• Energy Research

The present work aims to describe and analyze the results of the interventions carried out in the Barcelona pilot site of the EmpowerMed project. The overall objective of EmpowerMed is to tackle energy poverty and to help improve the health of people in coastal areas of Mediterranean countries, with a particular focus on women. The main support approach implemented in Barcelona is Collective Advisory Assemblies (CAA), in the framework of Alliance against Energy Poverty. CAA is an innovative, collaborative empowering engagement tool that offers an alternative to the more traditional one-off individual household advice and support approaches. CAAs take place together with a monitoring campaign where: electricity consumption is analyzed to optimize the supply contracts, and indoor environmental comfort to provide recommendations for wellbeing improvement. Through the different approaches, a characterization of the people that have participated in the Barcelona pilot site was completed, from a socioeconomic, energy, thermal comfort and air quality perspective. Additionally, it was compared with a group of energy poverty non-affected households, which are involved in the monitoring campaign. Finally, the impact was quantified in terms of empowerment of energy poverty population and, potential economic savings.

The present work aims to describe and analyze the results of the interventions carried out in the Barcelona pilot site of the EmpowerMed project. The overall objective of EmpowerMed is to tackle energy poverty and to help improve the health of people in coastal areas of Mediterranean countries, with a particular focus on women. The main support approach implemented in Barcelona is Collective Advisory Assemblies (CAA), in the framework of Alliance against Energy Poverty. CAA is an innovative, collaborative empowering engagement tool that offers an alternative to the more traditional one-off individual household advice and support approaches. CAAs take place together with a monitoring campaign where: electricity consumption is analyzed to optimize the supply contracts, and indoor environmental comfort to provide recommendations for wellbeing improvement. Through the different approaches, a characterization of the people that have participated in the Barcelona pilot site was completed, from a socioeconomic, energy, thermal comfort and air quality perspective. Additionally, it was compared with a group of energy poverty non-affected households, which are involved in the monitoring campaign. Finally, the impact was quantified in terms of empowerment of energy poverty population and, potential economic savings.

In this study, simulation work has been carried out to investigate the impact of a demand-side management control strategy in a residential nZEB. A refurbished apartment within a multi-family dwelling representative of Mediterranean building habits was chosen as a study case and modelled within a simulation framework. A flexibility strategy based on set-point modulation depending on the energy price was applied to the building. The impact of the control strategy on thermal comfort was studied in detail with several methods retrieved from the standards or other literature, differentiating the effects on day and night living zones. It revealed a slight decrease of comfort when implementing flexibility, although this was not prejudicial. In addition, the applied strategy caused a simultaneous increase of the electricity used for heating by up to 7% and a reduction of the corresponding energy costs by up to around 20%. The proposed control thereby constitutes a promising solution for shifting heating loads towards periods of lower prices and is able to provide benefits for both the user and the grid sides. Beyond that, the activation of energy flexibility in buildings (nZEB in the present case) will participate in a more successful integration of renewable energy sources (RES) in the energy mix.

In this study, simulation work has been carried out to investigate the impact of a demand-side management control strategy in a residential nZEB. A refurbished apartment within a multi-family dwelling representative of Mediterranean building habits was chosen as a study case and modelled within a simulation framework. A flexibility strategy based on set-point modulation depending on the energy price was applied to the building. The impact of the control strategy on thermal comfort was studied in detail with several methods retrieved from the standards or other literature, differentiating the effects on day and night living zones. It revealed a slight decrease of comfort when implementing flexibility, although this was not prejudicial. In addition, the applied strategy caused a simultaneous increase of the electricity used for heating by up to 7% and a reduction of the corresponding energy costs by up to around 20%. The proposed control thereby constitutes a promising solution for shifting heating loads towards periods of lower prices and is able to provide benefits for both the user and the grid sides. Beyond that, the activation of energy flexibility in buildings (nZEB in the present case) will participate in a more successful integration of renewable energy sources (RES) in the energy mix.

Abstract More than 50% of the existing housing stock in Spain is over 50 years old and was built according to the construction standards of its time, and nowadays shows poor energy performance compared to the current standards, meaning higher energy consumption due to the lack of energy retrofitting interventions (no insulation materials, low window performance, high infiltration and thermal bridges). The link between homes and health has been well established by the scientific community and research results illustrate how the condition of existing buildings is one of the most decisive influences on population's health. However, the role of energy retrofitting in improving health of occupants has still to be thoroughly and comprehensively documented. Normally, benefits of energy retrofitting are calculated only in terms of energy savings and associated economic savings. Long pay-back periods and high investment make energy retrofitting not attractive enough to many homeowners. Highlighting the health benefits may help to improve the rate at which the housing stock undergoes energy retrofitting. The aim of this research is to estimate the effect that energy efficiency improvements made to vulnerable housing has on the health of the occupants and to assess the potential economic savings for the Spanish healthcare system.

Abstract More than 50% of the existing housing stock in Spain is over 50 years old and was built according to the construction standards of its time, and nowadays shows poor energy performance compared to the current standards, meaning higher energy consumption due to the lack of energy retrofitting interventions (no insulation materials, low window performance, high infiltration and thermal bridges). The link between homes and health has been well established by the scientific community and research results illustrate how the condition of existing buildings is one of the most decisive influences on population's health. However, the role of energy retrofitting in improving health of occupants has still to be thoroughly and comprehensively documented. Normally, benefits of energy retrofitting are calculated only in terms of energy savings and associated economic savings. Long pay-back periods and high investment make energy retrofitting not attractive enough to many homeowners. Highlighting the health benefits may help to improve the rate at which the housing stock undergoes energy retrofitting. The aim of this research is to estimate the effect that energy efficiency improvements made to vulnerable housing has on the health of the occupants and to assess the potential economic savings for the Spanish healthcare system.