building usually differ. This gap widens in social housing, owing to the characteristics of these buildings and the consumption patterns of economically vulnerable households affected by energy poverty. The aim of this work is to characterise the energy poverty of the households that are representative of those residing in social housing, specifically in blocks of apartments in Southern Europe. The main variables that affect energy consumption and costs are analysed, and the models developed for software energy-performance simulations (which are applied to predict energy consumption in social housing) are validated against actual energy-consumption values. The results demonstrate that this type of household usually lives in surroundings at a temperature below the average thermal comfort level. We have taken into account that a standard thermal comfort level may lead to significant differences between computer-aided energy building simulation and actual consumption data (which are 40-140% lower than simulated consumption). This fact is of integral importance, as we use computer simulation to predict building energy performance in social housing.

show abstract

“…Often, researchers argue that deep retrofitting solutions are costly and they usually need a temporary relocation of tenants. However, as in Aranda et al [69], some solutions are proposed, such as working on the building envelopes, on lighting systems and on energy generation. Nevertheless, less disruptive and low-cost retrofitting solutions (also not linked to solving energy poverty) have been studied by architectural and engineering researchers for years, but they do not seem to constitute the unique response to fuel poverty because, as many authors argue, fuel and energy poverty also involves social, political, and economic concerns [70][71][72][73][74].…”

Section: Mitigation Strategies From Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Future Design Approaches for Energy Poverty: Users Profiling and Services for No-Vulnerable Condition

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Analyzing data from the Energy Poverty Observatory in Europe, it emerges that more than 50 million households in the EU live in energy poverty (people that cannot heat their homes during winter; cannot make their homes comfortable during the summer; pay their energy bills late). Research studies realized in the last 20 years highlight that making energy demand efficient and effective is the more significant and socially important the more it is able to involve users who are unable to sustain energy demand. The evolution of the research sees a narrowing of the field of investigation by focusing on the user dimension of energy poverty, stressing the role of citizens not only as consumer but also as producers of solutions to tackle energy poverty, real energy communities of agents. The paper aims to provide a systematic literature review highlighting the major findings of the topic, investigating the relationship between spatial and social issues, and looking at the state of energy poverty by addressing the profiling of users and consequently of services useful to overcome their current vulnerable condition. The paper is structured in two core sections. The first one gives the results of a systematic literature review on the energy/fuel poverty topic, the second one deepens the role of communities and individuals need, crucial in defining new design approaches for supportive solutions to tackle energy poverty.

show abstract

Analysis of Energy Efficiency Measures and Retrofitting Solutions for Social Housing Buildings in Spain as a Way to Mitigate Energy Poverty

Cited by 50 publications

References 38 publications

Retrofitting an Existing Office Building in the UAE Towards Achieving Low-Energy Building

Retrofitting an Existing Office Building in the UAE Towards Achieving Low-Energy Building

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

Future Design Approaches for Energy Poverty: Users Profiling and Services for No-Vulnerable Condition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About